Being a dog breeder is never easy. You carefully plan, choosing the best stud dog for your bitch. Sometimes there are difficulties, and you end up spending thousands to produce that highly desired litter. And then even after all that time, planning and expense, you end up with either no puppies or a singleton.
You bring your puppy home, and you take turns sleeping in shifts for the first two weeks. You don't dare leave that precious puppy alone for even a minute, because even the best dog mom can roll over and smother the tiny pup or accidently step on him and break a leg or worse. So you grab a few hours of sleep when you can, and watch your pup grow. You watch his eyes open, you watch him learn to walk and play. You watch him become confident and begin to explore his surroundings.
You wean him from his mother's milk to the best kibble you can buy. You take him for whatever health checks are required for your breed, because you are a responsible, reputable breeder. You socialize him, play with him, guide him and love him.
And then, no matter how perfect and adorable he is, if he isn't exactly what you need in continuing your line of collies...you have to let him go. Because you know you can't keep them all. So you choose the best home you can, and with pride in the beautiful puppy you have produced and sadness in your heart, you hug and kiss him good-bye.
Today was little Tate's 3 month birthday. And today Tate left us to live with his new mom, and his new collie brothers and sisters. But he was sold on a co-ownership, so he will make appearances on the collie blog from time to time, so it isn't really good-bye. But the house is so quiet without him, we sure miss our little man.
I admire and greatly respect the work, time, energy, love that people like you put into each litter that you bring into this world because of your love and devotion to your favorite breed. But you "do it right" and never really say good-bye, which says so much about you. What a handsome boy, that I know got the best start at a good life because of you -- AND because of you, he has the best of TWO families!
ReplyDeleteAww!! Always so hard. I'm afraid I'd be the breeder that would want to keep them all ... haha!! Good to hear he'll be making appearances on the blogs so we all can watch him grow.
ReplyDeleteThat face, that beautiful face. What an amazing boy. I echo Kim's comment. It is important work.
ReplyDeleteOh boy! That's just as hard as fostering. Saying goodbye is tough
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
He is one beautiful boy. His wonderful and loving start in the world, has given him the very best start, we look forward to seeing this beautiful boy. stella rose
ReplyDeleteI know my breeder feels the same way.
ReplyDeleteTo answer you question, all of the collies I've had are related. I've had four collies: Essex, Deacon, Sherman and Gemini. Essex brother was Deacon's Dad, Sherman's Grand Father and Gemini's Great Grand Dad.
I was ask why I waited instead of getting a tri-color from someone else. My answer was if you find a good breeder, why change. If I was without a collie, I wouldn't have been as fussy and waited over a year for a tri-color girl.
In many ways our breeder has an extended family. Some of that extended collie family contact my collie blog.
We chat at the old Dogs With Blogs (DWB) Chat Room. E-bark us at keywestcollies@aol.com for more information about the chat room.