You've contacted me twice as well as many other reputable breeders this year. You've heard the same thing from many of us you've talked to. Now you're hearing it again by members on this thread. I do believe your intentions are good and you want to get good quality chins to breed. Your methods are not going to allow that to happen. You told me you only had $1000 to spend on a group of animals, if you're getting 6 animals from Ralph for $1000 you're going to get the quality that your paying for. Ralph sells his really good quality for $300+ per animal. We all that have been to shows and bought from him know this. You're probably not going to be happy with what you get when the deal is done. That is not Ralph's fault, it's your own. You want 6 chins for $1000 you're going to get the quality that you pay for. As an example, I went to the Ohio claim show last weekend, I was delivering some chins I had sold and wasn't really looking to buy any. I know quality in chins and can recognize and evaluate it in every chin I see. I saw a bv male before the show Saturday morning that caught my eye, I compared it with the Hummel bv male that everyone assumed was the best one there (because of his reputation) and had already been claimed Friday night before I got there. I could see under the lights that this bv male was nicer overall and I claimed it for $200, it ended up being the GSC of the show. I also claimed a standard male that had stand out blue color (which is what I breed for in my standards) for $200. I could have contacted any reputable breeder and said I wanted a good quality bv and standard male for $400 and they would have sold me 2 for that price. They most likely would not have been the overall quality and had as many of the attributes I was looking for as the 2 I bought in person. Many people (including me) have bought animals sight unseen from well known breeders and not been happy with the chins when they received them. We're not trying to pile on you for this, just letting you know that you may continue to be disappointed in your chins and wasting your money if you continue to buy this way. I hope you're not when you receive your animals, but my experience tells me you probably will be. Buying at shows in person is always better then buying sight unseen. You learn more that way and 9 times out of 10 you'll be happier with your purchase in the end.
