Is there any such thing?

[Thunder98]

My question is, is there any such thing as too valuable?
And why or why not? Also to you, what's too valuable? At what point does it become too valuable?
All comments will be appreciated..

[HAMMER49]

In my opinion that phrase is very subjective. It gets thrown around quite a bit, and people sometimes use it as an excuse. If you have an animal whose parents (both) are still alive and producing I would never use that term. If that's your fancy, and it doesn't work out, you have the option to do it all over again. Now on the other hand if you have one whose parents are gone, You have a decision to make. Take for an example a pup from a frozen semen breeding. Unless you bred and raise the litter for yourself personally, or have the funds to purchase multiple. That animal will be too valuable to YOU to risk anything happening. At the point where you choose to purchase is when its declared too valuable. At the end of the day the question remains. What is the value of that animal to YOU? If that is the blood or individual you choose to carry on with , it's your choice.

[brokeback]

That's a really broad question with no specifics but I'll give a shot at it.

Me personally, there's plenty that is too valuable that I wouldn't sell it. But there's nothing too valuable that I wouldn't it hold to the same standard as everything else. In my opinion, if you make an excuse for one thing, excuses will be more likely to come up in the future for whatever reason. I do agree with the above point about the phrase being subjective and I also agree about it being used as an excuse very often.

[Thunder98]

I did throw it out wrong...well here goes, the dam to my pup is old, about 10 or 11, he is only making one more breeding with her and I can honestly say that the line maybe long for these pups. The sire came from frozen semen, now he is still around and doing well, fairly young.
I don't know if I can get the dogs this close up anymore, of this particular blood.. I will make the call but just wanted to see what others thought. I feel really good about the male I received all in all. Thanks fellas

[BRICKFACE]

I would never think of any dog as too valuable even if I had some old school blood on my yard. The problem is when you value particular dogs too much, you tend to not want to let them go. When I lost my main stud 10yrs ago I found myself in a bind to make the next breeding I wanted. After doing some research and finding something I liked eventually I brought in some new blood. Needless to say the new blood performed better than the old. In the end bulldogs are bulldogs. As long as your honest with yourself the dogs won't lie!

[EWO]

It is a very subjective topic. What is valuable to me may not be valuable to the next guy. Then to add in 'too valuable' is a whole new set of variables.

I think 'too valuable' is a direct link to breeding aspirations. So that 'value' gets very subjective very quickly.

Personal perception of value throws a real curve ball.

EWO

[FrostyPaws]

If the dog is a top quality dog, that I bred personally and can't repeat the breeding, then the dog is simply too valuable for me to show. Since I don't sell dogs, that has no bearing on my yard.

That simply means I find out what I need, and want, to know at my own house where there is no wager. That way when the animal has had enough, I simply pick the animal up and do whatever aftercare is needed.

Too valuable simply means not being matched at my house.

[S_B]

I agree with Frosty in these dogs I see one may be too important or valuable in my breeding program to show, but none are too valuable to prove to me that they are of the quality I expect them to be.

S_B

[EWO]

It is a 'such a thing' because it is up to the owner of the dog, and totally up to him to tag one 'too valuable'. (Not knowing anything about Frosty or his dogs, just using his and SB's name) They could have one that they deemed 'too valuable' and the next guy would not give two squirts of piss and match the dog.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To each his own. All that applies.

EWO

[FrostyPaws]

It is a 'such a thing' because it is up to the owner of the dog, and totally up to him to tag one 'too valuable'. (Not knowing anything about Frosty or his dogs, just using his and SB's name) They could have one that they deemed 'too valuable' and the next guy would not give two squirts of piss and match the dog.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To each his own. All that applies.

EWO

Very much true. If I were simply matching dogs, I would be the "not give a squirt of piss" guy and match the dog. But since I like to breed my own dogs, and I'm able to know what I'm looking for specifically, I simply can't make that decision in good faith for the overall well being of the yard.

[EWO]

Very well said, and I agree. Perpetuating your yard with your own goals and criteria as a guide, you are the only one that can deem one of your dogs as 'too valuable'.

To the guy who is just matching dogs basically by buying prospects, grown dogs and early winners the next set of dogs off these dogs simply does not matter. They are going to be matched til their wheels fall off and on to the next one.

Both can get to the same place but take different routes.

I wish I had not been the 'not give a squirt of piss' guy early on/years ago. I would be on top of a much better foundation than I have now. Back then I simply graded dogs on ability, mouth and workability on a scale of 1 to 10. Knock down three sixes (as bad as that sounds) and we were off to the show. For those sixes I was betting on me, the 8's and 9's I was betting on the dog. If that makes sense.

And with that said perpetuating any of those dogs never really factored in at the time. Being young and dumb it was a "Saturday Night or Bust" approach.

I should have tagged a few 'too valuable' way back when.

EWO

[Thunder98]

Thanks for the response fellows, and I totally understand what you guys are saying and fully agree, agree left up to the owner and what he deems valuable....thanks again

[bossman311]

My question is, is there any such thing as too valuable?
And why or why not? Also to you, what's too valuable? At what point does it become too valuable?
All comments will be appreciated..

Yes there is such a thing as too valuable.
Lots of times ego get's in the way of logic.
We are in a generation of buyers more than breeders. I have seen people time & time again buy dogs just to mess them up & go buy another.
Allot of well known breeders are no longer around these days as they were 20 yrs ago alone & there family of dogs has been so washed out they they barely resemble the original stock. Lost in time never to be regained again.
Many examples of well known families lost because of this.

I believe that instead of using common since & thinking about the future people messed of the dogs instead of breeding & using the offspring as the working tools.
Almost working backwards in a sense.

Sort of Selling the Goose that laid the Golden Eggs instead of selling the golden eggs type of thinking.
You might get more for the goose than a single egg & once you have spent it that's it. But sell the eggs & keep the goose & you'll never be broke again & may even get more geese that lays golden eggs along the way.

You can always get more eggs as long as you have the Goose but once you sell the goose you will never have neither one.
Today ego's want a ped full of pretty colors & the constant need to buy dogs from other yards instead skipping some dogs ,using dogs off them & staying on your own yard.
There is to me such a thing as too valuable .

I strive to sell the golden eggs & not the goose that lays them.

[EWO]

Good post.

I agree there are more buyers than breeders but I also think it has been that way all along. Pick any era and there were top breeders and people who bought dogs from top breeders.

It may be a percentage thing as well. It may just as many top breeders as it ever was, just thousands more willing to buy them. That in turn makes the top breeders fewer and farther in between amongst the masses.

I do agree with the analogy about the goose and the golden eggs. I never thought much about it way back. The guy that turned me onto dogs only matched dogs. He bought dogs and had dogs placed with him. He kept 10-12 open to the world year around. When I got in the dogs I guess I just figured the two were separate, breeding/selling and matching. I got in on the matching train.

As far as culling, we culled a lot of dogs that (looking back) should have been bred. If it was a dog that placed and he was a game plug, or a good dog just not match quality, he was sent back. If it were ours and he was not a match quality dog he was culled. When I first got in the dogs curs were not culls, it was understood. Culling was decisions that were made on whether or not the dog could show on Saturday night. In the beginning we never sold anything. (I say we, but it was mostly the guy that turned me on to the dogs, but I was right there with him with my dogs). Dogs either made it to the show or they didn't.

Hind sight being 20/20, we should have done things a lot differently. Looking back I wish we had bred this dog to that dog or took that bitch to that stud, etc. etc. But no need crying over spilled milk.

The upside to not breeding the dogs is that it was all about schooling, feeding and conditioning.

Not all bad..

EWO

[Thunder98]

Thanks bossman for the comment, and trust me I totally agree with you.

[bossman311]

Good post.

I agree there are more buyers than breeders but I also think it has been that way all along. Pick any era and there were top breeders and people who bought dogs from top breeders.

It may be a percentage thing as well. It may just as many top breeders as it ever was, just thousands more willing to buy them. That in turn makes the top breeders fewer and farther in between amongst the masses.

I do agree with the analogy about the goose and the golden eggs. I never thought much about it way back. The guy that turned me onto dogs only matched dogs. He bought dogs and had dogs placed with him. He kept 10-12 open to the world year around. When I got in the dogs I guess I just figured the two were separate, breeding/selling and matching. I got in on the matching train.

As far as culling, we culled a lot of dogs that (looking back) should have been bred. If it was a dog that placed and he was a game plug, or a good dog just not match quality, he was sent back. If it were ours and he was not a match quality dog he was culled. When I first got in the dogs curs were not culls, it was understood. Culling was decisions that were made on whether or not the dog could show on Saturday night. In the beginning we never sold anything. (I say we, but it was mostly the guy that turned me on to the dogs, but I was right there with him with my dogs). Dogs either made it to the show or they didn't.

Hind sight being 20/20, we should have done things a lot differently. Looking back I wish we had bred this dog to that dog or took that bitch to that stud, etc. etc. But no need crying over spilled milk.

The upside to not breeding the dogs is that it was all about schooling, feeding and conditioning.

Not all bad..

EWO

Good Stuff EWO!