Merlin

Khaimas' Saturday Ducky (Zaraki)

There have been a couple of incidents that have happened to me over the last few years regarding contacts both in Italy and France, people who I have been very friendly with in the past who suddenly broke contact with me for no apparent reason.

Communication with people connected to Zaraki had been very good, in particular another breeder who had also used this gorgeous boy at stud. We had been in contact for a couple of years, I think we both knew each other quite well from our numerous emails exchanged over this time.

When I first had our Zaraki/Siska pups, I was asked by the French breeder, not to post photos of our pups on to social network site facebook, she did not want those puppies to be advertised as having already had two litters from him, she didn't want other breeders contacting his owner in Italy. I agreed and kept to my promise! She later went on to state on her own website that no one was to make contact in the future with regards to interest in Zaraki.

I had made clear that both Alan and I would love a male puppy from him at some point. Zaraki is one the best males we have ever had the honour of using at stud, he is that once in a lifetime opportunity and we were very grateful that we had been approved to use him. The French breeder who I had been in contact with for a few years, was planning two litters of puppies with him in 2014, she had promised me a puppy and in total, 18 were born. I was told that I had pick male from one of the litters, a blood line that I was very interested in and which would have complemented our lines.

Also at this time, I was offered the use of a stud dog from this breeder, it was her suggestion and she was eager for me to use her boy in the near future, I had checked the pedigree and would have been happy to go ahead.

I was receiving regular updates on the pups and beautiful photos of them all, we were making plans with her to go and collect the puppy from France. The puppy had not been chosen as the pups were only a few weeks old, but we had an idea which were the best puppies in the litter and the breeder was advising me daily on their progress. The photos below of Mum and pups was sent to me by their breeder. The boy on the right was the pick male puppy who was possibly coming to our kennel in England.

Almost overnight, I received an email to say that sadly we couldn't have a puppy after all, one was ill and that was the puppy that she had chosen for me. The message was brief and apologetic but very precise. I tried to question, if the puppy would get better but I was met with a blanket of silence.

I asked the question if I could still use her boy but had no reply.

My suspicions arose that perhaps someone had been in contact with her? I had told only one person about importing this male puppy, I had to be very careful as I had suspected previously that there were people out to stop us in our tracks with regard to breeding.

All communication stopped dead!

I made very clear my disppointment but it fell on deaf ears. I totally agree that a breeder has the final decision on where their puppies go to, what isn't acceptable, is a sudden change of mind with no explanation and at such a late stage.

People do not cease communication for no apparent reason, I do not believe that I have done something that would have upset them or to warrent this cause of action.

I can only surmise that someone with malicious intent had made contact , and due to information given, the agreed sale didn't go ahead.

So back to the person who I told; this was an ex friend who was not known for her confidentiality, she moved in circles also connected to France and the LCGB, she would most certainly have passed on this information and it was a great error of judgement on my part to have given this information in her confidence. I associate one of the photographsa with a LCGB committee member at the time who went on to publish a beautiful winter photo on the Club calendar 2015.

For me, the only people who would not have wished for me to have that bloodline would be this group of people, but what exactly they said to force people to end contact with me remains a mystery?

Which brings me to an email out of the blue, February 2016:

An old aquaintance wrote to me to ask about my Zaraki litter, he explained that he had been in communication with people in regard to possibly importing a male in to the UK. His correspondence was very friendly and he felt positive that he would get a Zaraki puppy, all communication stopped when he mentioned that he knew me!

I think it would be fair to say that my suspicions are valid, that people connected with me are being victimised simply due to their connections.

What sort of people reside in this breed, who can influence intellegent people to act in such an unfriendly and rude manner, to condone and join in with their obvious hate when they have no personal valid reason for doing so.

Again, I am a firm believer that things happen or don't for the right reasons, fortunately, my litter with Zaraki produced a beautiful male who may be in breeding in the near future.

While it is not usual to write about disappointments, I think I have very good reason to justify my actions. I hope that as time goes on, these situations will not arise, but if they do, I will write about them if I feel someone has acted unfairly.