As I said many times before, Amanda is a wonderful and bright person.  She’s suggested the following to help alleviate my woes.

First I have to decide if I am to be a dog breeder or someone who produces one litter every four years to supply a pup.  The former allows me to actually have a breeding program and meet my goals.  The latter reduces the frequency of stress, but sets me up for serial “first litter” type troubles.

A lot of my hassles are with the sheer number of unqualified or under-qualified prospects I have to sort through. 

She is (in the horse world) the kind of person I’d like to attract; the serious Dressage rider looking for constant improvement and advancement.  She points out if she was looking for a horse, she would not turn to Google, but to ads in premiere Dressage web-sites and print magazines, as well as word of mouth.  OK, if I want fewer inquiries, but more quality, I have to change how I reach my target market.

I will likely pull the B Litter information from www.marshfieldkennel.com and put it on another web-site, or perhaps make it hard to access here if you don’t know how to find it.  This web-site will remain the primary source of general information about Marshfield Kennel and GSP’s, but you will be unlikely to notice I’m planning or having pups here.

The litter will be advertised in the VHD for a longer period of time and other magazines like the Ruffed Grouse Society.  That should get me “invitation only” type of traffic to the puppy information.  This should decrease the quantity of inquiries and limit them to folks already involved in hunting dogs.

No more Google spots, no more litter ads on general-interest web sites.  No more rants about non-hunters because they won’t even know I have pups available, but not to them.

As for keeping tabs on my genetics, I have a couple of folks who have proven themselves good dog trainers and dedicated to campaigning and hunting their dogs.  Folks I can trust.  I will likely work out a deal with one, possibly both to raise a pup that I retain some control over.  I’ve laid the ground-work for that already. 

I’ll rely on Amanda to keep my mood in check.