Will you want it all its life ?
Will he be of all-important, like family and wife ?
Will you handle him with gentleness, even when you're in a mood ?
And see his water's always fresh and that he's got good food ?
Will you train him kindly and brush him every day ?
And provide him with a clean dry bed, where he can always lay ?
Will you teach the children that they too must be kind ?
And that if he takes their toys, they really mustn't mind ?
Will you train him on a lead, to sit and walk to heel ?
Not drag him on a choke chain with all the pain to feel.
Will you teach obedience, to come when he's afar ?
To lay and stay if needed and be good in the car ?
And when he's learned these lessons and loves you all so true,
Will you thank the day this puppy came to live with you ?
And when he's old and feeble and life has passed by,
Your family broken hearted and not an eye is dry,
Will you still be happy, even through the pain,
And remember the good times, and start it all again ?
If you can answer YES my friend, to all that I have said
Then you deserve a puppy, the best one ever bred.
BUT if you read my questions and cannot answer true,
Please don't have a puppy, it's not fair on him or you.
Author Unknown

 

A Breeder (with a capital B) is one who thirst's for knowledge and never really knows it all, one who wrestles with decisions on conscience, convenience, and commitment. A Breeder is one who sacrifices personal interest, finances, time, fancy furniture, and deep pile carpeting. A Breeder gives up the dreams of a long, luxurious cruise in favor of turning that all important Show into this years "vacation". The Breeder goes without sleep (but never without hot coffee or tea) in hours spent planning a breeding or watching anxiously over the birth process, and afterwards, over every little sneeze, wiggle or cry.

The Breeder skips dinner parties because that litter is due or the babies have to be fed at eight. The Breeder disregards birth fluids and puts mouth to mouth to save a gasping newborn, literally blowing life into a tiny helpless creature that may be the culmination of a lifetime of dreams.

A Breeders lap is a marvelous place where generations of proud and noble champions once snoozed. A Breeders hands are strong and firm and often soiled, but ever so gentle and sensitive to a puppy's wet nose. A Breeders back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending, and sitting in a birthing box, but strong enough to support the next choice pup to a championship. A Breeders shoulders are stooped and often heaped with the abuse from competitors, but they're wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and flustrations. A Breeders arms are always able to wield a mop, support an armful of puppies, or lend a hand to a newcomer.

A Breeders ears are wonderous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or strangley shaped (from being pressed against a phone revciever), often deaf to criticisim, yet always fine tuned to the whimper of a puppy. A Breeders eyes are blurred from pedigree research and sometimes blind to her own dogs faults, and are ever so keen when searching for that perfect specimum. A Breeders brain is foggy on peoples names, but can recall pedigrees faster than an IBM computer. It's so full of knowledge that sometimes it blows a fuse:
It catalogues thousands of good boning, fine ears, perfect heads... and buries the soul of failures and the ones that didn't turn out. The Breeders heart is often broken, but it beats strongly with hope everlasting... and its alwasy in the right place!

Oh, Yes, there are breeders, and then, there are.. BREEDERS!...

Author unknown.

Copper Oaks Australian Shepherds (Newalla, OK)
Pam McCaslin & Byron Watson - P.O. Box 270894 Oklahoma City, OK 73137 - (405) 391-4230