30┃ The Traditions We Choose to Keep

Day 3 of the 12 Days of Christmas mini-series, reflects on how traditions are formed, passed down, and sometimes followed without question. From Christmas carols to breeding practices, Sara and Isobel explore why some knowledge survives simply because someone kept showing up to share it, and why choosing which traditions to keep matters more than ever in a changing breeding landscape.

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Transcript

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (00:00)
Well hello hello, welcome back.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (00:00)
So.

Yay!

Day three.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (00:09)
isn't it just? And how many of you are exhausted? And how many of you are feeling wonderfully relaxed and kicking your feet up today? I think most people probably fall in the first-day's category do not think? All need a rest.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (00:19)
funny.

Fully fed, nourished or overfed if in doubt. Bored of the Christmas TV. May have experienced some snow.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (00:30)
I'm over fed

wouldn't that be a luxury having a white Christmas? Not down here that's for sure but I'm sure some areas of the Highlands possibly you never know you never know be interesting you have to let us know guys did you get snow as Christmas?

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (00:51)
Wow, international audience, Isobel

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (00:54)
That's true, yeah, that's true. But then again, you've got to be in the Northern Hemisphere to be in winter right now, haven't we? I've got friends that are currently celebrating their holiday traditions on the beach in Australia, living their best lives. And I think, my goodness, my brain can barely comprehend that some countries even have sunshine right now, let alone warm weather, so.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (01:01)
Yeah, that's

When is Australia Day?

26th of January. Yeah, Australia Day. I couldn't remember. I didn't know if it was like tied into New Year or this or whatever, ⁓ Marks the arrival of Britain's first fleet into Sydney Cove in 1788.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (01:19)
and a valuable story to tell.

⁓

Wow, I'm surprised they celebrate that. That's interesting.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (01:43)
Put it politely. That's interesting. though 1788, that's still we were talking about dates before, isn't it? There was a lot going on in the 1700s, isn't there?

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (01:54)
Yeah, was a busy... Yeah,

that was a busy hundred years. my goodness. All the things. I'd like to say we've had a busy hundred years now, but...

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (01:59)
Yeah, yeah. to be fair, Isobel

it does say a bit further on, symbolizing the start of British colonialization, it also is a controversial holiday, seen as many indigenous Australians see it as Invasion Day. So yeah, we totally, we totally understand how that could be perceived that way, that's for sure.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (02:16)
Yeah, please don't start the vlog.

It's fascinating how many controversial dates, celebrations, festivities there actually are around the world. It does surprise me.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (02:23)
Joyce.

Well, I guess it gets lost over time, doesn't it? As which is how we started this whole podcast series is that you may think it's one thing and because you wasn't around when it first initially popped up to understand the true meaning of it.

And I think that's

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (02:47)
Well yeah, like Christmas

carols, right? It's

such a normalised thing that we have Christmas carols. And what other time of the year do us Brits ever sit around and sing? We don't, I mean we all have a concert, but it's a bit different, isn't it? A Christmas carol that will gather round a tree and start singing. It's pretty, it's pretty, well, different, obscure.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (03:01)
Well, I don't.

Well, it depends if your local bar does karaoke, I suppose. Or carpool, carpool and carpool karaoke.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (03:14)
Yeah, that's true, that's true, that's true, I hadn't thought of it like that.

Yep,

okay, okay, I'll give you that, that's true, yep.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (03:22)
But no, in regards to the Christmas

caroling is most certainly a thing, isn't it? But it hasn't always been the case, has it?

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (03:29)
Yeah, yeah, no ⁓

That's what I going to say, it's such an interesting fact that I didn't know. It was actually banned. in Britain in might have been 1700s, 1600s, which is really interesting to think that was pre-writing for a lot of people, know, back then couldn't even write. So if Christmas carols were banned, it's fascinating to think they still managed to pass down through the last three, 400 years, despite the fact that there must have been a period of time that they weren't even written.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:00)
They were whispered instead.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (04:03)
Yeah, well, must have been. Behind closed doors. The message was still shared because otherwise we wouldn't have the carols that we have now. They've just literally survived because they've been passed down kept treasured, I suppose.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:15)
Well, which is any kind of ⁓ knowledge, isn't it, that's passed down over time? Like we've already said about some people still weaning their puppies on Weetabix because that's somehow that's been passed down, that's ingrained in dog breeding, that that might be a sensible way to wean your puppies. And to be fair, I think that was even ⁓ featured on a popular UK TV show.

Jeremy Clarkson's Clarkson's Farm, the Labrador litter. They weaned with Weetabix because I saw the reel on social media and there was a lot of comments saying how that wasn't the appropriate thing to do.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (04:45)
Of course.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (04:58)
So, yeah.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (04:58)
in a book to call

I

would have been able to help, damn it!

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (05:02)
Yep,

I'm sure they don't even know that a canine nutrition coach exists Isobel, that's the more concerning part as well.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (05:09)
Okay.

Yeah, it is. You're very true. it's probably one of those things. I mean, it's no different to fertility specialists. I feel a lot of people have no idea they exist until they try and get a breeding. They try to have puppies and it of doesn't really go right. They haven't got a scan and then she never gives birth to puppies. They kind of go, oh, why is like none of this worked? And then that's when they backtrack and go, I need some help. And then end up stumbling across fertility support. So it's fascinating how backwards the discovery process can actually be.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (05:41)
It's a need to know basis. I think with any specialism that becomes the case that why would you assume? hopefully in quite a positive mindset of it's just going to work. So only when it doesn't work is when they realise they might need some help and assistance. And then they go, oh, look at all this amazing knowledge that they're available to us, which kind of brings us on to.

our third day and what we've achieved with the podcast, isn't it? Because that's a knowledge bank that sat there waiting accessible to anyone to discover when they need to discover it.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (06:19)
Absolutely, I'd say.

quite happily that is one of my biggest accomplishments for this year is the fact that we've just carried on showing up with it, Sara, because life's been crazy busy for us this year. I just think actually if we had the year flash before our eyes, I'm sure we'd be really shocked if we had like a Spotify wrapped on a work basis and life just if we just had a life wrapped actually at end of this year, I reckon we'd be quite horrified.

and grateful and surprised at and turbulent life's actually had a lot to deal with, yet we've still shown up with the podcast, we've still turned up, we've still made episodes, we've still been here doing the things, flying the flag, because it is so important to not gatekeep that information. I think with society in general, everyone is so much more busy now. And...

As we know, the dog industry, dog breeding scene is forever changing and I don't feel it's... not very often that you'll meet someone now that you say, yeah, well I breed because my mum bred or I breed because my auntie bred or my dad bred. It seems to be very much people end up having a litter because their girl's lovely and they want a puppy from her. it's not, there's no generational pass down or very, rarely is there generational pass down, with this sort of breeding knowledge now.

So think the podcast probably more important than ever to give people that source of familiar, trusted advice in a way that is really accessible and really consumable.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (07:52)
Yeah,

think it's good to know.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (07:52)
when we're in this

of just content everywhere now. So it's all well and good there being a blog and another book to read and another article to read, but realistically we're all busy. Like who has time for that? So I'm really proud that we've gone out on a bit of a limb here and done the podcast and carried on for another year.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (08:10)
Yeah, think, well, when we think back, Isobel, to January this year, because we dropped series one and then, and then that was it. we got busy with life. And then it was literally Jodi coming down at beginning of the year because she wanted to catch up with like-minded people that we thought, while we're here,

we'll do a podcast and then that set the trigger, didn't it, to carry on the next series. the Q &A series, then I'd done the annual Breeder Awards series and now we're rolling into whatever this is, our Christmas series. So that's quite a lot considering, the pace of life is carried on nonstop. what I quite like about it, because it is hassle.

It's not straightforward we've got so much other things to be doing but we chat anyway, so sometimes we feel that we should have recorded that as a podcast because now we still Need to tell people that information, but I think I like the fact of it's just really Accessible in the place like there's tons of podcasts, but there's not tons of quality dog breeding podcasts

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (08:58)
It's work. ⁓

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (09:23)
So it's quite nice to be one of the diamonds in the dust, of being on those platforms. But what I like the most is that we're just sitting there waiting for someone to find us. And it makes no difference to us. It's like we've done the work. We've put it out there. I think you'll find that editing has got better as you've gone on. It has improved over time. The quality, the sound quality, hopefully, has got better over time.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (09:43)
hope so. ⁓

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (09:49)
And yeah, we still got plans for 2026 but I think the fact that we've captured that information and it's there for anyone to discover at any point. And we do have people just randomly contact us because they've found the podcast and they love it to bits. like they've really enjoyed it. And then obviously the main thing is that they learn something from it and that they improve something about their breeding practices or how they care for their own dogs.

And then what more can we ask for? because, well, none of it's free, it all costs money, doesn't it? Even the equipment upgrades that we But the investment that we've made into not just time, but also equipment into the software subscription fees that we pay nowadays for stuff that, I mean, I think I literally pay for two AI.

subscription fees, which is crazy when some people don't even know it exists. So, our subscription fees are crazy to get quality dog breeding information out there in a good format in a way that people can easily digest it and refer back to it. So the podcast has been instrumental in that. And obviously when we recorded the first one, series one, which I can't even think why we decided we thought it was a good idea.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (11:10)
I don't know, we come up with lot of ideas, don't we, Sara? Just half the time we're making it out to the reality because there's just too

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (11:14)
Yeah, been.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (11:17)
Not enough time.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (11:17)
Yeah, being Aquarius'

the ideas are non-stop. But by recording that first series, it's two years down the line, it's dramatically impacted our lives, which we're not quite sure whether it's for the good or not. But it definitely took us down a path that we didn't realise we were gonna go down. And obviously we enjoyed it, so otherwise we wouldn't be doing it, would we?

But it just goes to show, put some skin in the game and no different when you're dog breeding. Try something different, you know, and see what works and see whether you're going to carry on doing that or whether you reflect on it and you think, it's better to try something else and just keep on improving because as Isobel said, like the dog breeding arena is constantly changing. And I think there's going to be a lot of changes for 2026, which may put some people off.

may be the fuel of the fire for other people.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (12:17)
I definitely think you're right Sara So there's definitely a few lessons to come out of it. And think one is just always persevering. think sometimes people are so quick to jump on a trend or an idea with breeding or maybe a breed or maybe a colour People are so happy to make that quick jump. And then if things don't quite...

Rewards them quick enough. people are so quick to jump onto the next thing and as with anything in life, Essentially you're learning a skill you're perfecting an art especially when it comes down to your dogs and you'll be tweaking their diets and their Lifestyles and your breeding plans and everything and it it is a fine art, it's something that takes decades to master and and figure out how you can get the vibrations of your program truly working

and

resonating with everyone else around you and finding like-minded communities and everything else. It does take a long time and I think we are definitely this Amazon Prime generation now where we expect instant gratification and I think breeding just reminds everyone that actually you have to slow down. You your girl's pregnancy will take over two months, that you have got to be patient. So we say, labour can take a long time and it is like watching paint dry and you do just have to sit there and just enjoy the process.

and I think the podcast is quite similar in that, it has been a very slow process and we've done our best along the way and it does take a lot of time, you you guys sit and listen to us, lucky a you, but it probably takes us 10, 20 times that length of episode to actually get that into your eardrums compared to the amount of time we spend on it and everything's just a labour of love and I think if you're passionate, don't ever forget why you're doing something because that's when something becomes a chore.

that's been something we've absolutely had to remind ourselves with the podcast. It's busy times, trying to pull this together. It's like, no, the reason we're doing this is because we're so passionate about helping people and not gatekeeping this information. Because if we're not sharing our ideas and practices and experience with newer breeders or people that are trying to improve their standards, then

not enabling them to seize that opportunity and it feels unfair and just think we're over here flying the flag of what we believe in and we just kind of got keep marching to that that beat really.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:34)
Keep banging that drum.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (14:36)
I hope you guys have enjoyed another year of podcasts anyway, because we certainly have enjoyed making them. And we've got a lot more to come in 2026, a lot of very exciting podcasts to come next year.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (14:42)
Yay.

And also what I think with the podcast is that we have gone to our own rhythm. there's many podcasts out there that drop a podcast a week and they're keeping on that train of just go, go, go, go, go. But we never felt that that was going to be right for the Breeders Brew podcast. we've always, released stuff in series because we've felt that this is a relevant chunk of information that

we should be talking about at that moment in time. And that's no different to dog breeding. What you've just said is just follow your own pattern, your own passion, and don't be too concerned. Like we said, comparison is the thief for joy. So as long as you're moving forward and positively on your own pathway, that's what you need to worry about. So we have got stuff coming in 26. We just don't know when. Just set you up there.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (15:38)
Very soon I'm sure.

no we are, are and we're super excited what a way to end the year. We've nearly hit 10,000 downloads guys so if you if you do enjoy and binge

this new podcast mini series we're doing over Christmas. We might even hit 10,000 listens for new year, which would be super exciting. Not that we worry about likes and followers, as you guys know, that have us on social media. But it's nice when you do hit milestones because it's

that thing that keeps you going I feel like it's no different when you're running a marathon as we say dog breeding is a marathon and it's like you're in your final few miles and you're counting down it's like hitting those milestones is really enjoyable so I think it's really exciting that we've hit almost 10,000 downloads because I just kind of surprised me if we had 10,000 people in a room that would feel a lot I'm pretty sure like the O2 stadium in London's only like 20,000 or something so

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (16:31)
Yeah, that's crazy number. Well, if you had a hundred people in a room, that's a lot. I mean, you have a litter of 12 pups, you have 12 puppy owners in a room, that's a lot of people all listening to you and about what you want to say about your puppies. So yeah, the fact that we've hit those numbers, we've never chased numbers, there's not really been anything on their agenda. It's just, as Isobel said, a nice milestone for us to acknowledge and to sit back and...

appreciate that some of the hard effort that we've done has been rewarded. And obviously it is a good insight into where you focus your energy and whether you should keep going in that area or not. And the podcast will keep coming. So you don't need to worry about that But obviously, as we always say, if you want to hear from us regularly, you need to join the

support club and you literally get us every week then and we get to talk about your stuff not us just blabbering on about what we think you want us to talk about so don't ever forget that's what the dog breeding support club is there for so if you want more of us and we're no different on a podcast than we are in real life so to speak

always opportunity

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (17:46)
might get a slightly more unfiltered

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (17:48)
Yeah.

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (17:50)
us in the support club, but that's obviously because we are able to give you totally personalised feedback on the situation, have a chat and sit down

have a brew with you. for those of you that aren't in the support club, feel free to come join, no pressure. But we're over there and enjoying our weekly sessions will also be continuing into 2026 for sure.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (18:09)
It will do. It will do. Right. Are done for this one, Isobel?

Isobel Canine Nutrition Coach (18:11)
⁓

on that mini update, let's keep this brief because I know you guys have probably got a very busy schedule activities to go and crack on with and family to see and whatnot. So we'll get out your eardrums. Thanks for joining us. Hope you have a lovely rest of your day and we will speak to you soon, no doubt.

Sara (Canine Family Planner) (18:29)
Yep, see you tomorrow!