PuppyFat advisor Lee Cox talks about 40 years of breeding dogs

Lee Cox is a second-generation dog breeder and has been breeding dogs for over 40 years.     

His kennel has owned and bred 95 UK champions to date, winning over 600 challenge certificates in the UK, including #1 Dog of all breeds in 2012 and #2 of all breeds in the UK.  

Lee is a member of the PuppyFat Advisory Panel, set up in early 2022 to support our growing dog breeding community.  Composed of experienced advisors with a unique insight into dogs, breeding, welfare, and behaviour, our panel is there to help shape our technology and support our community with help and advice at every stage of a dog’s lifecycle.  

Lee was brought into the world of dog breeding from a very young age, handling his first dog at a show at the age of four and breeding his very first litter at the age of seven. As a second-generation dog breeder (Lee’s parents were also dog breeders), he was able to gain first-hand experience from a very young age.  

Since then, Lee has continued breeding and showing and more recently, he’s become a multi-breed judge.   

With the experience and knowledge Lee has gained, he is also able to help others and offer his expertise as a Nestlé Purina‘s Breeder Manager, a position he has held for the past 11 years.  

Hi Lee, tell us about your role as a Purina Breeder Manager?  

As Breeder Managers, we are the face of the Breeder Team for breeders in this country.   

So being a Purna Breeder Manager involves networking with breeders, attending events where breeders can network, recruiting and maintaining breeders and offering them support and advice to both breeders and new owners of puppies.  

The role holds a huge responsibility of being supportive and sharing knowledge, success stories and even failures. A major part of the role involves offering advice specifically about nutrition.  

What are you most looking forward to being on PuppyFat’s Advisory Committee?  

I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge and experience breeding dogs with PuppyFat to help them grow and develop into something that will help breeders. When you talk to other breeders, everybody has new ideas and different ways of doing things; you’re learning all the time.

But most importantly, it’s all about the welfare of animals, sharing success and failures and, in the long run, learning and becoming a better breeder.  

Dog breeding is a passion of mine; it’s more than just a hobby.

What are the benefits of Purina and PuppyFat working together?  

At Purina, we have the expertise within the breeding world, and we’re there to guide the PuppyFat team as they develop their app.  

Purina has the expertise and knowledge to aid PuppyFat and ensure its information is relevant and in front of the right audience. PuppyFat offers a platform to give Purina the voice and the equipment to offer their valuable advice.  

It’s also useful for Purina to offer our breeders the opportunity to get involved with PuppyFat to make their lives easier.

PuppyFat gives them a way of managing their breeding programs and licencing expectations and nutritional information. Both Purina and PuppyFat have a customer base that they can introduce to each other. 
 

Why do you love breeding dogs?

I have been involved in the dog breeding industry my whole life. I’m part of a passionate community that cares not only about health standards but also about providing a person with a friend for life, a pet that will give them joy and be part of their family.  

The joy that a puppy gives to a family makes it all worthwhile.

Find out more about our advisory panel here.