What is a Breeder?
I am a breeder. My food receipts for a family of 7 and my dog food bills match. My electric bill has tripled, my water bill has doubled. 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 the 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 7 years, but maybe soon. All plans are made around heat dates, whelp dates and vet dates. I shower and 10 minutes later my grand kids 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 3am 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 cruicial 2 weeks have passed. I have bottle fed a litter of 12..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 my first name. The Vet knows my children. The Vet knows 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, a 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 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.
unknown author.
BREEDER'S POEM
I LOVE MY LITTLE PUPPY, SHE MAKES MY HOUSE A HOME,
SHE IS MY VERY SWEETEST LITTLE FRIEND, I NEVER FEEL ALONE,
SHE MAKES ME SMILE, SHE MAKES ME LAUGH, SHE FILLS MY HEART WITH LOVE,
DID SOMEONE BREED HER OR DID SHE FALL FROM ABOVE?
I'VE NEVER BEEN A BREEDER, NEVER SEEN LIFE THROUGH THEIR EYES,
I HOLD MY LITTLE PUPPY AND JUST SIT AND CRITICIZE,
I'VE NEVER KNOWN THEIR ANGUISH, I'VE NEVER FELT THEIR PAIN,
I HAVE NEVER FELT THE CARING OF THEIR CHARGES, THROUGH SNOW OR WIND OR RAIN.
I'VE NEVER WAITED THE WHOLE NIGHT THROUGH FOR BABIES TO BE BORN,
THE STRESS AND TREPIDATION WHEN THEY ARE STILL NOT THERE BY MORN,
THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS BODY IN MY HANDS,
THIS DARLING LITTLE BABY WHO WEIGHS BUT 60 GRAMS,
SHOULD YOU DO THAT INSTEAD OF THIS...OR MAYBE THAT WAS WRONG,
ALONE YOU FIGHT AND HOPE ONE DAY, HE'LL GROW UP PROUD AND STRONG,
YOU PRAY HE'LL LIVE TO BRING GREAT JOY TO SOMEONE ELSE'S HOME,
YOU KNOW IT'S ALL JUST UP TO YOU, YOU'LL FIGHT THIS FIGHT ALONE.
FORMULA, BOTTLES, HEATING PAD, YOU'VE GOT TO GET THIS RIGHT,
TWO HOUR FEEDINGS FOR THIS TINY GUY, THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND NIGHT.
WITHIN YOUR HEART YOU DREAD THAT YOU WILL SURELY LOOSE THIS FIGHT,
TO SAVE THIS LITTLE BABY,,,,BUT GOD WILLING YOU JUST MIGHT.
DAY ONE HE'S IN THERE FIGHTING, YOU SAY A SILENT PRAYER,
DAY TWO AND THREE HE'S DOING WELL WITH LOTS OF LOVE AND CARE,
DAY FOUR AND FIVE...HE'S STILL ALIVE, YOUR HOPES SOAR TO THE HEAVENS,
DAY SIX HE SLIPS AWAY AGAIN...DIES IN YOUR HANDS, DAY SEVEN.
YOU TAKE THIS LITTLE ANGEL AND BURY HIM ALONE.
WITH ACHING HEART AND BURNING TEARS, AND AN EXHAUSTED GROAN,
YOU ASK YOURSELF, "WHY DO THIS, WHY SUFFER THROUGH THIS PAIN?"
YET, YOU WATCH THE JOY YOUR PUPPIES BRING AND EVERYTHING'S EXPLAINED,
SO WHEN YOU THINK OF BREEDERS AND LABEL THEM WITH GREED,
THINK OF ALL THAT THEY ENDURE, TO FILL ANOTHER'S NEED,
FOR WHEN YOU BUY YOUR PUPPY, WITH YOUR PRECIOUS DOLLARS PART,
YOU ONLY PAY WITH MONEY, WHILE THEY PAY WITH ALL THEIR HEART.
