To This End Was I Born

Each time a litter of pups is whelped I cannot help imagining the future for the individual pups. It is such a long way from the whelping box to the podium of the National Championship yet my hope is that each pup we whelp here at Revilo Kennels is capable of that journey. We do all that we can to ensure the genetic potential required to make that difficult trek, including matching parents that compliment each other and possess the genetic characteristics necessary, providing the early socialization that is vital to producing a pup capable of learning, and providing the best in physical care that will produce healthy, robust pups.

Recently while doing a follow up with a person who had purchased a pup from us I learned that the person was not happy with his pup. I had every confidence in the pups abilities and was confused as to why the unhappiness. I offered to take the pup for a few months and do some training with him. My confidence in the pups abilities was confirmed as I trained him, he was a very talented dog. After a few months I brought the dog back and spent some time with the dog and his owner. A few weeks later the owner called to inform me that the dog had retrieved 84 geese that week for he and his friends. The owner was ecstatic and told me he loved the dog.

What made the difference? Obviously, there were several things, but I think one of the most significant is that I had confidence in the dog's abilities and was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. A trait that we value highly here at Revilo Kennels is "intelligence" which is manifest in dogs in a variety of ways, but most usually in a desire to please and work as a partner in whatever role the human may choose for the dog. In the absence of a choice on the human's part the dog will resort to its own choices which are sometimes devious and undesirable and thus a conflict arises.

We know that not every dog we raise here at Revilo is destined for field trials or even hunting, and that's not the point, the point is that every dog that we raise is destined to fill a role and that role is designated by the good people who own the dog, not the dog. Hence our philosophy concerning the importance of good owners. They are absolutely vital to our breeding program.