I am a breeder

My food receipts for a family of 7 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 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 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 micro chipping, vaccinations, sub-q

fluids, bottle feeding and tube feeding.

My vet knows me by first name.

The vet knows my children

The vet now 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.

Lori Hallfrisch of Southernstyle kennel