ABA 2024: Breeder Excellence Winner - Sue Taplin

In this episode of Breeders Brew, Sara sits down with Sue Taplin, winner of the Canine Family Planner's Breeder Excellence Award, to celebrate her decades-long journey in the dog world – from raising Collies and running a licensed boarding kennel, to producing generations of well-bred, health-tested Labradors.

🌟 With nearly 20 years of experience and a meticulous approach to record-keeping and ethical breeding, Sue has built a programme rooted in consistency, compassion, and continuous learning.

🎙️ Tune in as we explore:

✅ Sue’s evolution from corporate life to dog boarding and eventually breeding.
✅ The reality of running a kennel with 80 dogs, handling police-seized “dangerous” dogs, and founding assistance dog work.
✅ Why good record-keeping, paper or digital, remains the backbone of her breeding practice.
✅ Her journey from relying on instinct to embracing ovulation testing, supplements, and structured puppy protocols.
✅ How Sue uses puppy books, in-depth vet info sheets and layered educational materials to support new owners.
✅ Why she believes training the owner is as vital as training the dog!

Whether you're a first-time breeder or navigating your fourth generation, Sue’s calm, methodical approach is packed with insight and encouragement for doing things right.

📌 Helpful Links from the Episode:

🔗 Want direct access to Sara, Isobel, and our growing network of responsible breeders?
 👉 Become a Brew Crew Member: www.breedersbrew.com/brewcrew

🔗 Interested in applying for a future Annual Breeder Award? Find out more here: www.caninefamilyplanner.com/aba

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Transcript

Sara Lamont (00:22)
In this episode, I sit down with Sue Taplin, the winner of the Breeder Excellence Award to explore her incredible journey from dog ownership to breeding and running a boarding kennel. We discuss how breeding practices have evolved and the importance of health testing and DNA and why training the owner is just as crucial as training the dog. Sue's wealth of experience offers a fascinating insight into the changing landscape of responsible breeding.

from improving litter health with supplements to the vital role of proper record keeping. Whether you're a seasons breeder or just starting out, this episode is packed with invaluable lessons and inspiration. I will hold you up no further and press play now.

Sara Lamont (01:04)
I would like to introduce to everybody another of my annual Breeder Award winners, who is Sue Taplin, who has won the Breeder Excellence Award. So this award is to recognise her for her consistency of upholding good ethical standards of responsible dog breeding. And we'll obviously delve into how long she's been breeding for and what her whole background is.

Sue Taplin (01:05)
I'm going

Sara Lamont (01:32)
But she's most certainly

Sue Taplin (01:32)
go ahead video.

Sara Lamont (01:33)
a client that I've seen that's been very consistent in her approach to dog breeding. And ultimately, I think that's been one of her fortunes and has been sort of put her in good stead for having a successful breeding program Sue seems to be doing really well. I'm going to hand over to Sue and it would be great if you could just introduce yourself.

Just give a little bit of a background of who you are, what breed of dogs you breed, and then we'll just go from there.

Sue Taplin (02:01)
I'm Sue Taplin. We started our breeding journey back in 2006. We bought a kennel later on in life. I was corporate trained

for many, many years. And we decided before we retired, we would do the one job that both my husband and I thoroughly wanted to do, but had never had the opportunity. And we bought a boarding kennels. We were licensed for 80 dogs. So it was a baptism of fire and 13 cats. Yeah, we were very fortunate that we inherited a member of staff.

who also had a Labrador, a bitch. We had a male, but unfortunately at a very early age, when we took him along to have his hip score done, he'd had a fit coming out of the anesthetic. And unfortunately, they didn't know whether he was then going to be subject to fits, which fortunately he never was. But it meant that we couldn't use him for breeding purposes.

So when we did eventually take the kennels over, he was getting on a bit anyhow. And Vicky's bitch had a litter the following year after we first bought the kennels. From there, we started our breeding journey. We took two of her litter bitches and

from having no knowledge of breeding, we stepped forward into a very steep learning curve. We had two litters within the first year, I believe, thinking back. can't honestly remember exactly what they were without looking up my records. I am a great record keeper, all on paper.

Sara Lamont (03:29)
You

Right.

Sue Taplin (03:43)
Not too much on a computer, although unfortunately we did have to go down the computer route in the end. Everybody wants everything done on the computer nowadays. And it was a long and hard learning curve. We had lots of lows, quite a few highs.

Sara Lamont (03:52)
Mm.

Sue Taplin (04:03)
But year on year, everything developed and got better.

Sara Lamont (04:06)
so just let me take you back. So before the boarding kennels, did you own dogs?

Sue Taplin (04:12)
Yeah, we've had we've had dogs for all of our lives. Collies originally going back before my husband and I were married back in 1971. He had a rough collie and I had a Heinz 57 all sorts. They both stayed with our parents. It wasn't long before the novelty of being married.

wore off and we suddenly decided that we needed a dog in our life. a guy that I worked with at the bank, somebody he knew had had a litter of puppies, a collie cross and we had him. we had a few collies up until our children were 10 and 12. And then we bought our first Labrador.

Sara Lamont (04:35)
gosh.

Okay.

Sue Taplin (04:58)
Our first Labrador was a bitch. Again, I knew really nothing about buying Labradors or buying a kennel club puppy of any sort. And we should have noticed warning signals when we went along and the mother's feet were bound up. I was so desperate to get a Labrador that we took whatever was available.

there was this little black bitch climbing up the stairs. You look very cute and she came home with us. For 13 and a half years she was my life. She didn't have very good health. She ended up in the animal hospital at Stroud with pancreatitis after she was seven years and the local vet in Rustington was useless at diagnosing what was wrong with her.

Sara Lamont (05:21)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (05:43)
really learned from when she went into the animal hospital she should have had a blood test. And that they had been treating her for a virus for three weeks and hadn't done anything about taking blood. So that was really a big learning curve initially.

Sara Lamont (05:49)
Right, okay.

And were they a young vet or does that interest or?

Sue Taplin (06:01)
He was

South African, I believe. Really, really nice. Lovely bedside manner. But obviously not very good at diagnosing. She ended up in the animal hospital there for four days on a drip. Fortunately, she had the type they could treat. Because apparently there's two types. One they can treat, one they can't. Luckily, she had the type they could.

Sara Lamont (06:06)
okay.

Yeah, but that's no

Sue Taplin (06:25)
After that, she had really good health. She had to have a low fat diet. Everything beforehand we've been doing was completely wrong. I was giving her pints of milk, which she shouldn't have been having because it was full fat. know, everything you shouldn't do, we're done because we thought she was short of calcium. Where was Isobel at the time?

Sara Lamont (06:32)
no

Yeah.

Sue Taplin (06:46)
don't think she probably wasn't even born then.

Sara Lamont (06:46)
Yeah.

No,

I bet she in fact she definitely wasn't.

Sue Taplin (06:51)
But

Sara Lamont (06:54)
so you had never bred up until that point. You just had the collies.

Sue Taplin (06:59)
We didn't even start breeding till 2006. All the time I was working for the banks and building societies, we only ever had one dog. I always tried to do puppy classes and obedience classes with my dogs. But they weren't

terribly successful. probably wasn't very good at persevering with them either. think, the lifestyle we were leading with me at work and, you know, having the dog wasn't, I suppose, as good as it could have been. She was never left for a very long period of time because my husband was self-employed.

and I would come home lunchtime so she always went for a walk over the park lunchtimes but she never wanted to come home she wanted to stay in the park which became a bit of a problem when you've got 20 minutes and you've got to get back to work and the dog's still running around the park.

Sara Lamont (07:47)
no.

Yeah, think dog ownership and responsibility, I think has changed massively over the decades. And I'm sure you would agree with that. And I think people's lifestyles have just got busier and busier and busier. So actually puts more pressure on being a responsible dog owner. Cause as you say, you need the dog back, you've got a lunch break and yeah, I think things are different nowadays. And I also would believe that many dog trainers sort of bang their head.

Sue Taplin (08:03)
Yeah.

Sara Lamont (08:24)
dog owners because you've got to put in the work when you're at home as well as when you're in their training sessions. It's all well and good doing it there, but I think people like to tick the box that they've been to dog school, but it's the additional training at home that tends to go by the wayside, all the homework that needs to be done that no one ever wants to do.

Sue Taplin (08:39)
Yeah.

Yeah, I've been for the last four years, helping train in the puppy classes at Findon Downs dog training. And yeah, it's very obvious the people that go home and carry on practicing, because they actually get the results from, you know, the hard work that they've put in at home. But when they when you have the ones that come to the class and

Sara Lamont (09:03)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (09:12)
and they do the exercises okay in the class, but then they go home and a week later they've forgotten what they were doing or how they did it. yeah, it's...

Sara Lamont (09:15)
Mm.

Yeah,

yeah, I don't doubt that. As I always say, the dogs are fine, it's the owners that are the problem. Yeah, yeah, very true, very true.

Sue Taplin (09:25)
It is training the owner, it's never training the dog.

Sara Lamont (09:34)
moving on to, so you had the female and then did you get, when did you get the boy?

Sue Taplin (09:40)
Yeah, she, had a slight heart condition for her last 18 months. And then her back legs went

I lasted four days without a dog. I didn't stop crying for the whole four days. We went to the dog's trust.

Sara Lamont (09:53)
Right.

Sue Taplin (09:57)
because we thought, well, you know, perhaps we could find a rescue. Went to the Dogs Trust. It took me two hours to get out of the car. And then I walked around the Dogs Trust just balling my eyes out. In the end, they took us off to a room. I must have thought I was, I don't know, mad, I think. And they said to me, you need to get another puppy.

It's really unusual for Dogs Trust to tell me to go and buy a puppy. Anyhow, when I did go back to work, which was when I'd stopped crying after the four days, I happened to talk to one of the girls that I worked with and her husband was in a gun club and he knew of a litter that had been bought on the Arundel estate. And it was a groundkeeper who lived at Warburton.

Sara Lamont (10:18)
Okay.

Yeah!

Sue Taplin (10:40)
We went along to see, they had two puppies left. One was a bitch and one was a dog. But they decided to keep the bitch. So, so we went along, because I wanted a bitch. We went along to see the boy. And that was it. We came home with the boy.

Sara Lamont (10:48)
Okay.

Yeah.

Sue Taplin (10:57)
so we bought her, bought him home then that was, was a whole completely different kettle of fish. The, puppies were in the farmhouse kitchen, spotlessly clean, nice dog run, lovely range. It was just completely different and complete Kennel Club papers.

Sara Lamont (11:11)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (11:17)
and being well bred. But unfortunately

Sara Lamont (11:18)
Yep.

So was

Sue Taplin (11:21)
He was the boy that fitted when we had his hip score done, so we couldn't use him for breeding.

Sara Lamont (11:26)
Okay.

Was

that the first time you had received Kennel Club papers with a dog? Yeah, okay. Yeah, interesting. Yeah.

Sue Taplin (11:34)
Yes, yeah that was yeah

that was back in the 90s.

Sara Lamont (11:41)
yeah okay but you couldn't breed from him what was your plan then just to offer him at stud or did you have another bitch by the time you would

Sue Taplin (11:48)
I don't know. don't

I don't know that I had a specific plan, but we thought we would possibly. I don't know whether we were whether I ever intended to use him as a stud dog or just to put him to one dog just to get another one. I really hadn't. I don't know. I can't really remember.

Sara Lamont (12:05)
Yeah.

No, that's fair enough.

How did you know to do the hip and elbows? Did you go back to the breeder or was that just something you were generally aware of?

Sue Taplin (12:17)
very good question. I think it was something I became aware of because at this point, I started looking at what you should do to be a responsible breeder. So I mean, it still fairly early on that for hips and elbows back in the early 90s. I don't think the ones that we bought him from had had their hips and elbows down because I don't ever recall

having that information.

Sara Lamont (12:51)
have you ever proactively like try to find a mentor to help you go down your breeding journey or have you just unpicked it and discovered it as you've gone?

Sue Taplin (13:02)
Yes, to the second question. Yeah, I don't think I knew anybody who could have acted as a mentor because until we actually bought the kennels.

Sara Lamont (13:05)
Hahaha

Sue Taplin (13:15)
I was working in corporate finance and...

didn't really come into contact with people like that, to be fair. Yeah, I think I think it was once we bought the kennels. And I then went to East Grinstead dog training with every one of my puppies has gone to a kennel club. KC affiliated dog club.

Sara Lamont (13:21)
Yeah, just a different world.

Sue Taplin (13:37)
I started to get much more heavily involved in animal welfare then because we also had rescues at the kennels. We also had the Sussex and Surrey dangerous dogs for the police. So I used to go on dog raids and dog seizes. And yeah, and we used to handle the dangerous dogs.

Sara Lamont (13:52)
Okay

right, gosh, that sounds a bit full on.

Sue Taplin (14:02)
because they weren't dangerous. It was the idiots that actually had them that were the danger.

Sara Lamont (14:12)
Yeah. Yeah. And if you can't read a dog, if you can't, if the, like say police officers, the dogs aren't their bag unless they're hoping to be a dog handler. So to be able to read a reactive dog and know whether it's like most people just can't pick up the signs. just see a barky dog and yeah, they wouldn't know. They would be scared. And then once a dog senses that you're scared, then the whole situation changes, doesn't it? So yeah, for you to be the professional in that.

Sue Taplin (14:14)
It was the Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Sara Lamont (14:40)
Second stance sounds sensible because you can read a dog.

Sue Taplin (14:42)
Yeah.

Yeah. In the end, I used to go along with the dog expert. mean, police always had to take the dogs out. But there were situations where they actually then put me into the line of holding the dog when the dog was euthanized, because they didn't want to.

Sara Lamont (15:02)
gosh.

Sue Taplin (15:05)
You know, there's me sitting in this room with this dog that has supposedly bitten somebody else and he's as nice as pie.

Sara Lamont (15:12)
Yeah, sad, isn't it? Yeah, just misunderstood.

Sue Taplin (15:15)
It's very, very sad.

Sara Lamont (15:16)
to see. So yeah, so you've had a full, full history of of dogs, that's for sure. How long did you own own the kennels for?

Sue Taplin (15:23)
Yes.

We were there 13 years. By that time, by that time we were burnt out because it was 24 seven seven days a week.

Sara Lamont (15:29)
Okay, well that's a way.

Yeah, there's no kicking back and relaxing when you're running boarding kennels at all. in any way, shape or form. So yeah, that's definitely not retirement, career and choice, that's for sure.

Sue Taplin (15:38)
No, no, no.

No, no.

Sara Lamont (15:48)
And so you started breeding after you got the kennels.

Sue Taplin (15:53)
we had two of the litter sisters And then it was from them that we started to breed. And the first one was, the first puppy that we kept from that was Aston's son.

Sara Lamont (15:59)
Okay.

Sue Taplin (16:07)
who was my Boris who was the most specialist dog you could ever have had. He was chosen out of the ring by one of the Kennel Club obedience judges to be one of the founding members of a Kennel Club charity called From Fear to Friend. And he became he became one of the first five

Sara Lamont (16:25)
Right.

Sue Taplin (16:28)
Sinophobia Assistance Dogs and I was his handler. We did bi-weekly classes with children between the ages of five and 16 who were terrified of dogs. These children were so traumatized that the first lesson was just with soft toys and some of them couldn't even come into the hall for that.

Sara Lamont (16:43)
Okay.

wow.

Sue Taplin (16:55)
And by the end, generally of 10 sessions, these children, not all of them, but the majority of them would be walking the dog. They never walked the dog by themselves. We always had a lead ourselves. And then we'd have about three or four children clipped to the dog, to the collar as well. So.

Sara Lamont (17:12)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (17:20)
know, we always had control over the dog if necessary. But yeah, so each dog to become one of the assistance dogs had to complete a 28 point assessment. And a lot of it was noise related, they mustn't react to noise of any sort. They mustn't react to any food, they had to be able to walk around bowls of food on the floor.

and not touch it, which is a very big ask for a Labrador. Especially when they're so food orientated. But yeah, he was an absolute little star. Polly's just got off of her bed in here and Polly was the other assistance dog with Boris that trained to do that as well. So I had two in the end that used to go along to classes.

Sara Lamont (17:46)
Yeah, that is.

Sue Taplin (18:05)
When we actually moved from the kennels, we had to give up the classes because they were up in Woodstock. And it was just too far to go up in the winter when the weather was rotten. So in the end, we used to go into the local primary school here and the children that had

Sara Lamont (18:13)
okay. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sue Taplin (18:28)
sort of needs, not necessarily special needs, but problems at home or whatever would have difficulty reading would come and read to Boris. So Boris didn't, Boris didn't care what they were reading, he'd just lay there and let them stroke him.

Sara Lamont (18:37)
okay. Yeah.

brilliant.

it's a significant depth and breadth of dog training that you have, that's for sure. Like there just seems to be stories beyond stories of, yeah, of all types of...

Sue Taplin (18:52)
Yeah.

Yeah, also,

going back to the kennels. When we first went there, there was nothing inside. We had a huge 60 foot barn beside the kennels, which was just full up with their rubbish. So we had to clear that all out. We had an office built in there and I had a hydrotherapy pool installed. And I went up and did a CHA training course at Hawksmoor.

up in Nuneaton and became a CHA hydrotherapist. And through doing that, I had to do the animal first aid courses for that to be able to qualify. So yes, I am trained to swim dogs as well, which is not my...

Sara Lamont (19:31)
Yep. Yep.

Sue Taplin (19:38)
lot of fun in. We've got an open pool here, but it's outside and it's not heated. and it's not ideal either because it's too cold.

Sara Lamont (19:43)
You need your wet suit, you need your wet suit and some.

Yeah,

yeah, be like an ice plunge, I suppose, rather than, yeah, a therapy session. Yeah, well, it certainly sounds that you keep yourself busy, that's for sure, and have done for a very long time. How many generations are you down now with your own breedings?

Sue Taplin (19:55)
Yes, yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (20:09)
of it? is it?

Sue Taplin (20:10)
Aston, Boris, Fleur, Cooper, four. Well, we're now on the fourth generation.

Sara Lamont (20:16)
for generations.

Yeah, yeah. what have you seen change over that time with breeding dogs? Whether that be, you know, really? Oh gosh.

Sue Taplin (20:25)
everything.

Well, from you know, the puppy popping out and that's nice. To now, I monitor absolutely everything. As I said, I'm manic about records. So I keep a record of everything.

much to the horror when they come round and do my license or whatever because, if you've got everything on the computer, no, I've got it on diaries, I've got it on calendars, I've got it on pieces of paper, I've got books that I write in, I keep everything in there.

So I've got 19 years worth of breeding records. But as I say, now some of it is computerized, although none of that goes on the computer because I don't trust that it won't disappear or at some point. So I would still rather keep my paper and pen.

Sara Lamont (21:08)
That's crazy.

Sue Taplin (21:29)
because I know that that's not going to let me down.

Sara Lamont (21:32)
No, mean,

is Isobel and I are all for record keeping. Say I created the puppy playbook because I know I love a digital format of most things to be fair, but there are some things I like to write every litter, they have their own book and I write everything down in that book. And yeah, I can refer to that at any point that I need to, I can get it out quick and I can look at it. can.

Sue Taplin (21:43)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (21:56)
cross-reference birth weights and do all sorts. So for me, yeah, even though I do like a spreadsheet and that kind of stuff, sometimes pen and paper will do the job and that's what's needed. So I don't blame you on that one.

Sue Taplin (21:58)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

to be quite honest, I can't remember 19 years back, whether I weighed them all at birth or not, probably not. But I mean, nowadays, everybody's weighed. I weigh them the first couple of days to make sure that they haven't lost weight and they have put some weight on. And then I do it weekly, unless I've got one that I'm particularly worried about.

Sara Lamont (22:34)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (22:36)
And then obviously, you've got the charts of when they're wormed and what they've had. So I mean, all of this is documented as well in the puppy pack that goes to the owner. And I do tell them to take that to the vet. It's a sheet of paper, which they've only got to take out and take along to the vet. But you'd be amazed at the ones. I actually write it on the top of there now in red, take to the vet. I've started highlighting it now.

because I get phone calls from people, we're in the vets and the vet said, when were they last wormed? Yes, it's on the sheet there that I said you'd say. So yeah, even the best lay plans don't always work, but yeah.

Sara Lamont (23:06)
Yeah, you've got that information.

Yeah.

Yeah, no, think puppy owners just get besotted with the puppy that any common sense of anything else generally goes out the window until they come to the land back on earth. And then, yeah, they get on with real life again. So yeah, that doesn't surprise me that, yeah, paperwork is the last thing that they're looking at. What other changes have you seen over time? mean, really, you were doing all the health testing. Obviously, that's increased, I imagine, over time with eyes and heart creeping in and

Sue Taplin (23:24)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that yeah, the health

testing is increased. Obviously, DNA has come in because that wasn't there initially. Or if it was, I wasn't aware of it. Or how important it might be. Yeah, so the the DNA testing is definitely probably one of the last things. And, and then I would say the introduction of Isobel and her

Sara Lamont (23:48)
Yep.

Sue Taplin (24:06)
advice on the supplements and your advice on the supplements as well. Yeah, it appears to be so beneficial. mean, you know, the count on Coopers sperm has just gone, gone, boom, which is amazing.

Sara Lamont (24:11)
Well, I just pass it all over to Isobel. I tell people, Isobel can help you, but speak to her direct.

Yes, yeah.

Sue Taplin (24:30)
And also I can see the size of the litters are bigger than my previous ones. previous litters probably averaged about five or six and now they're probably more like seven to nine. yeah, and health wise, I've always been fanatical about, you know, watching the puppies and their development.

Sara Lamont (24:35)
wow.

brilliant.

Sue Taplin (24:58)
And if I lost a puppy when they were first born, I take it quite personally. So to have more litters where I'm not losing touchwood, any puppies at all, is absolutely brilliant. And all I can think of that is, you know, the addition of the supplements and, and I don't know, good husbandry, I suppose.

Sara Lamont (25:13)
Yeah, that's amazing.

Yeah, well, I think was you before you came into my world, was you ovulation testing?

Sue Taplin (25:29)
do some population testing yes. But that...

Sara Lamont (25:34)
Okay, and was you

was just gonna say was you as methodical? Because to me you're very... I have some people, they're very wishy washy and they want to try and guess when to start testing and they do different things or different bitches but you seem to be very, we're this day, we're testing this day until ovulation is confirmed, like there's no...

qualms with you, you know your process and once ovulation is confirmed, then I know when to breed. They say then you're doing your supplements. So it's all paying off. But I just didn't know whether you seem to have a very organised process that you don't compromise on.

Sue Taplin (26:03)
Yes, yes.

I mean, at

the very beginning, there wasn't ovulating testing. And it was just a matter of, I'll stick her in the paddock with the boy and let's see if anything happens. So just stand there and watch for hours. It's not very technical. So much more hit and miss. obviously, know, progesterone testing is just

Sara Lamont (26:22)
Yeah.

Sue Taplin (26:30)
in my mind, the most sensible route for anybody to do. Because putting the bitch in a field with a dog and spending hours just watching them faffing around doing nothing. I can remember this, this is going back to my very first bitch Aston. I think it took us four days to get a tie. Well, obviously she wasn't ready. So

Sara Lamont (26:52)
goes. Yeah, yeah.

Sue Taplin (26:56)
So the poor dog was probably worn out by the he went home. It was one of our customers. So I mean, we were fortunate that he could come and spend four days with my bitch. But in the real world, we can't do that.

Sara Lamont (27:14)
No, yeah, life's got a lot more busy than it used to be to be able to do that. it's good that, yeah, you're seeing positive on all aspects of litter sizes, know, health of puppies, health of the mum, assume post-welp as well, maintaining her condition better. And it

Sue Taplin (27:16)
Yeah.

Yes, the other

thing I must say, your podcast. Now, I'm not a great podcast person, I'm being a bit selective of the ones that I've listened to so far. But the one on the calcium.

Sara Lamont (27:41)
No, that's fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course.

Okay,

yep.

Sue Taplin (27:47)
which

I'm sitting there thinking, yes, I've got liquid calcium in the cupboards. Obviously not the way to go. So I need to buy some calcium from Isobel. Her capsules, yeah.

Sara Lamont (28:00)
Yeah, mean,

the more people talk, the more we learn. mean, I literally have, can hear my brain ticking over in some of the podcasts where Isobel says something and I'm like, that makes so much sense. I've been in it, God knows how long you've been in it. You literally can't stop learning because sometimes you might have heard it before, but you have to hear it at the right time.

Sue Taplin (28:12)
Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

No.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (28:27)
And

that's a good thing with podcasts. You can listen to them as many times as you want to. I've people tell me they listen to us in the bath when they're cleaning. Yeah, also, so it is one of those, yeah, if you've got a bit of time and you can multitask doing something, then you can't stop learning because even listen to the same podcast again, you will hear something different because you're a different person to when you heard it the first time.

Sue Taplin (28:30)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (28:52)
And so yeah, like that's the whole point of, you know, this interview will be on there because there'll be something that you've said that will resonate with a listener that they go, yes, I need to start doing that. Like, why haven't I been doing that? Or I should consider this. So I think the more we talk and share our backgrounds and our knowledge, the better, you know, our, the better quality and the safer our dogs are bred. And they say,

Sue Taplin (29:05)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (29:19)
The fact that Isobel's about and she's really supporting breeders from a holistic standpoint and has such a detailed depth knowledge with no alternative motives apart from to help people breed better is a godsend. So I'm so glad that, us continually talking about stuff that she felt, yeah, this is a need and I'm the person to fill it.

Sue Taplin (29:28)
Yes. Yeah.

Sara Lamont (29:40)
and convincing her that she needs to get on and do it, that she's done it. So I'm ever so pleased. I've benefited myself. I didn't, I did some supplements, but I didn't do as much as what I do now. And yeah, my fertility rate has been way more consistent than it's ever been in the past. So it's not made up. I mean, some people will try and tell you that, you know, it's all made up, but you just, you can't convince those people. You just do what, stick to your plan.

Sue Taplin (29:51)
No. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (30:07)
and execute your plan, that's all you can do. How do you feel, just to change the subject quickly, but to not waffle on too long, how do you feel puppy owners have changed over the years?

Sue Taplin (30:18)
I'm not sure whether the puppy owners have changed over the years or whether I have in the way that I deal with them. think it's probably some 50-50 maybe. Some are really switched on. I used to send out. I've always sent out.

Sara Lamont (30:22)
Okay.

Sue Taplin (30:35)
sort of an information sheet. My information sheet now is actually information sheets, which is eight pages long. And the more people ask me, the more information I give them up front. And I used to put pictures of the dogs on there so they could see them. And then people would start coming back, can I have their kennel club registration number? Because they wanted to look up and see the health bits and that to make sure that had been done.

Sara Lamont (30:47)
Yep.

Sue Taplin (31:01)
fine. So they those people are aware.

I find I have new puppy owners, ones that have never had a puppy before, and they come along and they generally spend a couple of hours with me and I've got this great big folder that they can look through and it's what I give them copies of everything in their puppy pack to take away and you'll get the ones that will read all of the stuff.

And then you'll get the ones that will just keep ringing me up and texting me or whatever, asking what they could actually be reading in the folder.

Sara Lamont (31:40)
Yeah. Okay.

Sue Taplin (31:42)
But they have a need for me to tell them. And it's no point in getting arsey with them because they want your help. And they've paid good money for the puppies. So it's part of my job. I get other ones that I think, god, they're going to be a real pain and never leave me alone. I'll never hear another word from them.

Sara Lamont (31:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah,

I was just going to say, I think obviously it must come down to different learning styles where some people love to read, you know, like some people love reading books, other people probably never read a book since they left school. So I imagine it probably comes down to some people are good readers and some people need to hear someone tell them that it's the only way it's going to sink in, whether they read it or not. They could have read it for you know, but it just hasn't sunk in. So now they're like, I need to ring Sue, double check.

Sue Taplin (32:15)
Yeah.

not.

Yeah. No. Yeah. Yeah.

Sara Lamont (32:35)
So you send out information before they get their puppy anyway, and then they get their puppy pack when they pick up the pup? Is that what you said? Yeah, okay.

Sue Taplin (32:44)
Yes, yes, yeah,

yeah, because I find that obviously the ones that have had Labradors before and they've lost their Labrador and they want another Labrador, they don't need all of the bells and whistles stuff. They don't need information on how to bath their puppy. They don't need information on how to groom their puppy. I mean, I've got books there that I've got one.

that goes back to the lady that set up the charity for the assistance dogs. She produced this book which is called Stop Biting and it's a book aimed at children. And I now say that I will give it out to people that haven't had puppy before, that have got young children.

and they're under the age of 10 because it's got 57 pages and not being terribly technical as you know. to do the puppy packs takes me probably a couple of weeks. Sit and photocopy all this stuff off. So I do limit some of the stuff that goes out to people, not if they haven't had a puppy, they can have the whole lot.

Sara Lamont (33:34)
Yep.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sue Taplin (33:54)
But I mean, there's information on worming and everything that you could possibly need, obviously the feeding guides and God knows what are in there.

Sara Lamont (34:03)
I was in the same boat at one point, just giving them just a stack of paper, basically. And the good thing of me going digital is that now they get timed emails that will cover the point that they need to know at the time that they need to know it, rather than giving them a wedge of information, because you say it's time consuming, it's not particularly environmentally friendly.

Sue Taplin (34:10)
you

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (34:27)
and they're only gonna ring you up and ask you the question anyway. So now I'm like, before you ring me and ask me the question, I'm gonna send you an email a week before that's gonna answer the question so you'll never get the call. But as you say, it's part and parcel. It is part and parcel of being a breeder. ultimately, they only want best for the puppy. We want best for the puppy. So it is one of those that you take on the chin.

Sue Taplin (34:27)
No.

Yeah.

Yes. Yes.

Sara Lamont (34:52)
Right, my final question for you Sue before we do the quick fire round is piece of advice would you give to a breeder starting out with Labradors?

Sue Taplin (34:55)
Okay.

Well, I think there's a lot more literature, well, to me, because I like to read things and actually have them physically in front of me. Sort of acquire as much information before you embark on the process. Because forewarned is forearmed. So

read as much as you can, speak to somebody like you and and Isobel to gain as much information as they possibly can. I mean, you've written books on the subject, so they should be buying your books or downloading your book or wherever you can get them from. Because yeah, going in blind is just

Sara Lamont (35:43)
Thanks for the plug.

Yeah.

Sue Taplin (35:55)
asking for trouble. Yeah, I just think yeah, definitely read.

Sara Lamont (35:57)
Yeah.

Well, it's a most,

it's emotional roller coaster at best. At worst, you could lose a puppy, you could lose a Dam, like you could lose your bitch. So I think people realistically have to understand that before they go on, yeah, the little adventure of I wanna breed my dog without knowing that knowledge, that the risk they are taking.

Sue Taplin (36:10)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

endorse every litter, even as much so as I endorse every puppy when they're first born. And then if I'm keeping one, I have to take the endorsement off of myself.

Sara Lamont (36:32)
Yeah, I do exactly the same. Yeah, because I thought I don't want to not do my one in case I change my mind at any point and then I've got a puppy that isn't endorsed. So yeah, I do the same. have to lift them for myself. yeah, but that just goes to show the responsibility that you're taking to ensure that people breed too. As I've said before, people have to start somewhere. it's not about people not breeding, but breeding the right way.

Sue Taplin (36:34)
Fun quiz, isn't it?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Sara Lamont (36:59)
And as

you say, doing the health tests and understanding the seriousness of it all, because that's the problem with puppies. It always looks like unicorns and rainbows, doesn't it? When they're all cute and chunky and playful, but it's hard work. Breeding is really hard work.

Sue Taplin (37:08)
Yeah.

Mm. Yeah, well, I had, I used to have

Sara Lamont (37:16)
Okay, right. Let's move on to the quick fire round because I'm conscious of how much time I'm stealing from you. These are to be answered, just short answers or one word answers is fine. So don't overthink them too much. what would be one word to describe your breeding journey?

Sue Taplin (37:21)
Yeah, I'm sorry. I've

Okay.

Interesting.

Sara Lamont (37:37)
I think Adam said the same one he's one on a similar question so it'd be interesting if I get a theme or there's me saying it again it'd be observant of me to see if I get a theme with the same answers. Right next question what's been the biggest change in the last 10 years? Sorry biggest change in breeding in the last 10 years?

Sue Taplin (37:57)
supplements.

Sara Lamont (38:00)
Name one trait every breeder should have.

Sue Taplin (38:04)
Patience.

Sara Lamont (38:07)
One thing you wish you knew earlier.

Sue Taplin (38:11)
not to work in finance.

Sara Lamont (38:15)
I love that. I like that one. In regards to puppy waiting lists, do you find them soothing or stressful?

Sue Taplin (38:15)
sorry.

Stressful!

Sara Lamont (38:25)
Breeding mentor, yay or nay?

Sue Taplin (38:31)
Would I be one or have I had one?

Sara Lamont (38:33)
Wow, yeah, whether you've had one or would you be one, you can answer however you want. You can add, some context to it, it's fine.

Sue Taplin (38:39)
Yeah, I'm happy to be one.

Sara Lamont (38:43)
You're happy to be one. What's one goal that you have for next year or for your next breeding?

Sue Taplin (38:49)
Well, that's pretty imminent.

safe deliveries.

Sara Lamont (38:53)
Yeah, that's true. Yeah, too underrated, but yeah, a big concern. And my final question, if you had to summarise breeding in one word, what would it be?

Sue Taplin (39:02)
nightmare.

Sara Lamont (39:06)
Gosh! makes you wonder why you do it.

Sue Taplin (39:08)
Yeah, yeah, do wonder sometimes.

Sara Lamont (39:11)
I don't think I think dog people were quirky anyway, and dog breeders are even quirkier. I think, yeah, we can't have something right with us because as you say, is glutton for punishment. but that brings this podcast to an end. So firstly, I want to thank you for your time and your insight and your knowledge.

Sue Taplin (39:24)
Yeah.

Sara Lamont (39:33)
and to officially accept your Breeder Excellence Award, which I think is more than deserved by the conversation that we've just had.

And yeah, will be in the post-due shortly. And yeah, obviously listen to the rest of the podcasts soon enough, this episode will be on there. So you can listen to it all over again. No worries.

Sue Taplin (39:57)
Thank you very much.