What Responsible Breeders Do by the GRCA
A Tweedmouth Christmas by Marilyn Morphett
Why Title a Dog?
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores, a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in record and in memory for as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard.
And though the dog itself doesn’t know or care that its achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.
A title says your dog was intelligent and adaptable, and good-natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.
And a title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with it because it was a good dog, that you believed in it enough to give it yet another chance when it failed, and that, in the end, your faith was justified.
A title proves that your dog inspired you to that special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.
And when that dear short life is over, the title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of pride in one small set of initials after the name.
A title earned is nothing less than love and respect, given and received, and permanently recorded.
-Author unknown
Take them around … one last time.
by
Maryellen Nichols, Baltimore, MD
Someday (when, you can’t be sure),
you will knock on heaven’s door.
Then how small or great your sin,
you’ll take a quiz to be let in.
So now before this life is through,
here’s a test. See how you’ll do!
Did you spend lots of time with scoop,
searching for each piece of poop?
Did every single thing you wear,
match or contrast with doggie hair?
Buff or chocolate, red or blue,
to give the judge a better view?
Did you stay up all hours to help,
Your own or some friend’s bitch in whelp?
While on earth was it your fate,
to witness many a “doggie date”?
Was the only thing you drove for ages,
chosen to hold the most cages?
Did you keep liver everywhere?
Right in your mouth! You did not care?
When you met good friends face to face,
did they just ask you “how’d you place”?
Have you stood in heat and rain?
Endured every ache and pain?
Drunk coffee cold and soda hot,
and sat in many a porta-pot?
Did you face this kind of thing,
for just a minute in the ring?
Did all you own have dog hair in it?
Yet, you would never trade a minute,
with those who gave you selfless love.
Have you answered “yes” to the above?
Then….
They’ll let you in heaven without hesitating.
Expect to be welcomed..your dogs are waiting…..
I asked God to send me a Special Friend
and HE Sent me a Golden, Just for a lend
WHAT IS A BREEDER ??
A Breeder (with a capital B) is one who thirsts for knowledge and never really knows it all, one who wrestles with decisions of conscience, convenience, and commitment.
A Breeder is one who sacrifices personal interests, finances, time, friendships, fancy furniture, and deep pile carpeting! She gives up the dreams of a long, luxurious cruise in favor of turning that all important Show into this years “vacation”. The Breeder goes without sleep (but never without coffee!) in hours spent planning a breeding or watching anxiously over the birth process, and afterwards, over every little sneeze, wiggle or cry. The Breeder skips dinner parties because that litter is due or the babies have to be fed at eight She disregards birth fluids and puts mouth to mouth to save a gasping newborn, literally blowing life into a tiny, helpless creature that may be the culmination of a lifetime of dreams.
A Breeder’s lap is a marvelous place where generations of proud and noble champions once snoozed. A Breeder’s hands are strong and firm and often soiled, but ever so gentle and sensitive to the thrusts of a puppy’s wet nose. A Breeder’s back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending, and sitting in the birthing box, but are strong enough to enable the breeder to show the next choice puppy to a Championship. A Breeder’s shoulders are stooped and often heaped with abuse from competitors, but they’re wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and frustrations. A Breeder’s arms are always able to wield a mop, support an armful of puppies, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer.
A Breeder’s ears are wonderous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or strangely shaped (from being pressed against a phone receiver), often deaf to criticism, yet always fine-tuned to the whimper of a sick puppy/dog. A Breeder’s eyes are blurred from pedigree research. A Breeder strives not to be blind to her own dogs faults, and is always searching for the “perfect” specimen.
A Breeder’s brain is foggy on faces, but it can recall pedigrees faster than an IBM computer. It’s so full of knowledge that sometimes it blows a fuse: it catalogues thousands of good bonings, fine ears, and perfect heads… And buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn’t turn out. The Breeder’s heart is often broken, but it beats strongly with hope everlasting.
.. And it’s always in the right place ! Oh, yes, there are breeders, and then, there are BREEDERS!!
Author unknown
SO, YOU WANT TO BE A BREEDER ….
So you want to be a breeder do you? Good for you! That’s what I am, a breeder. But before you decide to go ahead and breed dogs, here are a few things you need to know, and a few things you need to have.
1. You’ll need to be willing to clean up vomit, urine, feces, chewed up sofas, ruined shoes, and destroyed books, TV remotes, curtains and wallpaper. Then you’ll need to be willing to do it all over again the next day, and the next, and the next….
2. You’ll need a strong stomach when you are forced to humanely destroy a puppy that is deformed or when you lose that litter of babies you’ve planned for so long, or the dam that you have loved and saw such a future in.
3. You’ll need a strong heart to be able to nurture and love your healthy puppies until they’re ready to be sold into the hands of strangers with prayers that you have read their intentions and plans for your little ones correctly. You’ll need that strong heart when the puppies in these wonderful new homes end up run over by accident, or put down from illness. You’ll need it when the tears of those ‘good owners’ are pouring their way into your heart or when they contact you blaming you for something out of your control.
4. You’ll need lots of room to be able to keep females in heat away from stud boys, stud boys away from each other, and puppies away from everything. Don’t forget about those last two pups that you couldn’t find homes for, or the rescue your breed club begged you to take in, or the pup from your last litter that the owners decided just wasn’t right for them.
5. You’ll need to be able to stand grief and loss. Like the way you’ll feel the first time you lose a female during labor, and realize that it was your decision to breed her that killed her. You’ll need it when you explain to your kids and friends why the miracle of birth has a dark side as well.
6. You’ll need an employer that will understand if you have to take time off work because your female died in labor or you’re hand feeding the new puppies every 2/3 hours day and night.
……….Wait a minute you’re saying by now! Give me a break! All you breeders are the same. You only tell us the gory stuff, the stuff intended to scare us off breeding forever. What about the money? I mean you guys just don’t want anyone else to compete with you…..
Oh yes the money, glad you mentioned it.
7. You’ll need money. Lots of it. Probably lots more than you have, especially if the above mentioned employer didn’t turn out to be so sympathetic after all. Lets do some math shall we? Vet bills, Cesarean section, stud fees, registrations, vaccinations, worming, check ups, special diets, birthing gear, FOOD and lots of it …. Let’s say an average of $1000 – $1800 per litter, if nothing complicated arises. All this must be paid out before the first puppy ever sells, assuming that they’re not all stillborn, in which case don’t forget the cost of post mortems. Even if every puppy in the litter is show quality (we can all dream after all) and you find each one a dream home, you’re still going to lose about $500+ per litter….if you rear them the RIGHT way
………Wait! Where are you going? I didn’t tell you about show fees, travel expenses, or picking the right stud boy, or cost of paperwork, or kennel club registrations, or dog pens, or irate neighbors, or licenses….
…
AUTHOR UNKNOWN