ATB: Reflections of a Dog Breeder

Ann & Hemi at a recent dog show in Fitchburg, MA. Shown in the Open Class
for the first time, Hemi went Reserve Winner Dog to a 4 pt major. Closing in!

My calendar tells me that Saturday is the first day of December.  How can it be? My mind is still wandering through fields of gold, enjoying the warmth of an early summer morning sun that kisses away the dew on tall grass where birds are planted and dogs are trained.  In the blink of an eye it appears that we have simply skipped our way through the past 12 months. Dog wise, 2012 began with a high degree of optimism regarding the breeding program of J&A's Brittanys.  It was clear a page had been turned in the book of our life, revealing a fresh, clean and crisp sheet of paper upon which a story was to be continued.  Personally, it began with the ministry of our son's new church and his pastoral leadership over those who that God has drawn to come. Christmas Eve will mark the 1st anniversary of Maine Life Gate Christian Church which quickly outgrew it's original location and recently moved.  As surely as God was moving in the lives of our whole family, so he was moving in our midst concerning friendship and the very dog's themselves.

When I was a little girl there was a lady in the neighborhood who lived alone. She was often visited often by the kids in our small town, ranging from elementary school age into high school. She was the aunt and cousin of a couple of them I think.  Although I grew up and went to church every Sunday, involved with the choir and Sunday school I knew diddly squat about having a personal relationship with Jesus. My praying consisted of "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep...." and reciting the Lord's prayer.  Yet, now as an adult, I realize the lady who lived alone had a deep abiding faith.  But it was something few of my friends or I ever came close to understanding. For instance, when her washing machine broke down, we knew she would ask God to help her find a way for it to be repaired. In our juvenille and immature state of mind however, this looked as if she was praying to her washing machine. So we considered her to be a little loony.  And I imagine some people now consider me to be a little loony because of my own deep abiding faith! As I get older, I do attribute my faith in Christ, my belief in all of the Bible, and my personal relationship with Jesus as the very reason for my existance now. And I pray with all faith believing. I pray for things that are obvious. I pray for things not so obvious. I pray even for our bird dog breeding program and the ATB extended family.

I'm confident that God does bless and give good gifts to those who Believe in Him, and who are not afraid to give Him credit for what comes their way.  I remember our son winning a state wrestling tournament and as he was under the spot light on the podium in the winners circle, he pointed to heaven and mouthed the words 'thank you Jesus.'   I know that whenever our daughter travels abroad, she will call from the airport and ask me to pray with her.  It's a lifestyle, and it's a lifestyle I so often fail at. But I understand the way forgiveness works and how closely bitterness is related to unforgiveness. I'm not the person I want to be, but I am also not the person I once was.  I am somewhere in the middle on this journey or whatever you want to call it. But I don't want to call it karma, energy, light or the like. Those terms are from other Eastern or new age religions and I just don't open myself up to them.

It is only when you have walked through some things, gone around the mountain a time or two, and finally reach a place where you can look back that the hand of God has been upon your life the entire time.  Whether tragedy or joy, gain or loss, blessing or curse - everything in a Believers life is known to God. It's easy to praise Him and rejoice when it's all been good.  It's not so easy to be grateful otherwise when bad things happen. I think that is where trust must come in. But even that has to be supernatural in nature. What sane, intelligent person is truly capable of saying gee thank you God for all the CRAP which just happened to me, which has all but destroyed me or my family, or my friends.  That's the faith part of it for sure.  But you've gotta understand what faith really is too... and even that in itself is baffling to the natural human mind which cannot comprehend things of the Lord. How much sense does this make to a non-believer: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Thats in the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1. 

So let me apply all of this now to our canine crew, to All Things Brittany, to our breeding program.  I have issues with people who don't understand that often in life you simply have to pay your dues. If you're a member of a club, a union, or other organizations there is a price to pay for belonging.  Annually you pay your dues.  Sometimes you have to pay your dues for a long time before being accepted as a member. There's just no shortcut to paying dues because in doing so you show your dedication and commitment to a 'cause' over a period of time. It takes hard work to get to where we want to be. I realize some of this may not fly with the methods in which Christians reach and attain goals but even then Philippeans 3:14 talks about "pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  When we have paid our dues we are no longer considered as a "Johnny-come-lately", someone who is new to an idea and late in accepting what everyone else already believes to be true.

This past weekend at the Thanksgiving Cluster of Dog Shows held in Springfield, Massachusetts the 3rd Brittany which we have bred finished in the ring as an AKC Champion.  Congratulations to Julie Harris for finishing our little Thistle, the 3rd champion in a line John and I first began to establish when breeding our first litter in 1990. The 3rd Brittany of ours to finish in the last 5 months. John and I have known many of the long time Brittany breeder for years. There have been a lot of times when they have encouraged us. And times when they have scratched their head wondering what we're up to.  Most recently, I've really appreciated the 'atta girl' pats on the back by my 'peers' in a community of well experienced, knowledgable, mature, respected and trustworthy Brittany breeders.  In order to be recognized as a gatekeeper for the breed standard, it's important to remain true to the ideals of the Brittany we all know and love. 

I've often said that I never ever want to take any accomplishment of any of our dogs for granted. I always want to demonstrate the full depth of my emotion when I'm ringside, in the field, or on the end of a telephone call with good news about a dog from the ATB family.  This can mean the dogs first pheasant or a pups success with housebreaking.  The first time I stepped into a ring with a dog I bred, love, and own was in 2007.  My reason? Because people I respect said our Brittanys were beautiful and deserved to be shown off. And I wanted very much for our breeding program to be taken seriously. And Treasure won Best in Sweepstakes, which I felt was more of an affirmation coming from God than man's approval of our breeding program. 

In 2011 we were recognized by AKC as Breeders of Merit.  I wear my pin proudly.  It means we now have 12 AKC titled Brittanys which we have bred, and this does include 3 bench champions. An affirmation of God as well as man's approval of our efforts to breed and produce outstanding dogs.

So many families who own the Brittanys from our program have become close friends, and an important part of our life.  The encouragement and support from them is ongoing and extremely humbling, greatly apprciated. An affirmation of God as well as mans approval of the time we pour into our pups the first 8 weeks of their lives resulting in extremely well socialized animals.

We enjoy many photos of happy owners with their beautiful Brittany hunting companions, several of them with their young family members.  Yet another affirmation of God which meets mans desire for a well bred hunting companion of sound mind and ease of training. And I love the stories which still need to be shared here.

There are particular hopes and dreams which are tucked away in my heart concerning our beloved Brittany dogs.  Goals which have been set and that we will work to reach, step by step.  We're not alone in this, and I am able to strongly feel the incredible support and dynamics demonstrated towards us and towards our dogs on many level.  I also feel God's hand upon all of this for some reason. 

Thanks for letting me ramble, for I feel that's really what this has been today. Since the last time I posted anything lengthy we've gone through the elections, several dog events including shows and field events, enjoyed our family Thanksgiving dinner and of course - Julie handling Thistle to her AKC Bench Title! 

Also appreciate that some of you have taken time to email us and confirm your level of interest in a future puppy.  Two nice litters are planned here for 2013.  And a couple of others with dogs from our program. Waiting lists are ongoing, and you know it's important to us to have the best fit regarding puppy and family. Plus we enjoy staying in touch.  THANKS!!

Take care and God bless you always - John, Ann, and All Things Brittany

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“To make clever people believe we are what we are not

is in most instances

harder than really to become what we want to seem to be.”