When we began to get involved in pure bred dogs we realized that everyone had an opinion and they weren’t shy about speaking out about it. Suddenly you couldn’t go anyplace with your pure bred dog without some ‘expert’ chatting you up about their thoughts on your dog.
Some people had to tell you the ‘correct way to train’, some simply told you about your breed as if they invented it, some had warnings about your breed, and some had unkind words about your breeder. The most interesting spoken opinions to me were other owners of my breed simply blurting out their conformation opinions of my dog.
There are several types falling into this category. The most blatant walk up to you and begin their critique, criticisms right off the bat…usually without even a proper introduction or a smile. Maybe you are in a class and they assume since they have your breed and do not know who you are that you must need their opinion. They are usually highly critical of every detail. Usually these types have on the end of their own lead what to them is the perfect example of the breed. Other type silently evaluate your dog from a distance and once you turn your back their diarrhea mouths are off and running fast and furiously trashing the dog, you and your dogs breeder. Some are combinations of these and some are even so obnoxious and forward they grab your dog and pry open its mouth to inspect the bite without so much as a request to check. Yes, this did happen to me.
One thing they all have in common is ego. These people are oblivious that their actions are neither requested nor warranted. They are rude. You haven’t paid for their opinions. You aren’t entered into a conformation show under them to judge your dog and offer their opinions. These people don’t even care if the dog in question was sold as a show dog or if it was sold as a sports dog – to them they feel strongly that you must hear their opinion and value it.
These people are somehow finding self worth in everything they can offer the purebreed dog world in their ‘usually incorrect’ opinions and rarely are they experts at much. Rarely are they involved in much beyond breeding or bragging. They seem to have much to say about nothing.
Any of this sounding familiar to you? If you own a purebred dog I’m guessing it has happened to you too.
When it has happened to me, and when I hear about it happening to my puppy buyers I usually respond with consider the source. Let it go. Reply with a polite ‘thank you for offering your unrequested opinion on my dog’ and move on.