| How to evaluate a dog-site...
Posted by Coldcoct  on October 23, 2009, 4:52 pm, in reply to "Our NEW Website!! Performance Neos and Bandogges"
I'm going to take a second and comment on what I think is the right way to evaluate a dog-related website. In this case, the website is to inform of a small-breeding program with a working-dog emphasis.
The things that jump out at me right away:
1) Nice graphics, nothing too, "Gladiator" heavy.
2) A few links, no nonsense dog-stuff.
3) "home" link provides a description of their yard, which is small (huge positive in my opinion). They provide statistics of health checks, a description of the dog's personality, and the pictures denote a clean and well kept facility. They also have a short description of who they are, their respective dog-resume's, a vision of their kennel goals (most importantly), and a description of the facilities.
4) "Working" is a link with pics of their dogs working a job, with a brief synopsis of their respective training regiments and they're using the right equipment. Most importantly, they stress obedience as a part of their training regiment. Too often you go to a weight pull and see a dog pull a cart with a mountain of weight on it, but the damn thing is so unruly you couldn't trust it with a child. This is the most important link on their dog-site, in my opinion.
5) "our dogs" shows consistency in appearance of their dogs, which in my opinion is an example of a breeding program with a vision and breeders who select based on the ideals of genotype and phenotype not "Bad ass" and "Bulky". You also don't see them tied out back with huge chains, which is again a testament to their yard and how they keep their dogs.
6) "Contact us" has a pic of dogs in the sit/stay position while a photographer snaps the shot and looks professionally done. this photo says, "if you see me at a pull, introduce yourself", not "I'm hiding from the feds".
7) Their "links" aren't to a huge range of different sites not related to their website. It's not mixed in with random links to UFC. I like to train for MMA as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't pay an accountant to do my taxes or a dentist to pull my tooth if she had random links to stuff that didn't relate to the website they developed.
So the obvious impression is that this all looks as though it takes a lot time, work, and money. EXACTLY THE POINT!!! When I check out someone's yard, I want to know they are investing in the future of the breed and sport they are working in. Interestingly, when you see how much they are asking for their pups, you notice its not the standard "500 down, 500 when we ship" you see on so many sites. These people aren't making money on their dogs, they're keeping their yard going...and that's a big difference in philosophy.
Now, I've been super positive the whole time, so I'll offer my criticisms: I'm happy to see they are working their dogs, but I'd love to see them compete, work on titles, and share more about their involvement in what process they are using to "prove" their dogs, so to speak. I also like to see genealogy links, but its not that big of a deal to me, especially with a bandog program. Also, I like to see why people choose their respective breeds, and you don't get that sense here. I'll note that they are still developing their website, so it might be that they have intentions of adding this later.
So, why have I done this? Too often, on too many forums I see people trashing others programs, training practices, and breeding efforts. Even more bothering is that almost daily it seems, some idiot without a dime to his name wants to start a kennel without a hint of an idea of what he's doing. Its bad for the rest of the dog-world trying to refute BSL and distance themselves from the shady-underside of the dog world. Plus, this is the future of being a (excuse me ladies) "dog man". If you love dogs and dog sports, evaluating programs and prospective partners in the field takes time, so this is my attempt to help the process.
To Mark and Lindsay: I hope you aren't offended by me using your website as an example, its just that this is the first time in a long time I was impressed with a program I wasn't already familiar with. Ya'll look like you're working hard, and doing it the right way.
Great site,
ColdCoct
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