A reader asks…

I recently boarded my dog for Christmas with a show breeder of another breed. The owner was criticising my dog up one side and down the other. She accused me of breeding nonstandard dogs, etc. He’s a yearling puppy and I’ve never bred him! He’s too young to have proved himself and to have finished his health and genetics tests. I never said anything about breeding him, just that I do intend to show him. His breeder is a Senior Breeder Judge, not some BYB. She considers him an excellent specimen for show and work. What’s with the tendency of people to offer unsolicited criticism of your dog and can you suggest any comebacks that are likely to point out the unacceptibility of this? It wouldn’t have occurred to me to start picking her dogs apart. Heck, they’re not even similar breeds!!
Unfortunately this seems to be very common behavior, not unique to this person. I find it rude and intrusive. If I want to own a blue Labrador with tan points, why should that be anyone else’s concern? My own dog, the butt of the criticism, is actually a very correct specimen for his breed. He is an unusual color, but it is allowed in the breed standard.