I Am a Breeder

Discussion in the new mentor's group got me to thinking about something. Many of my closest friends are dog breeders, and they all work very hard to provide the very best care, vetting, and socialization of their pups so that they will grow up to be someone's Best Friend Ever. They spend every spare nickel they have either in health testing to make sure their dogs are fit and ready to reproduce and not carrying some horrible health issue, or in other forms of competition to prove their abilities. Yet the current atmosphere has been aggressively anti-breeder for a very long time now. The social stigma aimed at dog breeders has never been so negative; it is as if none of us are stewards of valuable lines, or working to produce healthy, happy babies for loving homes. No, the public assumption is that we are all sitting out here raising pups in filthy squalid conditions just to make a buck, prostituting our poor animals for personal gain and to gratify our egos. It has reached a point where breeders are afraid to mention in public that they raise pups, because the immediate backlash at the grocery store, or the pet park, or the vet office, is so hateful.

This is WRONG. Breeders are NOT sitting out here cranking out pups in filthy conditions without a care for their eventual lives. I have been breeding dogs for almost 40 years. I can tell you where almost every puppy I ever bred is *right now.* Most of my friends can do the same. And I am tired of people being made to feel guilty and accused of being a 'puppy mill' for the heinous crime of loving dogs and wanting to share that love with others in a positive way. No, MOST breeders do not raise pups in filthy conditions. There are no more abusive, neglectful dog breeders out there than there are abusive, neglectful human parents. We all know child abuse exists, but it is not our *default* assumption for all people who have children. And 'puppy mill' can no longer be the acceptable 'default' for society to view dog breeders. It has to stop.

Part of the problem is that we have been under attack for so long that most of us walk around with our shoulders bunched up, expecting the next assault. That needs to stop too. Yes, I know it is frightening. Yes, I know that admitting publicly that you breed dogs makes you a target to the nasty little ARAs, but the alternative is living in fear and watching everything we have worked so hard for crumble into dust. I am not up for that. How about you guys?

I am a dog breeder. I do it on PURPOSE, not by accident. My dogs are tested for most of the major illnesses that beset their breeds, and are removed from our breeding program if they fail to measure up to our standards in every way. My dogs compete nationally both at bench shows and performance events, and we have dogs working in Search and Rescue, as cadaver dogs for law enforcement, and as service dogs for the handicapped, as well as working livestock on ranches across the country. I am very proud of our dogs, and how much we have accomplished. I refuse to pretend that this is somehow bad and wrong. I refuse to be held accountable for other people's failures. And the idea that it is 'wrong' to produce puppies when there are dogs in the shelter is basically like saying that women should be prevented from having children because the prisons aren't empty yet. How stupid is that!!

I am a dog breeder. Let me repeat that: I AM A BREEDER. I spend days, weeks, sometimes months, looking over pedigrees and making certain that our choices are going to be the best possible to bring healthy, happy puppies into the world for people to love. I spend sleepless nights, on the floor on a pallet next to my girls, when they are close to whelping, and for several days afterwards. The pups get my undivided attention for the entire time they are with us, and when they leave they will have been exposed to every kind of positive stimuli they can be. And I cry, yes this curmudgeonly Wicked ol' Witch cries every time I surrender a puppy to a new home, because I know I may never see it again. And even though I know that is a joyful day, at the same time I will miss each and every one of them. And I will follow up, after they leave, to make *sure* this is a good fit for all concerned. I get calls in the dark of the night about random vomit. I get calls while I am at dinner with friends by hysterical first time breeders whose dog is in whelp, what do I do what do I do!! I get calls from people who bought pups from us over a decade before, and I help soothe their misery because their Best Friend Ever just crossed the Bridge. I get calls from people excited because their pup just won its first point at its first show, or it passed its herding certification. This is my life, my passion, my calling. It is what I do, it is who I am.

I am a Breeder. I will not apologize for that. I will not hang my head, or feel badly about it. Nor will I put up with people who want to give me crap about how thoughtless and selfish I am for bringing more pups into the world when the shelters still have dogs in them. It is a stupid, completely false argument, false premise, logical fallacy and I will not be held accountable to it. I will not allow others to denigrate me for my choices. I will not put up with scathing remarks or judgmental glances from others who have no *clue* about the depth of my devotion, or the work I put into each and every baby that leaves our home. I will not be shamed, I will not be silenced, I will not be bullied.

This is my fervent wish for 2014: Let this be the *last* year that people use the word 'breeder' as a pejorative, without challenge. Let this be the last year that my breeder friends are forced to live under the gun, and hide who they are, and feel embarrassed when they admit that yes, they *gasp!* have intact dogs, and worse, *breed them.* Let this be the year when the battle is joined, and breeders finally stand up, and challenge this ugly stereotype, and reject it, and say, with PRIDE:

I am a Breeder.

*I* am a Breeder.

I AM a BREEDER.

Those of you who feel the same: Join me. Speak your truth to the world. Stop letting those who want to see an end to the companion animal bond, set the stage and shape the conversation. It is time we all stood up, as one, and said:

I AM A BREEDER.

And that is a GOOD thing.