(I actually did not plan to dedicate one of my web pages to Mr. K and his farmer colleagues, but my words are too "fantastics" not to share them with you. )
That´s definitely curious, but I don´t need any help
It was mid-February when some good friends told me about a dashing Dutchman (Mr. K) who complained about me and my bad behaviour on his facebook profile. He even interrupted his “Farmville game” and that was saying something! As I got to know he called me “bad looser”. Hm, to be honest, I was really amazed by this word and it was lost on me. As you will notice while reading my text, I am not a native speaker, but I was quite sure that the word “looser” does not exist. So how can I be something that does not exist? That´s brain fart and it is not the only one in his brief “note”. However, you should never start reading in the middle of a book and therefore I will tell you everything one by one. Actually I think most readers know my attitude towards the conformation of the Duck Toller, but I am going to sum it up for those who do not know my attitude. The Duck Toller is and will (hopefully) always be a working dog and that is exactly the reason why I decided to get a Toller. I think the rest of the Toller owners go along with me at this point. What really bothers me is the fact that a lot of Toller owners/breeder are of the opinion that there is a great variety in the conformation of the Duck Toller. Or in other words: “There is no ideal of the Duck Tollers, because of all of the Tollers who have FCI-Papers (including the AKC/CKC) are excellent representatives of the breed (standard).” With all due respect, but how can I claim there was no ideal image of a breed if the breed´s structure and appearance is written down in a breed standard? The standard describes the “perfect” Toller and the judges judge accordingly to the breed standard and therefore a 54 cm tall Toller who rather looks like a Saluki is for sure not an excellent representative of the breed concerning the structure and overall appearance. Of course the breed standard is susceptible to various interpretations and that is why even excellent dogs do not look like identical twins. But if “beauty” was simply a matter of taste – as many Toller breeders/owners claim – there would never be a “top dog”, because every judge would like another dog. As you can see at many different dog shows this is luckily not the case and proves that “beauty” concerning the conformation of a dog is not only a “matter of taste”. When I got Joker in 2006 I never planned on showing him, but as time drew on I came to realize that showing your Toller can be great fun! Since I wanted to improve my handling, I also dealt with the standard to get to know what a good Toller should look like and that was the time when I realized that many Tollers that were bred in Germany or presented at German dogs shows vary from the breed standard. Of course that does not mean that these dogs are “bad representatives of the breed”, because a Duck Toller is also characterized by its working ability and health and I do not want to presume to say these dogs were not “valuable” for breeding. The contrary is the case! But in my humble opinion breeders/owners should not refer to dogs that vary from the standard as “variety”, because by doing this they deny there is a problem in the conformation and as a result they will keep breeding dogs with a lack of substance, raising top lines, under/over height etc. and that is definitively bad for the breed. As I mentioned before I did not plan on showing Joker, but I was finally convinced by the great critics that were given to him by lots of different judges. The deciding reason why I decided to show Joker regularly is the critics that was given to Joker by Ms Grevelink (NL). She gave me the judge report with the words “You really have to keep showing this dog, he has so much quality!” and the last line of this report said: “should have a bright future”. Fortunately I listened to her and in 2008 I started showing Joker more regularly. He took the breed quite often, in the group he was – like most Tollers in GER at this time – overseen by the judges. I kept taking part in the group, though. Because 1. I liked and still like the atmosphere and 2. I do not give up that easily and Joker was just 1 ½ by the time he took the breed more often, so there was a lot of time left and with every group competition I got the chance to practice my handling skills and learn more about handling by watching the “big guys”. Other Toller owners looked at me as if they wanted to say: “Obviously the little girl still does not know that most group judges do not like Tollers.” I can only say the “little girl” knows that group judges compare every single dog to its standard and in the end the dog who represents its breed best wins and maybe that is why the “little girl” knows why most Tollers were (are) just overseen by the judges. Most of the Tollers probably just did (do) not represent its breed the way some Labrados or Am. Cocker Spaniel do, because how “valuable” a BOB is, also depends on how many other dogs were entered in the breed ring and of course it depends on the quality of the other dogs in the breed ring. I remember a very proud man called Mr. P leaving the breed ring in Leipzig. When I asked him if he stayed for the group competition since his 54 cm Toller with a lack of substance took the breed, he just smiled and said: “Why should I? The judges do not know the Toller!” Well, dear Mr. P now I am the one who can smile at you and say: Most judges know the Toller better than you think and that is the reason why they do not pay any attention to your dog.
In 2009 Joker was placed in group for the very first time and up till now he has been placed 10 times in group and one time he was placed as BIS 3. Therefore I hardly doubt one can claim Tollers are just overseen in group. At least one can say that the judges at German dog shows did not oversee Joker and if you ask me there has to be a reason for that. Some people may think that Tollerowners/breeders should now understand that judging at shows is not mainly a matter of taste but a matter of standard and that somehow Joker has to represent the breed well enough to be placed in group. A German average Toller owner/breeder seems to be differently minded. Most of them just interpret his placements as a sign that the judges got used to Tollers. They do not even notice that those Tollers who gain group placements all over the world look a lot alike concerning structure, substance and coat. They still believe everything is a matter of taste. That´s most likely the reason why Mr. P is now waiting for the group competition, because if everything is a matter of taste it may happen that some judges even place his dog. Unfortunately these people do not only cause a split into work & show, but also “support” judges who do not like to judge Toller because of their bad quality. Two years ago I conversed with a Polish judge about the conformation of Duck Tollers. He told me he did not enjoy judging Tollers, because he does not know how to judge them. In his opinion every single Toller was of such a bad quality that he cannot even compare them to the standard. In my point of view his statement is far too generalizing. Although the quality of German Tollers is with no doubt not the best, it is no reason to say he cannot judge according to the breed standard. The opposite is the case, he even has to judge accordingly to the standard, because that is the only way he can guarantee he tries to improve the breed, although that means that at some shows there will not be a BOB Toller. But if there are good Tollers then he can make sure he places the best dog(s). That is another reason why I am happy that Joker does so well in group, because I hope it will prove judges like Mr. S from Poland that dealing with the standard of the Duck Toller is worth his while. It is about time to get back to Mr. K´s note. The note was written after the International dog show in Rheinberg. Maybe I should also mention that he did not attend the dog show personally but his wife Ms S. But as a real Dutch “landlord”, he is responsible for the speaking part and as a real Dutch “landlord” he does not have to ask if he can copy some lines from my website, he just does it! Well, I was told that there are really people who cannot describe the simplest issue in their own words, so I will not blame him! When I came home from this dog show I updated my website with the results. I decided to write: “Joker got an Excellent 3rd place in Championclass. Sadiki was entered in Openclass, but I felt there was no need to show him, though…” A third place is for sure not a bad placement in Championclass, but as I mentioned earlier all things are relative and how “valuable” a placement is depends on the dogs that were placed before your dog. If I showed him together with some American/Canadian or Scandinavian dogs I would be lucky to get a 4th place. I think there is no need to explain in more detail… The fact that I did not present Sadiki at the show really seemed to bother Mr. and Mrs. K and S. Actually I cannot remember that somebody did this for me, but in case you – dear Mr. K – or you – dear Mrs. S. – wanted to make me a late christmas present by paying Sadiki´s entry fee, I want you to know I am really sorry and I can understand you are mad at me. If I had known that I would have presented Sadiki to make sure you did not pay your money for nothing. Unfortunately I just found my transfer voucher and I can say for sure that nobody – neither Mr. K nor Mrs. S – was so kind to pay the entry fee for any of my dogs. Therefore I cannot understand why it bothers you that I paid my money for nothing. Of course I think it is very affecting when you care about my (financial) affairs, but among Mr. K´s virtual farm there are more than 10 Tollers that want to be exercised, so I guess you should rather spend the time with them, of which more later. Some people are probably wondering why Mr. K went to all the bother of writing a note about me and my alleged bad behavior at all. You are right to think he would never interrupt his work on his virtual farm simply because I did not show my youngest dog, there has to be more behind it. You are right, there is more behind it! I am only guessing here, but I think the “real reason” why he decided to complain about me is the fact that my brother sent him an e-mail a couple of days after his wife attended the dog show. To understand the reason for sending this mail I have to take you on a journey into the past again.
In 2008/2009 Joker and Mr. K´s male “Salsa[1]” (who was imported from Canada in Winter 2007) were often presented in the same class. I really like Salsa and I think he deserves winning the breed (regardless the handling), that is why I always congratulated Mr. K on Salsa´s wins and we had a great time in the ring. But at this time I already noticed that the dashing Dutchman was/is a real all-round entertainer who can only laugh at jokes made by himself. Well, we all have our own little idiosyncrasies and he is at least a person who can sit in a little room all on his own and laugh until sunset. In December 2009 I attended the National and International dog show in Kassel. At the National dog show Joker did not only win the breed but took a group 2nd as well. As you can imagine I was really happy and although it was the first out of two show days, I was sure this day was the best day. To my surprise Sadiki , my youngest male, won the breed at the International dog show. He was 23 months at the day of the show and in my opinion he was not fully matured, so I rather would have liked Joker to win the breed, because if one of my Tollers was placed in the group at all it would be Joker. Contrary to what I expected Sadiki moved even better in the group ring than in the breed ring and he took a group 3rd! I think there is no need to tell you how happy and speechless I was! 2 days in a row there is a Toller placed in the group at a German dog show and these Tollers are Joker and Sadiki. Wow! A week later I attended the Retriever clubshow (organized by the German Retriever Club) and this show took place in Kassel again. That was really funny and I wrote on my Facebook wall: It is dog show time again and again we are going to Kassel, but I have to disappoint my friends. This time we will not bring a group placement home, because there is no group competition at a clubshow. Actually I thought that even the last Dutch person would understand the joke, but I was wrong. The next day an apparently very mad Dutchman commented on my status. He wrote I could not assume a group placement everytime I attend a dog show, because dog show business was luck of the draw. Sure, you also have to be lucky at dog shows to get a good result, because whether your dog is in a good mood is always a question of luck and especially in the group competition there are a lot of awesome breed representatives. I know the strenghts and weaknesses of my dogs and these are the reasons why I would never “assume” a group placement. I thought Mr. K would know this and therefore I just could not understand his impudent remark. As time went by I noticed that he was probably the one who could hardly live with Joker´s group placements, because presumable he was among those persons who just smiled at me when I started showing in the group. To understand his sudden impudence I assume that he also used to say that Tollers are always overseen in the group. So it must be very hard for a real “virtual Dutch farmer” to watch an eighteen/nineteen year old girl and her Toller taking group placements.
Well, but let´s get back to the dog show in Rheinberg. His dog Salsa was entered in veteran class and finally won the breed. Mr. K and Mrs. S were of course very happy – I would have been very happy too and I have to say that Salsa looks still really good considering his age! To see Mrs. S and Salsa in the group competition was the fact that really amused me. Although Tollers are always overseen she waited all afternoon just to take part in the group?! Where does this change of heart come from? Did somebody think Tollers have a season ticket for placements now? I do not know what Mr. and Mrs. K and S. thought or think and honestly I do not care. When my brother and me saw Mrs. S half-seated/lying or standing in the group ring we just felt this inner desire to write a brief message to Mr. K. I think you all know this phenomenon that there are people you could wind up all day. So what is the best way to drive a dashing Dutchman who can only laugh at his jokes up the wall? Right! You send him a brief message asking if somebody expected to be placed in group. As expected this question really drove the “virtual farmer” up to the wall. Maybe these simple words did even inflame a camp fire inside his soul. We did not expect that, but I guess in wintertime it is not bad to have a hot soul. In response to the message(s) sent by my brother Mr. K finally wrote his note on Facebook. His brief note about me and my bad behavior got a lot of feedback, at least 9 out of his more than 500 virtual friends offered commiserations. It is always exciting to watch how many people discuss about an issue they actually do not know anything about and it is very interesting to watch Mr and Mrs K and S perverting the facts. At the beginning of my article I already mentioned his first brain fart. I now know that he misspelled the word and that Mr. “Farmer” wanted to say that I was a bad loser. In addition to this, he also claimed that I “talked badly about winning dogs, their owners and the judges”. Well, dear Mr. K I think you just do not understand me! I do not presume to decide if this is due to my childish way of expressing or due to your advancing age and your stress at your virtual farm, but I am sure you just do not get it! And I am sure I am neither a bad loser nor did I talk badly about winning dogs. The only thing you can criticize me for is that I am a direct person and that I hold the opinion that the CH title in Germany is very easy to earn for Tollers and therefore it does not mean that a GER CH Toller necessarily has champion qualities. Yes, I said that there are some Tollers entered in champion class who do not belong in this class, because they actually “just” deserve a “very good”. Unfortunately most judges do not show the courage to give a “very good” to a dog entered in championclass. As a result it may happen that a “bad” Toller under a sloppy judge takes the breed just because he is in championclass, although there was a better dog entered in open or intermediate class. It really makes me smile if based on 6 BOBs within 4 years an owner of a nearly 5 year old Toller that varies from the standard thinks he has an exceptional dog and I was just jealous. Some of the BOBs were gained under judges who come from a country where the Toller – luckily – do not earn CH titles because of its bad quality. Of course I tell this owner I do not want to deny his dog may deserve an excellent, but if one compares him to many other Tollers one clearly see his weaknesses. At this point I am the one who just do not get it! How can people be so wrong about their own dogs, above all how can they be so wrong if they actually want to be real breed fancier? It is a real pity, because in my opinion every person who shows regularly should deal with the standard! I think Mr. K either does not understand me or does not want to understand me if he thinks I am a bad loser based on this statement. Well, okay, there are things in life I do not understand either, so I do not expect a “virtual farmer” to understand me, but if I do not understand a topic I will not join a discussion group about this topic, I just remain silent.
Let´s get to his second brain fart. As I mentioned earlier my brother Magnus sent the messages to Mr. K. He did not even ask me who Magnus was, no he just believes I invented this person to be able to send him messages without using my name. My dear Mr. “Farmer” you should actually know that I do not have a problem to voice my opinion and I really wonder what made you so sure that I do not have a brother. We have been in the ring together a couple of times, but that does not mean you know my whole family, so how can you deny that my brother sends you a message? Fortunately, being in the ring together does not mean you know everything about you “competitors´” relatives, because I do not want to know if there are more Farmers related to you. Next time you get an e-mail by a person whose sir name is “Westermann” you do not need to lose any sleep over the question if you got in contact with a relative of mine or with a fictional person. Just ask me and I will send you a copy of my pedigree, although at the moment I am not quite sure where to find it. Okay, I think by now everyone knows that I really got a lovely brother called Magnus and that he was the one who sent the nice messages to Mr. K. Of course I have to admit that two brains are more creative than one.
Furthermore Mr. K considered (my brother and) me as either chidlish or psychologically disturbed. If I was correctly informed he decided to choose the last option. I believe he chose the last one, because he was hoping to make me angry. Well, my dear Mr. “Farmer” you were totally wrong. As long as anyone can remember people who are above average in intelligence have been considered as “mentally disturbed” by others, only because the average farmer – pardon, person – is unable to understand them. In addition to this there are criteria that have to be established before you can consider a person as psychologically disturbed. One criterion is that the affected person suffers from her/his mental disturbance which makes her/his life hard(er). In Mr. K´s point of view I am the affected person, but as you can see I am a very happy person. That means either I have got an awesome therapist or I am not mentally disturbed. Anyway, I cannot help getting the impression that you, Mr. K, turn psychologial disturbances into ridicule. A lot of psychologically disturbed people are struggeling day in day out with their lives and their fates and I am quite sure these people would be happy to claim they are suffering from a psychlogical disturbance, because they are sending funny messages to a dashing Dutchman instead of saying they are psychologically disturbed because they suffer from PTSD or OCD. Now I really wonder who is talking badly about other people. It is about time now to take a closer look at the headline of Mr. K´s note about me and my bad behavior. He chose: “Is this curious or not, need help!” as a headline. As I summed up in my article Mr. K used his note to tell his virtual FB friends about the fact that I did not show Sadiki, he called me “bad looser” which turned out to be misspelled, he claimed I was talking badly about winning dogs, their owners and he finally diagnosed a psychological disturbance. Congratulations, Mr. K with the help of your little note you misrepresented my behavior, but at least you represented it! J There is just one thing I just do not get! Why did you ask for help? I was told that in the last paragraph of your note you mentioned you were no “professional counselor” and that you appreciated any given piece of advice. With all due respect my dear Mr. K. it is really superfluous to mention you are not a “professional counselor”, because everybody who reads your note will sooner or later notice that. I mean, you do not explicitly stress that you are writing in English, because everybody who reads your text will notice that too. I just do not know what piece of advice you were hoping for. Usually you first ask a question like: “Does anybody know how I should handle this bad person without turning into a bad person myself?” and THEN you say: “any given piece of advice will be appreciated”. Presumably I am not only up against a dashing Dutchman but also against a clever Dutchman and therefore I believe you skipped the question deliberately, because you actually did not need any piece of advice. I guess you rather wanted to show your virtual friends what a bad person I am. Of course I now wonder why you did not choose a headline like: “Caution! There is a bad person among our Toller community!” I cannot answer this question, because luckily I cannot look into your head. Nevertheless I assume – purely hypothetical – that you were afraid somebody may think you are organizing a chevy when choosing such a headline. Maybe you were also afraid that, purely hypothetical, some people want to get more “background information” and of course a person who actually does not understand the topic/ the intention cannot give any background information. As I was informed Mrs. S – Mr. K´s lovely wife – commented on his note. She wrote that it was scary that someone cannot truly see her own behavior when looking into the mirror. Because she 1.uses the objective form of the pronoun she and 2.is happily married to her husband I am pretty sure this statement does not refer to her husband but to me. Dear Mrs. S, there is no need to worry! I can only agree with you, although I have to say that I do not think it is scary but rather a pity if someone is like this. To make sure I will never belong to this group of people I have got mirrors instead of photos hanging on my wall. That is the best thing ever, although I have to admit that I am sometimes frightened at watching myself pick my nose. But hey, in case I cop myself picking my nose I immediately stop it! So here is the proof: I can look into the mirror and truly see my behavior! You know what I think is scary, Mrs. S? I think it is scary that you are telling a lie! You are telling a lie when you claim you know of German Toller owners who have tried to talk to my mother and me about my bad behavior at shows. I can only remember one single furious man – Mr. P – who approached my mom and me at a show. Before he had said anything useful he wanted to leave again, but he finally gathered all his courage and approached again. He got worked up over my statement that his older male does not deserve the CH title. He said his male started in champion class and that was the proof that his dog deserved this title and anyway everything was a matter of taste. I felt like a parrot when I once again tried to explain that a Toller earns the GER CH very easily and therefore not all of the dogs who are GER CH and/or start in champion class really deserve this title. I also told him that if he took a look at his younger male he would see the difference, because his younger male was much better built than the older one. No, Mr. P does not see the difference and it made no sense to keep talking. Fortunately a very good German “allround judge” was judging in Hannover and therefore he did not give an excellent to dogs just because they were champions. He examined every single dog very well and finally gave all of the remaining champion males a very good (including Mr. P´s older male). Only Joker got an Excellent in champion class and later won the breed. The reserve best male went to Mr. P´s younger male. Actually Mr. P could have been happy, his younger dog was the only male beside Joker who got an Excellent and I thought he would now understand what I was trying to explain him. But no, Mr. P did not understand it and left the ring crossly. I now ask myself 1.who is a bad loser and 2.since when do you use the plural form when talking about one single person? I did not get the impression that Mr. P is suffering from a multiple personality disorder and therefore I am quite sure Mrs. S is telling a lie. If I was wrong and Mr. P is hypothetical suffering from a multiple personality disorder I would like to say sorry to Mrs S for calling her a liar. In addition to this I would like to know to which personality I talked to. It was a very furious, in dealing with the German grammar not always convincing personality, if this helps to match the right personality. After I took a stand on Mr. K´s “charges” against me I would like to mention one last comment given by Mrs. S. She also wrote it was a disgrace to have a person like me in the Toller community. A person like me? So in your opinion, Mrs. S., it is a disgrace to have a Toller owner as a member of the Toller community who puts herself out for the Toller breed as a working breed. You believe it is a disgrace to have a Toller owner in the Toller community who takes part in retrieving tests and is handling her Tollers not only to group placements, but also – for the first time in Germany – to a Best In Show placement. If I sum your opinion up it is a disgrace to have a Toller owner among the Toller community who wants to save and support health, working ability and conformation within in the Toller breed. I actually think you want to support/save the same things within the Toller breed. This assumption is based on several posts by you on German Retriever/Duck Tolling forums. Therefore I cannot help getting the impression that you and your virtual “farmer” husband simply have a personal problem with me and/or my dogs. I think – and I am only guessing here – you do not like me because by the time I got Joker I was 15 years and I knew exactly what I wanted. 2 ½ years later I did not only own and handle a second Duck Toller, no I was finally also enjoying dogs shows very much. These German dog shows had been “dominated” by Dutch or Belgian Toller owner/breeders for a long time, but now this little girl enters the ring and her stupid dog does not only win the breed from time to time, no, he wins quite often and gets placed in the group as well as in the BIS ring. Even her 2nd dog gets placed in group once. Considering that I started working and showing Tollers at the age of 15 and only 3-4 years later at the age of 18/19 my dogs achieve 11 group placements, 1 x BIS 3 and pass several retrieving tests, all of you most likely know that this is just the beginning. Maybe that is exactly what some Dutch people are afraid of! After writing all these lines I can downright imagine how Mr. and Mrs. K and S are sitting in front of their computer. They are probably foaming with rage and all they can think of is destroying their computer. Before you do that, please permit me to end my article properly. If then you still want to destroy your computer I will not stop you from doing it, but I will not bear the repair costs either. As I mentioned before I just started my way into the Toller community, therefore I am well aware of the fact that I still have to learn a lot. That does not mean however that I necessarily do have to learn these things from Mr. and Mrs K and S. The opposite is the case: I am sure I do not want to learn anything from Mr. and Mrs. K and S.
But Iwant to point out that I do not intend to talk badly about Mr. K, Mrs. S or their breeding either. Although I cannot remember a name right now, I am pretty sure that the couple K. and S. have probably produced an over-average Toller at some point and if they have not produced an over-average Toller then I think they have produced an over-average dog from the breed they had bred before they started breeding Tollers. When somebody accuses me of being a “bad loser” and a “disgrace for the Toller community” he/she should know that I will deal with his/her dogs and breeding to get a better impression of this person, because if this person thinks he/she knows me, I want to make sure I know them, too! Therefore I did some research on Mr. K and Mrs. S breeding and I am looking forward to sharing my impression with my readers. You (the readers) have to keep in mind that this is just MY personal impression and that is why you should not judge Mr. K and Mrs. S breeding based on my impression, but maybe my impression will help you to form your own opinion about their breeding by either saying it is “imbecile” and “farfetched” or by agreeing with me. As we all know the Toller is a working breed and needs to be exercised accordingly. My boys are 4 ½ and 3 year old and apart from the daily walks I spend 2-3 hours twice a week in the fields training them. On Saturday afternoon there is always field training. Since I am a student it may happen that sometimes my field lessons do not last so long, because I have to work for university. Although I would of course like to have a third Toller I cannot get a third one, because I know right now I do not have the time to train 3 dogs the way they need it and the way I want it. Especially dogs from working breeds that are handled on working tests always need more time than e.g. a French Bulldog.
Mr. and Mrs. K and S own 12 dogs at the moment ( 4males and 8 females). Let us assume Mrs. S carries on a job and Mr. K apart from his virtual farm does not carry on a job and let us further assume that one half of the dogs belong to Mrs. S and the other half to Mr. K. , consequently both of them have – apart from the job/virtual farm – to exercise 6 dogs! Of course you have to keep in mind that the Dutch Tollerclub does not expect Toller breeders to pass retrieving test with their dogs, so maybe Mr. K and Mrs. S do not have to train that much with their dogs. To decide if this relativizes the number of 12 Toller is up to you.
Speaking of breeding rules, I would like to mention that Mr. K and Mrs S belong to the so called “certified breeders”. As stressed on their website they breed according to the “STRICT rules” of the Dutch Tollerclub. According to Mr. K and Mrs. S “STRICT rules” are (among other things) for example regulations that say that a female must be at least 22 months at the day of the mating and is not allowed to raise more than 2 litters within 24 months, as well as the regulation that says that a female at the age of 8 or with a maximum of 4 litters retires from breeding. In my opinion it is absolutely right and important that breeding clubs provide breeding rules and I think it is a good idea of him to link these rules to his website. But I believe these regulations are not only regulations provided by the breeding club, but rather a naturalness when breeding dogs! That is why I would list these points when I was writing about my breeding philosophy and I would not stress they are strict, because they are just “natural”. Well, but this of course a matter of taste.
If you keep browsing on their website you will come across some very interesting statements. Mr. K writes that looking for the right (suitable) stud is extremely time- and energy consuming. O yes, it is! I have heard of a lot of breeders who travel through Germany, visit the Toller speciality in Sweden or fly to Canada just to find a suitable stud. Mr. K most likely travels through his living room to examine his 4 males one more time. At least he has been using his own males since 2007[2]. Of course I cannot deny that his search for a suitable stud is not as time consuming as he pretends, especially not if he hides the pedigrees from his wife Mrs. S, because that is indeed time-consuming! Time and energy are relative! Just like the word “often”. According to the kennel website Mr. K and Mrs. S do not produce litters often. Well, since October 2006 to February 2010, so in less than 4 years, Mr K and Mrs. S have raised 9 litters. I personally would refer to this as “often”, above all if you take into consideration that there are 2 more litters planned for March[3]. Speaking of “2 litters in March” I remember another statement given by Mr. K and Mrs S on their website. According to this statement they rather like to have only one litter at a time. But okay, just because your prefer something it does not mean that the other thing does not happen and as I said before: All things are relative!
I think from my point of view I was right when I deemed it proper to take a stand on Mr K´s charges against me and I think it was as well adequate to share my impression of Mr. K´s and Mrs. S breeding with my readers.
Finally I would like to point out again that I neither think my dogs are perfect nor do I think I am perfect. Joker & Sadiki have weaknesses concerning the working ability as well as their confirmation. I am for sure not a perfect retrieving trainer and no perfect show handler either. But I think I can claim that I am a person who fell in love with Duck Tollers 6 years ago and there is no other breed that comes close to the Toller and therefore I want to support and improve the breed concerning the working ability AND conformation. Although I am not perfect, I think and hope that Joker and Sadiki are satisfied with me as their owner no matter if we are in the fields or in the show ring, because I want them to be very happy with their lives. Only if they are happy I can be happy too. Right now I am very happy and therefore I do not care if a dashing Dutchman thinks I am a “bad loser”. I think that he is actually a really nice guy, but maybe we are both wrong. To err is human, isn´t it?!?!
/Alexandra Westermann
[1] Name is changed
[2] Unfortunately the overview of his raised litters only dates back to fall 2006
[3] stud dogs are owned by Mr. K