What is a Breeder ?
Author Unknown
- A Breeder 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 years "vacation".
- The 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.
- The Breeder skips dinner parties because that litter is due or the
babies have to be fed at eight. She disregards birth fluids and gives
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 Breeders lap is a marvelous place where generations of proud
and noble champions once snoozed.
- The hands of a Breeder are strong and firm and often soiled but ever so
gentle and sensitive to the thrusts
of a puppy's wet nose.
- A Breeders 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 Breeders 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 Breeders arms are always able to wield a mop, support an armful of
puppies, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer.
- A Breeders ears are wonderous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or strangely shaped (from being pressed against a phone
receiver), often deaf to criticism, yet always finely tuned to the whimper of a sick puppy.
- A Breeders eyes are blurred from pedigree research but never blind to her own dog's faults. Her eyes are ever so keen to the competitions faults and are always searching for the perfect specimen.
- A Breeders brain is foggy on faces but it can recall pedigree's faster
than an IBM computer. It's so full of knowledge that sometimes it
blows a fuse: it catalogues thousands of good bonings, fine ears, and perfect heads ....... and buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn't turn out.
- The Breeders 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!!
