R.I.P., Feminvstr, you will be missed

I just found out that the Yorkie world lost a good friend Dec. 26th, 2009. Kimberly King, who ran Yorkie Passion kennels (www.yorkiepassion.com), died of lung cancer. Her green light is forever out on YT, and I, for one, am heartbroken.

I hesitated announcing this because my information is second-hand. There's been no obituary. But I knew she was battling lung cancer, and two personal friends of hers confirmed that she died Dec. 26th.

I never met Kimberly in person, but she was the one who whelped Jillie. A good friend of hers bred Jillie but was too sick by the time the delivery came around. Kimberly stepped in and handled the delivery, the socialization and, after her friend died, the sale to us. She gave all the proceeds to her friend's husband.

Here on YT, Kimberly went by the name of feminvstr. Though she disappeared in recent years, she was an active poster when I joined in 2005. I was immediately drawn to her by her avatar. It was a picture of the most gorgeous little dog I'd ever seen, strutting straight toward the camera, backlit with a gait only a proud, champion show Yorkie could muster. I will never forget that avatar. It's what inspired me to start taking pictures of Yorkies.

Kimberly posted some of the most memorable pictures I've ever seen on YT. Most were of her champion Yorkies on a podium. I'm no expert in show circles, but a look on her Web site shows a very successful line of renown champions.

My favorite pictures EVER of Yorkies came in her Rubadubdug, 9 Yorkies in the post. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/gen...rkies-tub.html.

What impressed me the most in those pictures wasn't just how cute they were. It was that Kimberly was actually tackling the job of bathing NINE YORKIES AT ONCE. Who would do that? Who COULD do that?

The answer, I have no doubt in my mind, was someone who truly loved Yorkies.

Breeders take a beating on dog forums. Good or bad, right or wrong, controversy follows breeders. Poor breeders or inexperienced breeders are the object of scorn, but even the best breeders face tough ethical decisions that are difficult to explain to nonbreeders.

Even breeders don't always agree on ethical standards and argue amongst themselves. I've seen some hateful posts on other forums about Kimberly, accusing her of everything from providing inaccurate information to running a puppy mill.

I've come to the conclusion that you can't run a business of selling Yorkies and make everyone happy. I think the controversy and drama is what chased Kimberly away from YT. I have no doubt she had enemies here, perhaps even deserved. I was not one of them. I do know this: Puppy mills do not produce perfectly socialized pets.

Even though I owned Eddie, and later Jack, I used to fantasize about owning a Kimberly King Yorkie. In my mind, they were perfection.

When Jack died, the opportunity came. While I wanted a rescue, I didn't find one that felt right. In the back of my mind -- years after I'd read a post from Kimberly -- I still wanted one of her dogs.

The day I decided against a rescue, I e-mailed Kimberly. She answered the next day. Yes, she remembered me. Yes, she would have pups available soon. And, yes, she'd move me to the top of the list.

Although I didn't end up with a Kimberly King-bred Yorkie, I ended up with something that I feel is even more important -- a Kimberly King socialized Yorkie. If there's one thing I've learned about dogs and socialization, it's that the first weeks of their life -- while living with the breeder -- are the most important. That's why a breeder's job is so important. If you don't know what you're doing, the dogs are at risk of being doomed to having social issues their entire lives.

Kimberly understood that, and my understanding is that her home was all about the dogs. Pups were allowed to interact with adults from the very beginning. All dogs received individual attention. And, most importantly, she was the pack leader. She didn't allow bullying from the adults, and she didn't allow pushiness from her pups.

While I never personally saw her kennel, I've seen first-hand the results: My Jillie arrived with the best personality I've ever seen in a pup. She was playful and outgoing but not stupid. She had already learned bite inhibition, and she's never bitten anything (other than her bully stick ) hard. She also knew the signs when Eddie turned aggressive, and she knew when to back off. She's been a master at that her whole life.

To my eternal regret, I lost contact with Kimberly right after Jillie arrived. The last e-mail I got from her was her scolding me for allowing Jillie to play in Eddie's agility tunnel while she was so young.

She had real reservations about such a tiny dog taking part in agility, a sport she was unfamiliar with. That was hard to hear coming from someone I respected so much. I knew she was wrong. Walking through a tunnel is not detrimental to a dog. I tried to explain that to her, but she never answered my e-mail. I'm not sure if she was giving up on me or if her illness suddenly took over her life. I wish I'd persued it.

My regret is I really wanted to make Kimberly proud. I wanted her to see the pictures and videos of Jillie and smile. I don't think she ever saw anything past the first few pictures and one video.

I'm not sure what has become of Kimberly's kennel. I trust that she found the perfect homes for her dogs before she died. She always put the dogs first.

Thankfully, her Web site is still up. If you've never seen it, I'd encourage you to visit www.yorkiepassion.com before it disappears. It contains not only valuable information about everything from care and feeding to first aid, but it reflects her philosophy on Yorkie breeding and raising. She despised the term "teacup" and openly criticized breeders who purposefully breed in hopes of producing pups under 4 pounds. If every breeder and owner adopted Kimberly's vision in that regard, the Yorkie world would be a better place.

While I have my regrets for losing contact with her, I take comfort in her last post on YT. It was about Jillie, and she seemed happy with her decision to sell her to me. Here it is:

Little Jillie AKA "PartiGirl"

Her sire/dam were both owned by my dear friend Dawn, she became gravely ill, diagnosed with brain cancer on March 31, 2009 dawn lost her battle, she is now in gods arms....her family asked for my help, they brought little Giget for me to whelp, raise and place her puppy, Jillie was a singleton, a real joy to raise for Mike and Kelly. Kelly flew in yesterday, spent time with me and all the kids also got to meet the Summer/JJ babies

Enjoy her Mike and Kelly it was my pleasure, she couldnt have been placed with a more loving and deserving family!!

Kimberly