Ok, I've read through this whole thread. It certainly is popular! Several times I really wanted to respond to certain peoples statements but I didnt want to give my response just yet.
There are several things... to the woman who said the OP should be a vet instead of a breeder, because being a breeder takes a lot of dedication and time: wow, that statement is so...off. I just have one thing to say to you.
Don't you agree that being a vet also takes a lot of dedication and time? Think about what you are saying. I makes no sense. I think if the OP puts her mind to it, she can be a great breeder one day. She is willing to learn. People grow up, go to school/learn, get their degree/experience and are eventually successful at their job. it takes time. I would never tell a young kid that expresses to me that they want to be "something that takes a lot of time and dedication," that they can't do it. We all start somewhere! The best doctors and lawyers and politicians in the world were all teenagers once, weren't they? And maybe when they were teenagers, they knew what they wanted to be. I certainly did.
I think a lot of the responses have been condescending. Saying the OP "thinks she knows everything" because she is "only 17." Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule... and I know, because I was one. I'm a writer and I've given
famous writers work I did when I was 14 and 15, and they could not believe that a person that young would be so insightful and intelligent. They thought I had written it in graduate school! I think we underestimate teenagers because of the bad apples... everyone is
not a ditzy "paris hilton."
Oh, and I agree... why are breeders so
hostile to other people who want to become breeders? I haven't seen it in any other field--perhaps maybe in the field of
acting. I think it's because at the end of the day, you might be competition. (Queue people bringing up the issue of backyard breeders to justify their hostility...)
And please don't refer to this quickly typed
message board response as an example of my writing