Ever feel embarrassed that you’re a dog breeder? Julie Swan with The Honest Dog Breeder, answers a lot of hard questions about why ethical dog breeding isn’t a bad thing. In fact, her website and company, just like it sounds, is all about helping dog breeders make their breeding program something to be proud of.
Collaboration of: The Honest Dog Breeder & The Dog Journal
TDJ: Julie, thanks for joining us, and thanks for making a positive impact on the lives of so many dog breeders. Tell me a bit about yourself personally, your history, etc.
JS: Yes, sure, my name is Julie Swan, and I’ve been breeding dogs for ten years. In my first year of breeding, I lost 8 puppies to giardia, and that was pretty awful. I had sent dogs out to Alaska, Montana, all kinds of places, really, and I had to call every puppy parent and be like “Hey, if your dogs start having symptoms like this, do this. If your dog does this, go to the vet.” It was just an awful three weeks. Everybody said it was Parvo, which it wasn’t, and eventually we figured out that it was giardia. I just felt so guilty after those 8 puppies died, and I said “You know, I don’t know that I deserve to be a dog breeder.”
After thinking about this at length, I decided I have two options: I can either fix this, and make it not be a problem again, or I can just give up. Those were my two options. I decided that I needed to learn how to do this, and do it right. Also, I felt like if I could, I should try and help other people having to go through the same issues that I had gone through. And so, I did. I came up with MOOM, which is a natural way to help treat giardia. One thing led to the next, and it went further than I had originally anticipated. I have a business degree, which I try not to talk about, because I don’t want breeders to think that they need a business degree to be successful. With that being said, though, it has helped me considerably with turning my breeding into a business, and helping other breeders do the same.
That’s how this whole thing started, and then it took me a while to “get good enough,” to gather enough information and knowledge to share. Dog breeding was my full-time income after my divorce; it paid for my kids’ education, it kept us living in our house, kept food on the table, and allowed us to keep doing what we do. It also kept me from having to go back to full-time work while my kids were in an emotionally delicate time, which was valuable.
That’s my background story. Today, I specialize in the business side of breeding. I strongly believe that breeders need to make a fair amount of money. It’s too much waste to clean up, and just too much work all around to not get paid. My goal is to make the different parts of a dog breeding business easier, as well as change breeders’ mindset. It’s ok if you hate this sometimes, and the reality is, you’re going to lose a puppy once in a while. That doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person by default, it just gives you something to work on.
TDJ: So, let’s say I’m a young dog breeder, just getting started, what do you have to offer, and how does the program work?
JS: I have all kinds of things available to help you get started. The easiest and best thing to do as a breeder getting started is to check out my podcasts. Go to my website honestdogbreeder. com and feel free to listen to any available podcast, as well as take advantage of any of my free information and education. If you feel like you agree with my values as a breeder, then we’re a good fit. At that point and time, depending where you’re at in your program, you’ll probably be a great fit for the Dog Breeder’s Society. The Dog Breeder’s Society has a bunch of educational master classes to help you get started, things like setting up your brand, how big your program
needs to be, and lots of other topics like that. All of those things are addressed within that course, and then I do offer one on one coaching as well.
I offer one on one monthly coaching for some breeders that we have an ongoing monthly maintenance package, and then I also do business plans with people, and help them get that all set up. Also, I help breeder’s get started on management software that will help their program go more smoothly.
The Dog Breeder’s Society is $35.00 per month or $350.00 per year. I may need to go up around the first of the year, but that’s the current price. Included with that is a discussion feature where you can go in and ask a question, and people have the option to answer or give their opinion. This feature is nice, because it’s like social media without all of the junk. People inside the Society understand that you need to make money to stay in business.
TDJ: What are some of the main things you focus on in terms of being a good dog breeder?
JS: For me there are two main focuses, when running this as a business. Number one is, you need to take care of your people, the ones that are buying puppies from you. Once you understand who you’re selling to—your ideal puppy buyer—you think of them every time you make a breeding decision. That can really help bring clarity to your decisions, and really, it makes it hard for you to make a bad decision. For example, you might think, “I haven’t tested the hips on this dog, but I can breed him anyway.” If you think of your ideal puppy buyer, can you justify that to them? The answer is probably no, right, because they care about health, and not testing the dog’s hips before breeding is not a good idea if you care about health. So, thinking about your ideal puppy buyer kind of has its own way of building quality control into your breeding program. When you love your ideal puppy buyer and who they are, you can’t send them home with a bad dog.
Thinking about your ideal puppy buyer also helps with advertising and marketing. What to put on social media, your message and branding, etc. The second important thing to focus on is that your family wants to be part of what you do. They want you in their life, so when you make decisions within your breeding program, you really have to consider how that impacts your family. I want for your breeding program to be the bringer of good things. It should be the bringer of good things to your life, your buyers, and your puppies and dogs. When you put all of that together, you create this sweet spot. By the way, I don’t want you to never go on a vacation again. I want you to have some fun with this.
TDJ: Julie, as we know, society views dog breeding as a not so positive thing. How do you address or speak to that?
JS: Basically, what I found is that there’s a big difference in mindset between “adopt, don’t shop” and dog breeding. Everyone will agree that all dogs are worth loving. That’s something we can all agree on. Even dog breeders believe that dogs in the most messed up situations are worth loving and having a quality of life. However, that does not mean that all dogs are right for you.
That’s where the “adopt, don’t shop” movement has it wrong. They think all dogs are the same. They think that if there’s a dog in a shelter, you should adopt it into your home. The problem is, that could be a dog that’s just totally incompatible to your life, and that’s an unacceptable risk that rescues and shelters tend to gloss over in order to send these dogs home.
Whereas for us, as breeders, we can perfectly cultivate this puppy, its temperament, etc., and know in what environment it will survive and thrive in, and find a home accordingly. And then we also need to be there as a support system if those people have problems.
That, in my mind, is an ideal situation. And in my experience over the past years, being in this business, the people that buy puppies from breeders simply would not buy a dog from a rescue. That’s the majority of them. And so really, we’re not taking away anything from the shelters. In fact, if we do our job and educate our buyers properly, that will keep more dogs out of shelters than anything else.
TDJ: Interesting. You talked about your podcasts briefly. How often do you do a new podcast, and what type of topics do you cover in them?
JS: I talk a lot about the why in dog breeding. Topics like why do we need a website, why do we care about this specific thing, etc. I also talk about issues I see and deal with as a breeder business coach. One example of that is mistakes that a lot of people make in their contracts, which can ruin the relationship with your new puppy buyer before they even get a dog.
Another thing I do a fair number of podcasts on has to do with mindset shifts. A lot of people feel guilty breeding dogs because of the things we just talked about, like the worldview of dog breeding. I try to let them know that “Hey, you’re creating a puppy that will go to a forever home, and then you’ll be there to support them in that, and there’s nothing wrong with that. And getting paid for something like that totally makes sense! You shouldn’t break even, if you’re breaking even, you’re doing something wrong.”
TDJ: Cool! I need to spend some time listening to them. Over the past few years, have you noticed any specific trends when it comes to dog breeding?
JS: I think as a whole, dog breeding is becoming more accepted, and that’s good. You no longer have to whisper that you bought a dog from a breeder, you can now be proud of that fact. I’m also seeing more breeders offer better support for new puppy parents, especially with the technology. For example, the software I use automatically allows me to send 12 emails to my buyers to prepare them for their new puppy, and I point out all of the things that could possibly be an issue, and then I explain how to fix them. It saves them time and frustration, it saves me time, and my buyers are better prepared for their new puppies. Also, as the economy slows up a bit, buyers are more concerned about their purchases, and that may make for less inquiries. And that’s a beautiful thing, because that forces us as dog breeders to work harder to market, cut the fat, and just become better at what we do all around. This is a really great time to evaluate what we’re doing and make it better.
TDJ: What do you enjoy most about helping dog breeders become better at what they do?
JS: When they have that lightbulb moment, they feel confident and good about what they’re doing, and this becomes that bringer of good things for their family, that’s the most satisfying part of what I do.
TDJ: Julie, thank you so much. It’s refreshing for me to hear you speak about dog breeding in such a positive way, and I wish you the best in your endeavors. Thanks again!
Today we sit down with Jonathan Lawler, also known as The Punk Rock Farmer, to talk about the documentary he’s producing called “Puppy Mill” This documentary is almost completed, and hopefully by the time this is printed, will be out there and available.
over the course of the past few months we’re hearing the words
Canine Care come up frequently,
The group at PAWS has officially launched the long awaited and worked on Kennel Assistance Program, also known as K.A.P. This program was designed for breeders by breeders, for the simple mission of helping each other improve the industry and public perception of dog breeding one breeder at a time. Here’s the cool part, it doesn’t cost you as a breeder anything to participate, and you don’t even need to be a PAWS member.
The Dog Journal Canine Care: Part Three Hello from Perfect Match Poodles. This is the story of our experience with the Canine Care Certified program.
