Dog Breeding and ‘The Dip’

Published on November 25, 2008 by Ryan O'Meara   ·   No Comments

The Dip is a superbly useful and interesting book (and phenomenon) by the marketing expert Seth Godin.

In it, he talks about how ‘The Dip’ is a barrier to excellence which ensures that scarcity creates value. In other words, if something is harder to do / harder to get it’s more valuable / worth more.

It’s true, if you think about it. Diamonds don’t show up on the ground like common pebbles, in fact to get diamonds you have to go through a hell of a process – thus they’re worth more than common pebbles.

The very top professional footballers had to jump through many, many hoops to get to the top of their game – they are scarce and therefore exceptionally valuable. Talent alone is not enough in their case.

The really exceptional lawyers have to power their way through ‘The Dip’ to get to the top of the tree and when they get there, they’re in demand and can charge more than ‘average’ lawyers or – in fact – those people who gave up on their legal studies whilst they were actually in the Dip.

It works a bit like this.

Think of a hobby. Let’s say drumming.

You always fancied having a go on a drum kit. Then you finally take the plunge and manage to get one, either by saving your money or nagging your parents enough to understand how they should be fostering your musical inclinations.

You get the kit and you spend hours and hours on it. It’s fun. You enjoy yourself enormously. You improve in leaps and bounds on a daily basis.

Then comes the Dip.

It’s the part where your improvement is more subtle, if at all. It’s the part where the fun is nowhere near as palpable as it was to begin with. Or, more commonly, it’s the part where drumming is no longer any fun at all because you’ve reached a plateau, you can’t seem to improve and you just want to quit, sell the kit and strike it off as a mistake.

LOTS of people take up drumming.

Only a handful become Buddy Rich, Cozy Powell or Gene Krupa.

They powered their way out of the Dip. They went in to it, rode it out, came out the other side. And what they left behind them – figuratively – is a gaping, crocodile filled crater so that you or I understand that if we want to become the next Rich, Powell or Krupa we’ve not only got to cross that crater and come out the other side, we’ll then need to catch up to those who’ve established themselves as the best of the best. That’s a hell of a mental challenge and the VAST majority of people are NOT cut out for it. This is human nature.

The key is the barrier. Nature creates these barriers so we get excellence, exceptions, the very best of the vest best. It’s not MEANT to be easy for us to catch up to them. The Dip is there to capture us and to ‘find us out’. It says to us ‘Are you for real or are you just another punk who fancies their chances right up until the point where the going gets tough’. Most of us, and I do mean most of us, are pre-programmed to quit when the pain bites us. It’s nature. The best of the best, they don’t. The steam in to the Dip and they force their way out the other side.

So, what’s this got to do with dog breeding?

Well, I have been looking at how other countries ‘regulate’ dog breeding and how we do it in the UK. And it lead to me ask; In the UK, where’s the Dip when it comes to breeding dogs?

Seriously. Where is it?

Where is the gaping crater of excellence that I need to cross in order to be a breeder?

If I wanted to become a successful author, the Dip would certainly catch me out if I was a mere pretender.

If I wanted to become a pro skateboarder, again the Dip would ensnare me if I was not cut out for it.

If I wanted to become a teacher, the Dip gets me. If I want to become a ‘professional anything’ there is nearly always a Dip for me to contend with. But with dog breeding, where is it?

I get Dog A wait for Bitch B to come in season, 18 weeks later I put my free ad in the paper and I get paid. Hey presto, guess what I am? And if I want to keep repeating this process? What’s stopping me?

Now this is absolutely not a withering, generic attack on dog breeders. I’ll repeat what I’ve said before: Good dog breeders would positively WELCOME the idea of the Dip. They’d welcome genuine barriers to entry, they’d welcome the dividing line between good, bad, brilliant and average. Surely but surely but surely the best of the best in the dog breeding world must cringe at being tarred with the same brush as the generic, weak breeders who’ve contributed to some of the most horrendous animal welfare problems we’re ever likely to witness? And who’s fault is that? If I breed really bad dogs, I’m a breeder. If you breed really good dogs, you’re a breeder. We’re both breeders. Fact.

So let’s look at the problem.

Scarcity creates value. This is true. But in dogs? Scarcity and dogs are two words that hardly go well together – we have more dogs than homes for them. But in certain breeds scarcity is a major factor. The scarcity of certain breeds does indeed have an upward effect on the ‘value’ of the puppy price but it has absolutely zero bearing on the true ‘value’ of the animal. In fact in dogs, rare or scarce means the breed in question is coming from a restricted gene pool and the ‘value’ is purely driven by a demand for rare rather than a craving for true value.

But what’s the answer? Would a Dip make a difference? A barrier to entry, would that have a positive effect?

Let’s look to our near neighbours in Germany.

Have a read of this:

NADKC Testing & Breeding
A Performance Based System

The German testing system functions as a guide to determine those dogs most fit for breeding and to help format a consistent way of producing dogs through use of testing, temperament evaluation, and conformation standards. This performance based testing structure has proved successful and beneficial for over a century to both breeder and individual owner and has given us the Deutsch Kurzhaar we know today.

The NADKC sponsors DKV (Deutsch Kurzhaar Verband, parent club of the NADKC) breed tests which are the Derby, Solms and AZP.  These tests are based on a 4 point scoring system and are not tests available outside of DKV associated clubs. The NADKC also sponsors other JGHV tests such as the VGP. Any test may only be entered twice. Below, you will find a brief description of these tests.

And then have a read of this.

Now, is this Dip – created in Germany – having the desired results? Are German bred dogs ‘better’ than ours?

Well, according to some of the experts I’ve spoken to the answer is, resoundingly, yes!

From the trusted sources I’ve conversed with – who have no axe to grind and who have spend a considerable amount of money importing dogs from Germany – the ‘average’ German bred dog is of superior quality than the ‘average’ British dog. And the difference? German breeders have a Dip in place, a trapdoor designed to sort the wheat from the chaft. So the question must be asked, why don’t we?

[NB: The same scenario applies to dog trainers in the UK too. No Dip in place. Want to call yourself a dog trainer? Go right ahead. Call yourself a dog trainer, put it on a business card - hey presto, you're a dog trainer.]

Highly Recommended: This could be the most important link you EVER click as far as your dog’s life is concerned – see why….!

Tags:  Animal Welfare