The Value of Partnerships Between Breeders

At a recent show's hospitality night, two were among a small group of exhibitors chatting.

- Laurie Coughlan and Lucy Drury

The conversation turned to the some of the current activities and plans of one of the exhibitors. Though she had bred Russian Blues for a very long time, she was no longer breeding her own litters but showing other people's kittens. The conversation drifted from topic to topic, though with two experienced Russian Blue breeders, there was a lot of talk about Russian Blues.

What was particularly fascinating to those of us who did not breed Russian Blues was the close working relationship the breeders had with each other. They seemed to freely exchange cats with each other, and there was no mention of issues between the breeders that one hears whispered in some other breeds, such as broken contracts and broken promises, or not exchanging quality kittens for fear that the others breeders' cats will beat theirs. A check of the CFA Russian Blue Breed Council shows that there are at least one or two National Winners most seasons, lots of Distinguished Merit cats, and many, many Grand Champions and Grand Premiers. Clearly, whatever they are doing to promote their breed is working in terms of exhibitor success, and the partnership among a group of people that circled the globe was clearly visible.

Paths to Beginning Partnerships

Russian Blue breeders have had a long time to forge a partnership. The first Russian Blues registered in CFA were in 1949, and the first to achieve Grand Champion status was in 1964. For newer Championship breeds, or breeds that no longer or never had a solid cooperation among breeders, how do they go about forging partnerships?