457 – Breaking the Sounds of Silence

Breaking the Sounds of Silence Every single breeder I know has said at one point or another they want to “change the conversation.” To blunt the sledgehammer of the Animal Rights vs Animal Welfare message with John Q Public. To stand up for our legal rights. To champion the brutal hard work … the literal blood, sweat and tears shed… the labor of love we undertake in order to provide the gifts of companionship, beauty and living history to our communities. And damn near every one of those people has turned around and bashed some other breeder of whom they disapprove for whatever reason. As a result, the “divided they fall” approach implemented by the AR playbook has been spectacularly successful. Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence I’ve made my resolution for 2021. We’re going to break that sound of silence. I hope you’ll all join me in this goal. I’ve grabbed a megaphone, stepped outside the holy church of “Dogdom”... I’m using the voice you’ve all given me in a determined effort to *successfully* preach *beyond* the choir. And in the naked light, I saw Ten thousand people, maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never share And no one dared Disturb the sound of silence If you haven’t subscribed to the Good Dog Pod, now is the time. I’ve joined forces with Good Dog in a determined effort to leverage reach, resources, technical skills and insight of a team who already speaks a language many of us have never known or have long forgotten. Regular Joe. Dog lover. Perhaps even “fur mommy”…. For some of us, it’s like learning Swahili. Talking AT people who don’t understand your language and culture is frustrating and has caused a great deal of misery throughout history. The Good Dog Pod and other educational initiatives sponsored by Good Dog are aimed specifically at meeting regular people where they are. Googling Golden Retriever. While we’re over here, hiding in the “church,” chipping away at our stone tablets. The Good Dog Pod, along with a full suite of accessible resources, is also providing education and mentorship scaled to an enormous audience of new and wannabe breeders who want to do the right thing, but don’t know what it is. Or that there even IS a “right” thing. By applying standards to ALL breeders, by celebrating and promoting breeders, by providing access and support for health testing, in just the last year they are already changing the conversation within the larger dog breeding community. Because the reality check is, AKC and others estimate that dog owners in the US will seek roughly 9 million replacement dogs *each year*…. And that isn’t counting a pandemic. AKC breeders register something like 1 million of those dogs. So 8 million dogs are being produced with little to no access to meaningful resources. And owners are acquiring them because they CAN. Because someone answered their call and didn’t belittle them for not knowing the decoder ring secret password. Because someone spoke their language. Education is the Answer. To Everything. As you have heard me say time and again, education is the answer. To everything. And, if a little education is good, a LOT is definitely better. The Good Dog Pod, with training insights, breeding, whelping and raising tips, legal advice and general dog knowledge, will continue to drop every Wednesday. You can subscribe anywhere you listen to Pure Dog Talk. Speaking of which, YES, Pure Dog Talk IS going to continue. The Pure Dog Talk episodes will drop every Monday. Veterinary Voice, Love the Breeds, The Interviews and The Conversations will retain their focus on the world of competitive purebred dogs. The Voice of Purebred Dogs