Episode 44: May 1st is National Purebred Dog Day!

This week on the Good Dog Pod, Laura is accompanied by a very good friend of hers, Susi Szeremy who is the founder of National Purebred Dog Day. Currently, there are 4 states across the US that have adopted National Purebred Dog Day as May 1st. 

Sushi Szeremy talks to us about the inception of National Purebred Dog Day: she wanted to create a day that would bring openness to the conversation of responsible dog ownership. Susi created a Facebook page and named it National Purebred Dog Day, but shortly forgot about it due to her deadlines in her writing career. When she returned to the page, it had gained traction within the online community, with over 5000 likes. 

Predictability is extremely important for many families. Whether you are looking to purchase a dog when starting a family and need an appropriate dog to be around young kids, or are looking to buy an older couple a dog who needs to be accommodative as they become more fragile. Purebred dogs offer the predictability that is often needed when purchasing a dog. 

Every year, Susi hosts a national photo contest, and this year Good Dog is sponsoring a prize for the contest. The theme? Who’s a Good Dog? There is no fee to enter the competition, the only requirements are that you either hand make or print out a sign that says National Purebred Dog Day or I Love My Purebred Dog to make sure that the photo was entered for this contest. Susi mentions how fun it is to see Purebred Dog lovers gather together and brag about their dogs. 

Owning a Purebred Dog comes with a sense of community. Once you purchase a Purebred dog, especially if you work with a breeder, you are immediately connected to a community of that breed where you can gather, learn from, and gain support from. Laura and Susi are passionate about Purebred dogs, and they dive deep into a conversation about the importance of Purebred dogs, the rarity of some purebred breeds and how purebred dogs have historically helped shape our perception of dogs.

We hope you all consider participating in the 2021 Who’s a Good Dog? Photo Challenge! For more information on past photo challenges head over to nationalpurebreddogday.com/photo-contest/.

Transcript

Laura Reeves [0:40] Welcome to the Good Dog Pod! I am your host, Laura Reeves, and I have a very fun guest for us today. This is my very good friend Susi Szeremy; she is the founder of National Purebred Dog Day. For a lot of folks this is a new concept, but this is something that Susi has been working very hard on for a number of years. We now have—Susi, tell me—four states that have adopted National Purebred Dog Day as May 1st. Is that correct?

Susi Szeremy [1:11] This is correct! I learned last week that Maine became the fourth state. Very exciting. 

Laura Reeves [1:17] It is very exciting! Tell us about this. Tell us what prompted you to start this and why National Purebred Dog Day should be a thing.

Susi Szeremy [1:27] I’m a writer by profession, and I had a bylined column that I was writing for back in 2014, and I knew there was a National Dog Day, National Puppy Day, National Rescue Day. I’m a really decent researcher and, for the article, I wanted to know when National Purebred Dog Day was and I couldn’t find it. I was absolutely astonished. We were in the crosshairs of the animal rights people who were mischaracterizing what purebred dog ownership and breeding is all about. I felt that it was important to create a day that would bring openness to the conversation about responsible dog ownership and the options that you have, to either have a rescue/shelter/mixed breed versus a purebred dog. I quickly bought a stock photo, put up a Facebook page, called it National Purebred Dog Day, gave it a date, and then forgot about it because I was under deadline. Five days later, or three days later, I went back and was astonished to find 5,000 people on a page I had never promoted, so that told me it was resonating with people. Long story short, I started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a website, and then I realized you have a website, you have a thing called National—maybe I ought to get teeth put into this. So I lobbied the state of Colorado with a backing of the AKC to recognize May 1st as National Purebred Dog Day. It passed unanimously. Since then, we have been celebrating the character, the diversity, predictability, and heritage of purebred dogs on May 1st. On that day, I have a fun photo contest. There is no fee to enter. I make no money off of it. It was simply to have fun and to spread the word about purebred dogs and to show off your purebred dog at home. Now, I make it clear that I love all dogs—whatever the ancestry. But there was a niche, a need, to understand what purebred dogs bring to the table. And what they offer is not just an amazing history that comes with each breed, but the predictability that some people need. If they’re having a baby, they want to get a family dog, but they need to know how big it’s going to be. Is it good with kids? Maybe you’re getting a dog for mom and dad who are in their 60s, and you want a dog that will not be too much for them as they become more frail. Predictability is important for a lot of people, and purebred dogs offer that. 

Laura Reeves [3:54] They do. I think that that is the beauty of National Purebred Dog Day: celebrating that and celebrating the predictability but also the diversity, because there are so many purebred dogs available. 

Susi Szeremy [4:10] There are. A lot of what we call land races are actually purebred dogs. People are taking a second look at the dogs in their home countries that they took for granted because their parents had them, their grandparents had them. They come to find out they’ve been breeding true for a very long time. There is an effort to look at these land races again and designate them as purebred dogs, and that’s exciting because it can coalesce a community and become very proud of something that is part of the national identity. 

Laura Reeves [4:45] That is absolutely amazing. Give us a good example of this. I have one I’m thinking of, but you give us one that is your favorite.

Susi Szeremy [4:52] A land race that became a purebred dog… That could be a lot of them. Laura, what’s the one you’re thinking of?

Laura Reeves [4:57] The one I’m thinking of is the Azawakh; some of the Sighthound breeds that come from Northern Africa in that delta region. You have the Saluki but you also have the Sloughi and the Azawakh and all of these that are of a similar make and shape and might be considered landrace breeds but then, as you dig into it and realize that the Caravan Hound in India and some of these other breeds that really have developed and bred true for decades if not centuries—

Susi Szeremy [5:35] They’ve been often misidentified/mislabeled a fair amount. I think when the Saluki came over, it was called a Pharaoh Hound as well. It took them a while to sort out that, no, these are very different dogs. 

Laura Reeves [5:48] One of the things that I absolutely love about National Purebred Dog Day’s website and your social media (your Facebook page) is the amount of information that you provide people on the daily. 

Susi Szeremy [6:01] I appreciate that. 

Laura Reeves [6:02] It’s just fascinating stuff. I’ve been involved in purebred dogs, like you, my whole life. You come up with these things, and I’m like where did you even find that?!

Susi Szeremy [6:14] I love ferreting out this information. I wish I had more time to do it in the day. There are things of which I’m proud that I’ve uncovered, and it took a little digging. Say, for instance, in Norfolk and Norwich Terriers—I noticed that alternative names for these breeds (but in particular the Norfolk) has been the Cantab Terrier. The best you can find out is that it was named that because students at Cambridge University often had these dogs, if you can imagine, in their dorm rooms because they had a rat problem. So they would get these dogs to control the ratting issue. That still didn’t explain to me where did Cantab come from. Long story short, if you look, there’s a sign. The city seal in a city in Massachusetts also has that name on it, and it’s a Latin phrase. It’s just this long, tortured history. But I finally found out why it’s called the Cantab, and it had nothing really that much to do with Cambridge and more to do with the Latin. It’s interesting stuff! 

Laura Reeves [7:20] And there’s always something. I learn about a new breed or a new piece about an old breed. All of those sorts of things. Tell us about the photo contest, because I am always excited. Good Dog is sponsoring a prize for the photo contest. Everybody who’s listening, you can enter “Who’s a Good Dog?” 

Susi Szeremy [7:44] It is so much fun. We all have so much fun! I have David Frei coming back as one of our judges. People might remember him as being Mister Westminster, but he is the current host for the National Dog Show that we all watch on Thanksgiving. And Jack Grassa, who is a photographer at Westminster is also returning as a judge. There is no fee to enter. The only thing I require of entries is that you either hand-make or download and print out a sign that says either “Happy National Purebred Dog Day!” or “I love my purebred dog!” and keep it in the photo. The only reason I do that is to have control over the narrative and to make sure that the photo was entered for this contest and not some other contest. 

Laura Reeves [8:28] Right. And you can’t Photoshop in your sign.

Susi Szeremy [8:32] No, you cannot! But it offers a challenge to people to figure out how to incorporate a sign in what would otherwise be a pretty easy picture to take.

Laura Reeves [8:40] It is very hard. I’ve tried! 

Susi Szeremy [8:43] Yeah, it is. Particularly if the theme has anything to do with water. Sometimes we get a few drenched signs, but the contest happens all on Facebook on May 1st. The rules will be posted on Facebook. They also appear on the website. As the judges determine the winners, those are also announced on Facebook. We have some amazing prizes. Impact Crates (I’m happy to say) is returning, and their stuff is amazing. They have the best crates ever. And now, in a time of pandemic, Tool Klean is also returning, but this time, they are offering an oven! 

Laura Reeves [9:19] Oh my gosh. 

Susi Szeremy [9:20] You put your item (it could be anything from a cell phone to a comb to car keys to perming equipment) in there. In about less than a minute, it will kill anything that lives on that item. 

Laura Reeves [9:34] I’m entering that contest! 

Susi Szeremy [9:37] There is no liquid. There is no death ray. There’s a lot of things you can put in there, and it will come back to you the way you put them in. We have a dryer. We have some very cool prizes coming up. It’s a lot of fun. Contest themes—we don’t have them as yet because I encourage the sponsors to craft their own themes. But previous contests have been “Where’s Waldo?” and the challenge is to take a picture of the dog and put it in plain sight but make it hard to find. Another one is “Scenes From a Book,” where photographers are challenged to pick a scene out of a well-known book or movie and recreate it but with their dogs. You can have Gone With the Wind, and the dog is in a hoop skirt.

Laura Reeves [10:22] I love it. My other podcast, Pure Dog Talk, we have Purely Dogs Talking. So, showing the dog communicating, whether it’s to another dog or to a human, and that one has been tons of fun. 

Susi Szeremy [10:35] They’re really fun, and what’s really fun for me to watch is to see people gather together on Instagram and Twitter and Telegram and all these different social media platforms and brag about their dogs. They’re proud of their dogs. It’s just a fun day to show how many of us there are out there, what we love about our dogs—because at the end of the day, they are our companions, our buddies. Even if they’re show dogs, at the end of the day, they come home. They hang out on the bed. They’re spoiled dogs. But I especially like to see people coming together from outside the dog arena to use National Purebred Dog Day as a tool to promote their own good. I’m not offended in the least when a frame company has a special National Purebred Dog Day sale, promoting frames for pictures. 

Laura Reeves [11:26] Yes!

Susi Szeremy [11:26] I just think that that is expanding our world and bringing in more people to the arena of dog ownership. I think that’s great. I love it. I noticed on Twitter a couple of years ago—I was so proud of this—that one of the Marine bases had a mascot on the base. I think it was actually a canine, too; it was a military canine dog, if my memory serves. They used the day to brag about their military canine! 

Laura Reeves [11:54] Awesome!

Susi Szeremy [11:55] The beauty of purebred dogs is that they are everywhere. They are service dogs. They are military dogs. They are police canines. They are conservation dogs. They are finding coronavirus in places. 

Laura Reeves [12:10] Yes! Isn’t that awesome?!

Susi Szeremy [12:10] Again, it comes back to the predictability that these dogs offer. People who need to have a dog that is high-drive, that will want to work for nothing more than to play with a Kong, are very motivated to become military dogs or conservation dogs because they know that when they complete their task, “I get to play with my Kong!” 

Laura Reeves [12:32] Right. I want to touch back on one of the things that you said earlier because, again, we love all dogs. Every dog is a wonderful character and personality. That’s a given. 

Susi Szeremy [12:44] They are precious.

Laura Reeves [12:44] But a purebred dog: I know that if I want a dog that is going to herd me around, you have Puli, for example. Your Puli’s behavior is far, far different than my German Wirehaired Pointer’s behavior because they were designed to do different things.

Susi Szeremy [13:11] Exactly. I have been amused when somebody will tell me that they can’t walk from one side of the house to the other without their dog kind of—not nipping, but—nudging at their heels. They find it annoying until I tell them why they’re doing it. They are trying to gather you. They are trying to get you from one place to another. They’re helping. Their whole attitude towards this dog changes. The dog that they loved before, they now admire. They love seeing the dog in action. I love the fact that different breeds bring different things to the table. I love Bloodhounds, but I could never live with one. The people who live with them couldn’t imagine living with my breed because of all the coat maintenance. So, there is a good fit for everybody. All I care about is: do your homework. Whether it is a mixed breed or a shelter dog, do your homework. Try to ascertain that you are going to be the best home for this dog and that it’s a good fit for you, and you’re looking at a very satisfying relationship for a long time.

Laura Reeves [14:11] I was saying this earlier to somebody else. You get to select your companion for the next 10 or 15 years. You can choose to have a companion that does a certain thing, has a specific characteristic. If you don’t like brushing a dog… Sometimes you can’t tell when a puppy is young what kind of hair it’s going to have, but if it’s a purebred dog, you know the answer to that question.

Susi Szeremy [14:40] It does come back full-circle to predictability. You know what size you’re going to look at. You know the characteristics. You know that a Lab and a Golden Retriever are probably great family dog fits. A Malinois? Maybe not as much. 

Laura Reeves [14:55] Right. Even though a Lab and a Malinois have very similar coats and they’re both active/athletic dogs, their personalities are radically different. Knowing that helps you make the right choice for your family. 

Susi Szeremy [15:14] Exactly. You inherit a kind of a community of people when you get a purebred dog, particularly if you work with a breeder. You inherit other people who have gotten from that breeder, but you also inherit the community of people who have that same breed. You can compare notes. You can say, “My dog does this. Does your dog do that?” You can get tips. You can gather together for picnics. Well, one day we will gather again for picnics. 

Laura Reeves [15:45] We will gather again! I promise. 

Susi Szeremy [15:47] It’s a sense of belonging. It’s like having kids at daycare. You get together, and you just compare progress and what the dogs are doing. My breed, which is a coated breed, we’ll gather with people who have no idea what to expect out of that dog coat—except that they know that, as adults, they look very different than they did as puppies. I know that when I get a call from a hysterical owner who’s ready to shave the dog down because it’s a solid mat, I know the dog’s coat is doing what it’s supposed to do. And I talk them off the ledge. I walk them through what they’re supposed to do. It’s that way with every breed. Even if it’s a low-maintenance breed, there’s always going to be something you could use the advice of from somebody who’s already had one. 

Laura Reeves [16:31] Absolutely. That is one of the great things at Good Dog: having a breeder that you can ask questions of, that you can get advice from, that you can get answers to these kinds of questions from. I tell my puppy buyers that it’s like 24/7 tech support. 

Susi Szeremy [16:50] Very true. You know, a lot of us (I find) started out with a mixed breed. A lot of us, our first dog was a shelter dog. Although, back in the day (I’m old enough) you really didn’t have rescues. You had the dog pound.

Laura Reeves [17:05] Yeah, pound puppies. 

Susi Szeremy [17:08] You got your dog out of a box that was in front of the grocery store, and it was a little kid saying, “We had puppies. Here, you have one.” We’ve come a long way from there. A lot of us also grew up within the fancy—I think you did. You have a legacy of your own, where your mom was a significant person within the breed. 

Laura Reeves [17:29] Yes. The thing that I love about the—I always call us The Tribe—the Purebred Dog Tribe is we always have sort of an understanding of one another, and we are always happy to see people with one of our dogs or another dog from a member of The Tribe. When I was a little kid, my mom had a Miniature Poodle, but my personal dog was a Beagle-Dachshund-Cocker Spaniel-Lhasa Apso-Poodle! 

Susi Szeremy [18:00] There you go! 

Laura Reeves [18:03] I think that the love of dogs is the love of dogs. The love of purebred dogs is that we want to see everyone appreciate the living history and the beautiful art that are represented by purebred dogs.

Susi Szeremy [18:20] They are museum pieces with a pulse, I like to say. Something else to consider is how many of our precious breeds are now in trouble.

Laura Reeves [18:28] Yes. Could you speak to this? Because I think this is so important.

Susi Szeremy [18:32] A lot of people (rightfully so!) feel good about rescuing a dog. I get it. We all do. But I want your audience to consider that they could have a hand in saving a breed. If you can imagine—and I had to refer to this just today, so these are facts that are like an hour old—in their country of origin, 20 Bloodhounds were registered in all of 2020. Twenty Bloodhounds is not enough to sustain a breed that is so vital to law enforcement, to finding people with Alzheimer’s, to finding lost kids. They are the only breed whose evidence is admissible in a court of law. Twenty dogs in all of the UK is shocking. There are more White Rhinoceroses than there are Dandie Dinmont Terriers. Don’t even get me started with Otterhounds! There are 600-800 Otterhounds left in the world. Otterhounds—I get this argument all the time: “We don’t have otters anymore; why would we need Otterhounds?” For starters, it’s a wicked old breed. I hate the idea that we lost a breed hundreds and hundreds of years old on our watch. But the other thing to consider is you can repurpose them because Otterhounds have in their background Bloodhounds. They have amazing noses. They used to work in concert with Airedales back in the day when they did hunt otters, because otters really impacted the livelihood of people by raiding the fisheries. They were considered vermin at the time. We’re not there anymore but that, to me, is no reason to let a breed just vanish off the face of the earth. 

Laura Reeves [20:17] We talk a lot about the living history that is represented by purebred dogs. My favorite quote was from one of the judges from Westminster. You’ll remember Dr. Richard Meade judged Best in Show. His quote was that purebred dogs are our only living museum to our time on earth. 

Susi Szeremy [20:41] They are.

Laura Reeves [20:42] I love that image and that appreciation of the history that comes with the purebred dog. 

Susi Szeremy [20:50] They are our links to the past as well, I think. They are testaments to people who sometimes risked everything during wartime to ensure that their breed survived. There were so many breeds that we almost lost during both World Wars. What the people who went through who had kennels of them is enough to make you weep. They would go without, to be able to keep their dogs fed. Sadly, some breeds (like a Mastiff) were so expensive to feed that rather than see these dogs suffer, the owners would just put down an entire kennel to spare them. It’s tragic. They are really special. They meant something to the people who created them for a reason. They’ve built a niche, from the Inuits in Alaska who needed dogs to pull travois to Sighthounds that helped to put rabbit into the pot for the family dinner. They are icons in our own culture. It’s not just other cultures. When you think about Oogy and Snoopy and Lassie and Rin Tin Tin—they are all part of the American experience. I think that’s why Uno was such an amazingly popular winner at Westminster, because everybody could relate to a Beagle. Everybody knew a Beagle growing up or had a Beagle growing up. He was a great dog. I loved his story.

Laura Reeves [22:10] Uno, we’re talking about, was the Beagle that won Westminster Kennel Club in 2005? I want to say 2005. You should know this. Susi does some part-time work for Westminster Kennel Club, so I was really hoping she was going to pinch-hit me in there. 

Susi Szeremy [22:30] If I cram any more into this head, it’s going to start leaking out of my ears. 

Laura Reeves [22:35] He was just a great ambassador. He went around to schools and to nursing homes with David Frei frequently. He was a wonderful ambassador for purebred dogs. 

Susi Szeremy [22:45] You know, again, we circle back to the predictability. Beagles had a function. They are hounds, hunting dogs. I often want to get more of a Meet-the-Breeds in school program going because, when I think about it, if you bring a dog into a classroom (at a future date, because right now nothing is normal), you can have a lesson on history. You can have a lesson on science and genetics. You can have a lesson language, costume, food, cuisine. Everything about that dog’s culture can come into play in one lesson. 

Laura Reeves [23:25] On top of that, Susi, kids are engaged because there’s a dog they can pet. I’ve done school presentations with dogs on animal safety and on animal care. It is uncanny how engaged those children are as soon as you bring in a dog. 

Susi Szeremy [23:47] Absolutely. 

Laura Reeves [23:48] When I was in college, that was actually my internship. I had a Clumber Spaniel that I would take.

Susi Szeremy [23:56] Another dog with a lot of history. 

Laura Reeves [23:57] A lot of history! I would tell them the name of the breed. This is the Clumber Spaniel. And they would all say “cucumber” and “clumsy” and what have you. I would tell them that, no, this dog is named for Clumber Park in Sherwood Forest. Who else lived in Sherwood Forest? 

Susi Szeremy [24:17] Mhm! With the Maid Marion. 

Laura Reeves [24:19] So we could pull in all of the history of Robin Hood with just this one long, low, substantial white dog. 

Susi Szeremy [24:27] A lot of kids grow up with Disney. I don’t know that they watch Disney anymore, but Greyfriars Bobby was a very popular Disney movie. Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier. His story was that when his owner died, he guarded that grave for 14 years. They have a statue now in that town. Most of us saw that Disney movie. That was a Skye Terrier. And now there are more panda bears in the world than there are of that breed. 

Laura Reeves [24:55] Right. Or the movie with Richard Gere—Hachi—about the Akita in Japan. That is a true story. 

Susi Szeremy [25:07] It really is. You learn so much when you go into the history of a purebred dog, and you gain so much. You gain the community. When I think about who would want predictability, besides a family, joggers would want one. People who hunt. People who have disabilities. I first met a Pyrenean Shepherd—big doggies!—and I was covering a Laekenois specialty in Louisiana, and they had an open show. That’s where I first met them, and one of the ladies who had one has a disability. It was really interesting to hear her talk about it, because she needed a dog big enough that she could kind of lean on as she got up out of a chair, but she also needed a dog with a temperament that was bullet-proof so that when she was in a public situation, nobody would be afraid of the dog. There are people who are leery of dogs until they know otherwise. She had these very specific needs. The Pyrenean Shepherd met them all. She just had these boxes she could tick of with that one breed. A rancher who has livestock is going to need a different dog that, for hundreds of years, has guarded stock. In some countries, they’re using these livestock guardian dogs to help endangered species, like a cheetah. 

Laura Reeves [26:28] The story of Laurie Marker and the Anatolian Shepherds with the cheetahs—I grew up in Roseburg, Oregon, and Laurie Marker and Khayam were literally local celebrities. I have, on my other podcast Pure Dog Talk, interviewed Laurie about the work that she is doing. I don’t know that all my listeners appreciated it, but it was like the highlight of my time doing podcasts. 

Susi Szeremy [26:54] Hey, Laura, they could probably find that, correct? On Pure Dog Talk? 

Laura Reeves [26:57] Yes! They could. You can keyword search it. It is a great opportunity to learn about purebred dogs and the work that they’re doing for big cats. Cats and dogs together are amazing. 

Susi Szeremy [27:14] They had these ranchers. (You feel for the ranchers.) They didn’t want to kill cheetahs, but they also relied on goats and sheep that they were farming. You feel bad for everybody involved. The cheetah wants to eat. The farmer wants to eat. Unfortunately, they both need the same thing to be able to eat. Farmers had no option but to shoot these cheetahs. That horrifies those of us who want to save this magnificent cat. By bringing in these dogs, the cheetahs were repelled from entering the area. They respected the dogs’ space and knew that they were probably not going to win in a fight with that kind of dog. It’s been a win-win for everyone.

Laura Reeves [27:57] Right. It is an amazing story. It really is. I really like the story of the Karelian Bear Dogs that are moving bears out of areas where they’re having too much contact with people. Because otherwise, the bears will be euthanized. These dogs are able to save the bears’ lives. That’s a pretty impressive thing, too.

Susi Szeremy [28:20] It isn’t every dog that can do that. I’ve watched these dogs in action, and they’re really annoying and that’s their job: to get in this bear’s face and bark and bark and bark and really annoy the bear. The bear leaves, because he doesn’t want to get his nose bit. Not many dogs will go nose-to-nose with bears. 

Laura Reeves [28:42] No. Karelian Bear Dogs are, again, bred for the purpose. I just think that having an entire day in the United States to celebrate the history and the art of purebred dogs is pretty amazing.

Susi Szeremy [28:57] Well, I appreciate it. And you’ve been a great supporter, Laura. I’ve always appreciated it. Our problem is that we are both dog people. Look how much we’ve been talking, just back and forth, about 3 or 4 breeds. There’s 350 breeds in the world. We could talk for days and frequently do when we’re together.

Laura Reeves [29:15] And days and days and days. 

Susi Szeremy [29:17] I mean, when you can’t cover the history, then you go to structure. What makes a good dog? What makes a sound dog?  Because soundness matters in a dog, even if it never sets foot in a show ring. Most dogs love to play. They want to get up and down the couch. They want to go up and down stairs. It matters how they’re built. You don’t want a dog to live in pain every day of its life. 

Laura Reeves [29:39] And I have an entire seminar on exactly that topic for Good Dog!

Susi Szeremy [29:44] It’s important! It matters! So if you’re going to get a purebred dog, I heartily recommend working with a breeder. But here’s another thing to consider if your heart is really still in rescue: every club that’s a member of the AKC has a rescue committee. No one knows their breed like someone who’s lived with it all their lives. So if you want to, say, get a Cirneco (which is a hound), you go to the Cirneco dell’Etna Club. You contact their committee on rescue. They’re going to be able to ascertain if you’re a good fit for this dog and if this breed is a good fit for your lifestyle. You can really satisfy two birds with one stone. You can get a purebred dog, but you can get a rescue as well.

Laura Reeves [30:35] And help a dog that’s in a tough situation. Purebred dogs come into the notice of rescue in a variety of ways, whether the owner has passed away or whatever the situation might be. You’re able to do a good thing for a dog in need and still have the predictability of what that particular breed represents.

Susi Szeremy [30:55] It’s very true. My daughter had a Puli. That’s my breed, for anybody who hasn’t figured that out (it’s a Hungarian Sheepdog). When that Puli died, every person that was involved in the transport of getting that dog from the owner’s home when the owner died all the way to where my daughter lived (I think it involved moving from Ohio all the way to Montana)—there were a lot of legs to the journey, a lot of people involved—and it was the community that she inherited when she got that dog. He passed. Old age. I think he was 15 or 16 years old. He was mourned by everyone who had a hand in getting him to my daughter. We mourn our own. 

Laura Reeves [31:40] We do. And we take care of our own. I think that that is one of the great things about Good Dog and our breeders. These dogs have a home for life. Whether that home is with me or another one of my family—my extended family—they are always going to have care.

Susi Szeremy [31:57] And that a breeder will do that. I think you just said that. Breeders want to know what happens to the dogs they bring into the world. There was a story of a Weimaraner many years back who made quite the splash at Westminster. There was a guy involved in rescue, but he was strictly Weimaraners. He looked on Craigslist and noticed there was a Weimaraner from Champion bloodlines, so he got curious and he went to the house where the dog was. This woman had 5 kids all under the age of 5. She had her hands full. Husband never consulted her. Always wanted a Weimaraner. But of course, guess who was left taking care of it. Long story short, he took the dog. The dog was in bad shape, lived in his crate most of the time, had some behavior issues that they worked on, had some health issues that they worked on. Long story short: he brought him around, and this dog was magnificent. But here was the deal. The dog ended up in this home because the husband of the woman with all the kids got the dog from somebody else who couldn’t keep the dog. The somebody else who couldn’t keep the dog had gotten the dog from the breeder. He was too embarrassed to contact the breeder and let her know that he had lost his jobs and he had fallen on hard times. He was just too embarrassed, and so he sold the dog on his own. In the end, the dog ended up in a bad situation. That breeder never knew. It wasn’t her fault. She was desperately looking for the dog, wanting to know what became of this dog when she never heard from the first owner. It came full-circle. It ended well. But if anybody ever finds themselves in a situation where they cannot keep their dog, please contact your breeder first. They want to know!

Laura Reeves [33:42] They want to know. There’s no judgement. This isn’t about judgement. This is about making sure that the animal is in the appropriate home. We worked really hard to put the right puppy in the right home, and we’ll work just as hard to find it a home if you’re not able to keep it.

Susi Szeremy [34:00] Exactly. We care about the dog. Circling back, National Purebred Dog Day. May 1st. If you have a purebred dog, post your pictures everywhere. It’s the day that I encourage people to get out with their dogs. The rarer the breed, the more I want you to get out. Yeah, it’s tough in times of Covid, but we are still masked and you can still have a conversation with someone about their dog. 

Laura Reeves [34:25] You can stand six feet away and talk about your dog! It’s not a hardship. It’s awesome.

Susi Szeremy [34:30] Or I have little bandanas that dogs can wear that say “Ask about my heritage.”

Laura Reeves [34:35] Yes! Those are wonderful.

Susi Szeremy [34:36] If you are shy and you are not inclined to talk about your dog, most people will not be rude enough to ignore the question: Tell me about your dog? Before you know it, you can say, “Well, it’s a German Shepherd and it comes from Germany. It was a herding dog. It’s a police dog.” Before you know it, you’ve been talking a half hour about your dog. 

Laura Reeves [34:56] That’s the beautiful thing about dogs. Here we are on the Good Dog Pod, and we just start talking. Here we are, 45 minutes into it! 

Susi Szeremy [35:05] And we’re not done yet, but I know we need to be. Everybody, post pictures of your dog. National Purebred Dog Day is on Facebook. 

Laura Reeves [35:13] I love my purebred dog! Go get your sign and download it from NationalPurebredDogDay.com. 

Susi Szeremy [35:20] Or just make your own. But enter the contest. The prizes are very cool. And it’s just a fun day. 

Laura Reeves [35:26] It is. It’s super fun! It’s like my favorite day each year, to watch these people come up with their photos. They’re so fabulous. 

Susi Szeremy [35:33] Yeah, and you know, people should still post their pictures even if it’s not part of the contest. They’re all over Twitter. They’re all over Telegram. We have so many social media platforms now, it’s hard to keep up. Instagram is really fun, too. 

Laura Reeves [35:47] Yeah, that’s always a great one. Alright, well Susi, thank you so much. I really, really appreciate your time.

Susi Szeremy [35:52] Thank you for asking! It’s really great fun to reconnect with you and catch up.