Quote:
Originally Posted by BFar  
I agree. So much so that I have been hesitant to admit that I have a litter due and share in the excitement and nervousness of it here. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was washing my show dog, even though I was sooo tired, babying my expectant bitch, coaxing her to eat and making sure my cut down boy got his attention and got his teeth brushed. And how much work it is to be an exhibitor and breeder and how much of our money goes to taking care of the dogs. And that's the easy part. The biggest investment is our hearts. I'm not patting my own back here. This is the same scenario for the breeder/exhibitors that I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know a little at dog shows. The apathetic B/E is the rarity. The more litters, the more exhausting it is. The more tirelessly they have to work. These breeders are amazing to me and are the ones who are making it possible for there to be nice Yorkies in the world. They live a different life than the non-breeder... I have tickets to a Broadway play next Friday that I received as a Christmas gift that I probably won't be going to... how many weddings, etc. do breeders have to miss because of doggie obligations? All this without even mentioning the work it takes to show a Yorkie. The travel, the lack of sleep, the motels, the money, the stress, and then getting a labor-intensive Yorkie groomed so that it can compete with the professionally handled dogs int the ring. It is a collective labor of love and there is a culture of people who have this calling to do this with their lives. I don't think they deserve to be judged by anyone who has not done it themselves. For one not involved with breeding/exhibiting to decide the number of litters a breeder/exhibitor should have just does not makes sense. |
I just recently had to leave on Thanksgiving with a house full of family and friends to go to a dog show for 4 days just to have the honor of helping my mentor with her dogs and not even have one of my own in the ring. The many family gatherings, social outings, vacations that I have had to pass on to take care of dogs. Even so much as going to the hospital for surgery at times must be put off until pups are whelped or a sick dog is taken care of. Then there is the money it takes to have a litter delivered via c-section at the Emergency Clinic (1200-1500), the hours on end spent in mopping, feeding, grooming, wrapping, trimming, socializing, training, traveling, and the list goes on and on. The amount of money spend on purchasing a potential, the money on that potentials vet expenses, testing, food and only to have to pet that dog out for less than the original purchase price. The many things that pet owners or the general public just do not understand.
I am just beginning this venture of exhibiting and even in doing that I have learned so much and yet monetarily have lost so much. I had to reevaluate my entire program and take a completely different path. To relearn what a true silk coat is, what good structure and movement is, the breed standard as written, has been very time consuming. The hours spent reading, rereading, watching videos over and over.... the list could go on. To me, it is not in the number of litters or the number of dogs, it is if those dogs are well cared for and the quality of the pups they are producing.