Probably shouldn't start off a new personal finance blog with a story about a dog but there is a moral to the story. Here's the set-up.
Marc, the human in the picture on the left, is my son and wanted a dog. But not just any dog. He wanted a bull terrier which most people recognize as the Target dog but Marc recognizes as the dog Patton had in World War II. Marc is a lieutenant in the Air Force so military stuff, including Patton's dog, rates pretty high in his world.
Marc is stationed at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and was in an apartment which is bad for a dog. But Marc moved in with Ty (a fellow B-52 navigator) when Ty bought a house, a house with a fenced backyard. So condition number 1 met.
Then to the breed. A brief study showed an independent (read: runs away), loyal (read: will kill anything that comes close) and doesn't mix well with other pets (read: the cat is lunch.) Not good but Marc persevered.
Cost--a bull terrier puppy goes for around $2,000. Ouch.
Solution--Marc went to the web page for the Bull Terrier Breeders Association or something like that and found they had dogs for an adoption for a fee of $300. At this I jumped in and pointed out that the dogs are up for adoption for a reason--they did something wrong like run away or kill the cat. Marc persevered and filled out a form that ran about three pages, sent it in and promptly got turned down. Seems the association had some bad luck with the 'military' and would not place a dog in a 'military environment' whatever that means. Marc asked the obvious, "Can they do that?" Maybe not legally but they did.
I was ready to give up but not Marc. Back to the web and found a site for a breeder near here with a prize winning dog he was looking to sell for $600 on the condition the dog be neutered. Not good news for the dog but Marc didn't want to breed the dog so ok with Marc. Marc was home for Christmas vacation, he called the owner and we drove an hour and a half into west Texas looking for the place. Got lost three times but finally found the farm and rundown farmhouse.
Not exactly where we thought you would find a Westminister show dog but there he was along with about six or seven brothers, half brothers, sisters, half sisters, etc. Out came James, the breeder, dressed in overalls and with a voice ravaged by 30 years of cigarettes and a throat cancer operation. Turns out that James is a modern day Jeb Clampett, being a former dairy farmer that gave up on cows after oil was discovered on his farm. Bored and looking for something to do he fell in love with Spuds McKenzie, the Bud Lite dog.
For those too young to remember the late '80s, Budweiser's ad agency dreamt up Spuds, a party dog that drank Bud Lite and attracted good looking women. Spuds was a hit leading to Spuds stuffed animals, Spuds lamps and Spuds just about everything else. The only thing Spuds didn't do was increase sales so Spuds was soon out on the street. First rule of good advertising--if it doesn't move the product it ain't good advertising. James became a Spuds devotee and bought his first Spuds. This brought him into contact with the Breeder's Association ("bunch of whackos" according to James' wife) which treated James like dirt which inspired him only more to breed the perfect Bull Terrier.
Enter Buck, the third James dog, whose real name is Naraja. Seems James is a big Dallas Mavericks fan and the Mavericks had, for a short while, a player of Mexican (I'm not making this up) descent named Naraja so the dog was named Naraja. Naraja, the dog not the basketball player, was almost the perfect bull terrier except for an ear that flopped down at the worst times, like judging time at the Westminster dog show and so he had to go after siring a bunch of other terriers and reaching retirement age of five years old. And Marc decided that he would retire the name Naraja so Naraja became Buck named after General Buck Turgidson, the George C. Scott character in the movie Dr. Strangelove.
After about an hour of talking to James about everything from the Breeder's Association to the oil bidness to the Mavericks it was time to negotiate. I decided to head toward the barn and leave it up to Marc and James. As I was exiting, Marc asked James how firm was the $600 price. "Ah, hell, you can have 'em." I stopped in mid-step. Turned around and Marc was speechless. James continued in a voice sounding like it was coming out of a gravel pit, "I just want him to have a good home and not go into some damn puppy mill and you look ok being military and all, so shit, you can have him." To Buck's relief, James also waived the neutering requirement.
Marc's mom and I picked Buck up a week later and drove him to his new home. And the guys at Budweiser had one thing right--the dog is a chick magnet. We got stopped three times in the Petsmart parking lot. And he is a gentleman--no running away or eating the cat. Champions are brought up to be manhandled at dog shows since the judges do this to test the temperment according to James.
So what does the tale of Buck have to do with getting rich? It wasn't Marc saving $2,000 or $600 by getting Buck for free. It's all about not giving up and trying new ways to solve the problem and also getting a little mad and stubborn. Most people give up trying after being told no and give up on new approaches and that's why they don't get rich. It's easier to take the easy way out, forget about saving and forget about finding that investment that will make them rich over time. The path of least resistence is the easiest path but it's not the path to success.
Here are specifics of the dog story and finance.
1) Marc knew exactly what he wanted.
2) He researched the market.
3) He went the conventional route (the Association) but when turned down he found an alternate market ie., James.
4) He got a little mad and a little stubborn.
5) He found James and he got what he wanted for nothing.
We are not going to always get what we want for nothing but we can get them cheap if we follow the techniques Marc used.
For more on perseverence see Category 6-Winning At Renting and Category 9-Buying A House for 30% Off.
I'm happy your son got a great dog, and that the breeder was looking for a good home. The problem of puppy mills that he referenced is a serious one, and one that dog buyers often fall victim to when getting dogs from pet stores. The problem of puppy mills is a serious one, and it is good advice to discern between mills and good breeders. I just posted my perspective about puppy mill legislation currently before Congress (http://coffeehousesoapbox.blogspot.com/2006/01/puppy-mills-still-need-attention.html). If you have a moment, check out the Humane Society (https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2006_PAWS) write your congressmembers.
Posted by: srcastic | January 19, 2006 at 12:17 PM