by JONOV » Mon Dec 18, 2017 5:30 pm
Another thought...
If a puppy buyer is looking for a dog, he has little to go on when looking for the right dog.
Ideally, you get to see the parents or their progeny in action. If what you see is what you want, then the job is easy for you as long as the breeder will sell you a pup, or can have an honest discussion with you as far as who else might be doing that.
Failing that, you have to do your own research and call and talk to breeders. The problem with that is, that plenty of breeders are more interested in selling you one of their puppies whether its what you're looking for or not, than helping you get to the right dog. Not all of them, but enough of them.
Finally, some people are far more data driven than others. I see it in my work, clients that want reports/data/information about the ordering behaviors and results of their orders than you can imagine. I don't totally get what the value of that data is, other than to justify things in the budget/to their superiors, etc... There is certainly value in data. It isn't the end all and be all, but it does have value.
Plenty of people, when buying a house, will look at the historical price data for a neighborhood, for the school system, the data pertinent to the house like the utility bills and when things were replaced.
Before buying a car, they will make a spreadsheet of pros and cons, compare gas mileage, cargo space, resale value, insurance costs...
So before buying a dog, there are plenty of people that will want very defined quantitative value for before committing to a dog they will own and have as a family member long term. Some of them won't take a breeders word that "this litter will produce great puppies" anymore than they trust a Realtor telling them "this is a great neighborhood" or a car salesman telling them "it has good mileage and they hold their value well."
Furthermore, I think that many people don't look at what one title over another actually means. A JH title for a pointing breed doesn't mean much.
Frankly, I got confused looking at the alphabet soup proffered by some breeders and ultimately looked for a breeder that hunted, a lot, with his dogs. He had all sorts of pictures that told me that he hunted a lot locally for wild game, as opposed to a local show breeder that has some very polished shots that are taken at a local game farm.