| My food receipts for a family of seven and
my dog food bills match. My water bill has doubled. My
electric has tripled. It is I, a breeder, who when my fridge
quit, saved the dog meds and let the food go bad. My feet
find the way to the kennel before I have even grabbed a cup
of coffee in the morning and the kennel is my last stop
before bed. While my friends are on a cruise to the Bahamas
and my family meets for Christmas, I am home delivering
puppies. I haven't had a real vacation in seven years, but
maybe soon. All plans are made around heat dates, whelp
dates and vet dates. I shower and 10 minutes later my
grandkids say I smell like a dog. My clothes are all stained
with fecal matter, urine, afterbirth or bleach. I have to
remember to clean my shoes before church. Most of my friends breed dogs. Who else
can you call at 3 a.m. for support? Who else has the
experience I sometimes need, the med I sometimes need, or
just an uplifting word I sometimes need ? Who else would
understand how it feels to have invested hours and hours and
hours in a weak puppy to lose it? Or the joy in investing
hours in one that lives? I have slept on the floor beside a
litter until the crucial two weeks have passed. I have
bottle fed a litter of 12, feeding every two hours and it
taking 90 minutes to do for weeks at a time. I have learned
to be proficient at micro-chipping, vaccinations, sub q
fluids, bottle feeding and tube feeding.
My vet knows me by first name. The vet
knows my children. The vet now knows my grandchildren. My
vet knows it was I who added on the wing to the vet clinic.
I am a breeder.
It is to me that 63 days takes on new
meaning still excited by every new life. It is I who
delivers all my pups, towels and heat lamps on ready,
happiness and sadness sometimes intermingled. Even though it
increases my work load, I look forward to the 10-day stage
when eyes open, and puppies begin to emerge from the
helplessness of newborns. Puppy breath, a first bark, and a
heart for exploration. I am not uneducated, unemployable,
illiterate or lazy as some animal-rights folks would imply
of breeders. I am a conscientious lover of animals and I
have found my niche.
I am a breeder.
And although I feel no shame, there is a
part of me that feels the need to hide from powers that
could come to invade my home and take my dogs ...maybe for
finding a mild infraction, a leaf in the water dish? A
kennel not yet cleaned for the day? A rash I am home
treating? I tell my children and grandchildren to hush, do
not tell others we are dog breeders, and I wonder when did
breeding puppies go into the same secret place as criminal
activity?
I am a breeder and I am not cruel, dumb,
uncaring or criminal. I am not raking in money while sitting
on my butt. Every penny I make I earn through blood, sweat
and tears. My greatest joy is a healthy puppy and a
wonderful home. The cards of thanks and the pictures of my
puppy with its new family is the fringe benefits of my
efforts. I am an animal lover, nurse, midwife, heavy
laborer, customer service representative, and marketer.
AND I am a breeder.
Author Unknown
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