Showing and breeding
After much deliberation, Rachel and I have decided to withdraw from showing and breeding Maremmas in future. We may attend the odd show (the girls will be entered for Crufts 2006 for instance) but only occasionally and for fun. We have also withdrawn from both UK breed clubs and from judging lists. It has not, as you can imagine, been an easy decision but we are certain that it is the right one for us and for our dogs at present.
The reasons are multiple and complicated and I have no wish to rake through details here. Suffice it to say that things were brought to a head by behaviour of officers of one breed club committee which we considered to be inappropriate and accusations made by one of them which, though presented with no evidence whatsoever (and which included the charge that this website is “damaging the breed” – and I quote!), were not rejected by the committee. Add to this our increasing activities with rescue and training and our very busy lives in general, and we decided that life is too short and we can use our energy and time much more usefully and enjoyably elsewhere. Certainly life has been considerably less stressful since making this decision.
We are not of course withdrawing from the breed. Our dogs remain, as they have always been, much loved companions and we will continue to do what we can to support rescue internationally. We are proud of our two litters and the pleasure they bring to their owners. But we have no plans to breed again in future. It is a huge commitment in time and resources, not to mention responsibility, which at present we are unable to make. And at the moment we feel that there are enough dogs being bred in the world with far too many being destroyed, to justify us personally breeding any more.
Although we realise that the breed is in difficulties in the UK (though there are still a few good breeders here), there is no shortage of good dogs and breeders in Italy and elsewhere in the world. The breed itself is not endangered, only its future in the show ring in the UK. We hope that the remaining genuine lovers of the breed here will eventually win the day, that the clubs will be able to work together to persuade the Kennel Club to give a reprieve, and that those remaining will be able finally to turn the breed’s fortunes around.