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What is a Breeder?
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WHAT IS A BREEDER?
By Peggy Adamson
- 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 year's vacation.
- A 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.
- A 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 pup 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 wondrous 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.
- A Breeder's eyes are blurred from pedigree research and sometimes blind to her own dog's faults, but they are ever so keen to the competitions faults and are 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 boning, fine ears, and perfect heads... and buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn't turn out.
- A 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
What to Look for in a Good Breeder
Seek out good breeders who would never consider letting a puppy go to its new home before:
- the puppy is 4 to 5 months of age.
- the puppy had the benefit of at least the first three of its initial immunization shots.
- the puppy had a thorough exam done by their veterinarian.
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AT RAINBOW BRIDGE
inspired by a Norse Legend
By the edge of a wood, at the foot of a hill, is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run, when their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next, is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play, till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, for here they are whole, their health renewed,
their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care, until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back, then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met; Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past, the time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart, has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever, and then, side-by-side, they cross over.....together.
At Rainbow Bridge!!
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