05/01/2024
I AM A BREEDER...
My food receipts for my family of 6 and my dog food bills dont even compare . My electric has trippled, I have more whelping supplies than I do medicine and first aid supplies. I have vaccines in my fridge, incubators, nebulizers and oxygen tanks on hand, my vet on speed dial and puppy pens in my living room. My feet find the way to the puppy pens before I have even ate breakfast in the morning and the puppy pens are 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 or hand feeding puppies.
All plans are made around heat dates, whelp dates, puppies going to their new homes and vet dates.
I am a Breeder, who has been covered in more bodily fluids from my dogs on more occasions than I care to admit. Cleaning products are my most favorite thing. Most of the time my conversations with friends revolves around my dogs. When I get exhausted and feel like I can't do another sleepless night hand feeding a puppy around the clock every 2 hours I remind myself religiously that the hand feeding is only temporary and the reward is coming.
I am breeder who sacrifices my own comfort to sleep on the floor next to a whelping pen so I can hear every time a puppy makes a squeak or to jump up in a panic making sure I didn't over sleep and not hear my alarm for the next 2 hour puppy feeding. Many people wouldn't understand how it feels to have invested hours and hours in a weak puppy to ultimately lose it and how it can feel the same as loosing a child or the joy I feel when all the invested hours have paid off in one that lives.
I am a Breeder, who has bottle fed, tube fed, syringe and even sponge fed a puppy doing whatever it takes… feeding every 2 hours and it taking 45 minutes to do it for weeks at a time to ensure it's survival. I have learned to be proficient at vaccinations, sub- q fluids, syringe feeding, warm water enemas, temperature taking and formulated and perfected my own puppy formula. My Vet knows me by my first name, knows my children, and has witnessed me cry countless times.
I am a Breeder, to me that 63 days takes on new meaning still excited by every new life. It is I whom delivers all my pups, towels and heating pads on ready, happiness and sadness sometimes intermingled. It is I who has breathed the first breath of life into a puppy who has refused to take that first breath. Even though it increases my work load, I look forward to the 14 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 a conscientious lover of animals and I have found my niche.
I am a Breeder, and I am not cruel, dumb, uncaring or criminal, money hungry or greedy . I take great pride and responsibility for every life I bring into this world and ensure it goes to a wonderful, loving and perfect home, an extension of the same love and care they received while in my own home. I am not raking in money while sitting on my butt. Every penny I make I earn through blood, sweat, hard work and tears. My greatest joy is a healthy puppy and a wonderful home. The cards of thank you and the pictures of my puppies with their new families are the fringe benefits of my efforts.
I am an animal lover, vet tech, nanny, photographer, veterinarian, consultant, mentor, student, therapist, customer service representative, marketer and PROUDLY I AM A BREEDER!
