Search This Blog

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Misconceptions about us and our dachshunds

This post is going to be more personal than any other as today was a really bad day. First a friend called with the news that an outfitter from the Midwest has two of our dogs, he does not like them and wants to get rid off them. Well, we never sold a dog (or two dogs) to any outfitter in this particular state (it is illegal to blood track there). So these dachshunds can’t be out of our breeding (=bred by us). Also in our contract we have “If the buyer at any time chooses to resell or transfer custody of this dog to a third party, the buyer must first notify seller before any resale or transfer to a third party takes place. At this time the seller shall have the first option to repurchase the dog (at the price not higher that the original purchase price) before sale or transfer to a third party.” We repurchased our dogs before. For example, Emma was repurchased for the sales price when her first owner was going through a nasty divorce and had to find a new home for her.

I have encountered this thinking before. If it is a wirehaired dachshund used for tracking, it must be from John and Jolanta. How not true! There are other breeders in this country, and close to 12-15 litters of wirehaired dachshunds out of European blood lines were bred this year. Some litters were sired by our males, but some were not. If there is a “von Moosbach-Zuzelek” dog in a pup’s pedigree a generation or two back, this pup is not “out of our breeding”. Only dogs purchased directly from us are “out of our breeding”.

Anyway, I feel really bad about the two dachshunds mentioned by our friend but I don’t know who bred them.

Next I stumbled upon a hunting forum, where a person we know from online contacts and phone conversations (never met him in person) was giving advice about buying a dachshund for blood tracking. He has a great little dachshund, and we have always been supportive of his work and promoted his accomplishments. He has never owned or worked with dachshunds out of our breeding or bloodlines. Well, it was a shock to find out that “our dogs are overrated and not worth the money we ask people to pay”. Apparently we are very good at marketing, breed dogs for living, and the dogs are not that good. This is not all that was written there, and after I had read the whole thread I felt sick. Why do people have this need of making themselves feel better by putting others down?

In reality we are very selective about buyers. When you go to our website www.born-to-track.com there are no hard sale tricks there, no flashy advertisement. We don’t even have “testimonials” as we want to attract buyers who have done their own research. Actually, we have an “obstacle course” for potential buyers, and we don’t make it easy for people to buy a puppy from us. Yes, we charge quite a bit of money for a puppy, we ask people to come here to pick up a puppy (we don’t ship), which might be very expensive, and we sell our puppies on the AKC limited registration. It is all spelled out very clearly on the website, but I doubt that it is “good marketing”.

Why don’t we sell our pups cheaper? We value our work and time we put into these puppies. We import dogs from Europe, and we don’t get any guarantees from European breeders. We evaluate the imported puppies thoroughly, and we use for breeding only the best individuals (usually 50% of what we import). The evaluation and strict selection are integral parts of our breeding program. We do not put together just any two dogs out of European breeding or sell pups at 7-8 weeks. This is not the way we choose to breed dogs. Most of the time we breed only two litters of pups a year, and we work with puppies until they are at least ten weeks old. Some pups stay here until they are 12-14 weeks old. We spent at least half a day with people who come to pick up pups (no extra fee). We provide as much support as people are willing to accept.

Of course, we have expenses. Our dogs are fed premium food – twice a day. In the morning they get raw diet from Omas Pride (our bill is $700 per two months just for that). In the afternoon they get premium dry kibble. We don’t skimp on veterinary care, and all our dogs undergo eye examination every other year. The dogs have fenced-in 12 acres where they get exercise.

It was hard to read how apparently we profit from dogs because we give so freely our time and work to clubs such as Deer Search and United Blood Trackers. John who has been retired for 9 years from his professional career as a college professor does not charge for his seminars (as most professional dog people do) and sometimes (!) he gets reimbursed for travel. He spends every day two hours on the phone giving trackers encouragement and advice…for free. We don't charge anything for tracking.

Then I did a google search and visited another hunting forum. I read somebody’s post there (of course nobody is using their real name) that John wrote his book “on Hofstra dime”. The truth is that he retired from Hofstra University 9 years ago, and his book was published in 2003!

I have no idea where people come up with stuff like this but certainly it was a day full of nasty discoveries.

12 comments:

Andy Bensing said...

Well Jolanta, you and John must have obviously hit the big time now. Looks like people with way too much time on their hands are paying attention to you. Just like Tiger Woods has captured the same people's attention in the last few days. All I can say is..."It's lonely at the top!"

Jack Kale said...

I have seen nothing but a selfless attitude on your part. Thanks for the assistance in helping me find me new hunting partner and family member. You did all this for "free" and even checked in to see how it was coming. Thank you for being a positive light in a dark world. Don't worry about them. You have a huge following of people who drink from the fountain of your blog, website, and book. Ya'll are great. God Bless.

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Andy, you know how to make me laugh. Thanks!
Jack, I really appreciate your kind comment. Good luck with your puppy!

Millie Davenport said...

I just can't believe these comments someone made...how awful and how UNTRUE. Whoever wrote these comments has NEVER tried to buy a dog from you -the interview process alone weeds out the bad potential buyers. These are not dogs bred like a puppy mill...these are dogs that are loved and cared for and watched to see developing personalities. These pups are loved and cared for and go to the BEST home possible- to develop their BEST tracking abilities and be loved and cared for at the same time as a FAMILY member...not a random "yard" dog. These are just ABSURD comments from an anonymous person that knows NOTHING...so they mean NOTHING. All who know you, know that these are FALSE statements. We thank you and John for all you do. God Bless you! Millie Davenport

Joe Burns said...

Jolanta,
You and John have been a wealth of knowledge for Teri & I, and we don't even have one of your dogs. Both of you have taken the time to give us the best advise you can. Cabela would not be the tracker she is today if it wasn't for your guidance. I thank you for that. I have handled your dogs several times and they are very IMPRESSIVE. When speaking with hunters about Deer Search, I hear nothing but praise for both of you. You have given me a goal that someday I may be praised by hunters as you are. Once again thank you for all that you and John have done for us.

Joe & Teri Burns

Alex Daley-Clark said...

I second what Joe Burns said, you've been nothing but helpful to Denis and I, and we didn't even get our dog from you! This blog alone is such a valuable resource that you could charge for it! Thanks for all you do for the tracking community, ignore the internet trolls, they would never dare to say such thing to someone publicly.
alex

Maribeth said...

Jolanta and John,
You have been so kind, helpful and nothing but professional in your dealings with me. I have learned so much, and I am thankful for the lineage that my dogs share with yours.
I hope you will ignore these comments and know that people who say these things have way too much time on their hands!

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

A big thank you to everybody for so much support. We really appreciate it!
Jolanta & John

Patt Nance said...

I just saw your post or I would have written sooner...

Some people, for some reason, cannot appreciate or admire success.

Here's to your SUCCESS at breeding dachshunds that have a job to do and do it so very well.

YOU do it so very well.

I appreciate and admire you.

Who cares what anyone else thinks?! ; )

Ed Lipscomb (aka Lip) said...

Wow, I just read this post and it scared me because I had mentioned you and your dogs in a hunting forum about a week ago and have been out of town/away from the thread since then. I was afraid the conversation had taken a turn for the worst but after reading it realized your comments weren't in reference to the thread or website I had posted on.

You actually talked me out of buying one of your pups last year so I could be better prepared to train this year. I've finished reading your book and have referred back to it several times. I've researched other breeds and keep coming back to the wirehaired dachshund. I've collected around 20 cups of deer blood and several livers so far this deer season. Without our discussions and my further research, I wouldn't be nearly as well prepared to get a puppy, nor would I fully know what my expectations are for that puppy.

Jolanta Jeanneney said...

Patt,
This is the nicest thing anybody has ever said about us. Thank you!

Ed,
I am glad that you are so well prepared for your puppy.Thank you for writing and expressing concern. We really appreciate it!

Paul said...

John, the academia world has given you a thin skin. The real world is full of near do wells and people that see things the way they want to see them, no matter what the truth is.
I have bought your book and a wire haired named Jill because of the straight talking person you are. If Jill never finds a deer, although I believe she will, she has found a lifelong family because of you.
You walk your walk, hold your head high and look everyone in the eye. As far as I am concerned, you are the lead dog, and that is what the lead dog does.