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Michael said: "There are a lot of people who are frightened of promoting, publicising, marketing almost anything because they think there will be adverse results along with any positve outcomes, and I think Debbie is one of those."
Debbie used to wear rose colored glasses and live in an ivory tower dog world like Michael. In the US one can no longer do that and at least I seem to be in good company. After the lessons learned when Disney released the 101 Dalmatian movies, it is now common for parent breed clubs to issue press releases and post statements on their websites about their breed and what one might see in the movie is not necessarily representative of the breed. With Disney's re-make of the Shaggy Dog being released, the Bearded Collie is just the latest to issue this type of disclaimer. Additionally, many breed fanciers and rescuers will often attend opening nights in order to do public education. Most parent clubs also have a statement prepared for after the major televised dog shows (such as Westminister) to post should their breed win Best In Show. John Q Public's impulse with a breed flavour of the day has taught us here some lessons the hard way.
Do I indiscriminately encourage any and everybody interested in getting a dog to get a corgi - no. Do I work breed fairs, do information booths, answer e-mails, questions on lists, talk to people about the breed(s) whenever I am out and about with any of the dogs and act as an ambassador for the breed(s); absolutely.
In 2005, 10,648 Pembrokes were registered with the AKC alone. That does not include the other registries or ones not registered with any organization. Michael's woes about the state of the corgi breed in NZ is not one we have in the US.
Debbie
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