I AM A DOG BREEDER

I wanted to share this again. It has been on the Maine Brittany Site for several years but now that I soon will be redesigning the site I felt it may be appropriate and timely to share it here again. There are many other things which could be added here but as our ALL THINGS HOPED FOR puppies leave for their new homes, many aspects of this ring very, very true at the moment!

 

 

 

I AM A BREEDER

Author: Lori Hallfrisch of Southernstyle Kennel.  Used with permission.

 

I am a breeder.

My food receipts for my  family 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 grab 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 am a breeder.
I haven't had a real vacation in 7 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 am 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 am a breeder.
I have slept on the floor beside a litter until the crucial 2 weeks have passed.

I have bottle fed a litter of 12 newborn pups, feeding every 2 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, knows my children, and my grand children.
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, that first bark. and a heart of 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 grand children 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.
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 more.