What It Means to Be a Breeder
It's not just about raising puppies.
It's coming home from a night shift just as the rest of the family is waking up.
You feed the puppies, let the adult dogs out, and check that everything is okay.
When your partner leaves for work and the kids go to daycare, the house quiets down.
Maybe—if you're lucky—you get a moment to sleep before the day picks up again.
You wake up, make a coffee, and start reading messages: puppy inquiries, feeding advice, health updates, concerns. You reply—because someone is waiting.
At the same time, you care for the dogs—and everything else that normal life requires. Laundry, dishes, shopping lists.
Life doesn't stop, even when the whelping box is full of new beginnings.
In the afternoon, the family comes home.
Dinner is made, stories are shared, the dogs are fed, and the puppies are watched closely.
And when everyone else goes to sleep—you head out to work again.
As a breeder, you are everything.
A mother, a partner, a caregiver.
A seamstress, photographer, and website editor.
A stand-in veterinarian and a hands-on student of genetics.
And above all: a person doing their best to do what's right.
There are beautiful moments.
When a puppy grows into exactly what you had hoped.
When someone says, "This dog changed our life."
When you get a photo of a child sleeping next to the puppy whose birth you stayed up all night for—convinced it might not make it.
But it's not always easy.
When a puppy is rejected because it's the "wrong color."
When you wait for x-ray results with a knot in your stomach.
When a dog falls ill—or passes away—and you blame yourself, even when your mind knows there was nothing you could have done.
When someone criticizes you for something they could have understood just by asking.
When you're exhausted, and someone says: "Breeding dogs must be easy money."
So why do I still do this?
Because every birth is a small miracle.
Because every puppy deserves a good beginning.
Because every home and every dog matters.
It's not easy. It's never simple.
But if I had to choose again?
I would still choose this.
Time and time again.