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A Breeder`s Poem
I am a breeder
My food receipts for a family of 5 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 grabbed 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 haven't had a real vacation in 6 years, but maybe soon. All plans
are
made around heat dates, whelp dates and vet dates.
I shower and 10 minutes later my 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 family 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 have slept on the floor beside a litter until the crucial 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 tail dockings, vaccinations, sub
q fluids, bottle feeding and tube feeding.
My vet knows
me by first name and knows my number on caller ID.
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, bulb syringes, hemostat, scissors and heat lamps on ready happiness and sadness
sometimes intermingled. It is me that must sacrifice so all of
my babies get to a Vet in an emergency during deliveries, and pay over $5000.00 a year.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 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.
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