With many enquiries into my puppies or dogs, I will get a statement of “Well, I am not looking for a show dog – just a companion”.

That’s fair enough. Showing is not for everyone.

However, let me explain the benefits of buying a “companion” puppy from a breeder who shows their dogs. What do I mean? Let me explain.

Each breed of dog has a written standard showing the “ideal/perfect” specimen of that breed. It’s the gold standard we are all trying to get as close to. Here is the standard for the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Here is the standard for the Beagle. It goes through everything from earset, to topline, to head shape, to acceptable colors, to temperament, and everything in between.

When show breeders show their dogs, they are asking judges to critique and choose their dogs based on that criteria. Showing dogs is essentially assessing breeding stock – how closely do the dogs match the standard so when they are bred, hopefully they will pass on genes that look and act like that specific breed. So, if you don’t get a pup from a show breeder, you may be getting a puppy that wont really look like the breed standard by the time it is an adult.

In any litter that a show breeder may have, they may only keep 1 or 2 pups. The other pups may have not been chosen, may still be beautiful but may have less angle or white in their eye, or be a carrier rather than clear of a genetic issue – whatever the reason, it wont impact your puppy from being an incredible pet. However, a show breeder/preservation breeder only wants to keep the best to continue breeding from. So, as a companion home you get the benefit of all the planning, time, effort that went into the litter.

Show breeders are often part of clubs also. These clubs hold high ethical standards of breeding and there are penalties for not breeding ethically. So, while it might totally be in fashion to breed designer colors, since it is deviating from the breed standard, a preservation breeder won’t do it intentionally. I just introduced another term – preservation breeder – I did a separate blog all about that – you can read it here:

Show breeders are often involved in other sports, and often they are also involved in their local rescue groups. They are interested in the BREED as a whole. What they can do to help and serve their beloved breed, not just them serve you by producing puppies to sell.

In addition, not all “pure bred” puppies have been well bred. To get a “pure bred” dog, you just need two purebred parents. They don’t have to be good examples of the breed or health tested to have puppies. However, to get a “well bred” dog, means you get the benefit of health testing, and a good example of the breed. A “well bred” puppy is one where the breeder has thought about the whole process – the structure, the temperament and the health of the dogs being bred.

For each breed, there is a club list of the recommended minimum health tests. A preservation breeder will perform these on all of their breeding dogs. The health tests for a CKCS can be found here: The health tests for a beagle can be found here: You can look up any dog by their name on www.ofa.org – not all tests are posted there but you can ask your breeder for their paperwork to look at.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

xo Sarah