Now I know I sold my puppies quite cheaply as the current market stands. The next litter may well be a couple of hundred more, but I decided on a price at the time of the mating and I stuck to it. Yes we had a huge vet bill, going back to the first blood test in January through to the puppy health test in May ... well I'll leave it to your imagination but it was well over the price of two of my puppies. Then there was the puppy I kept and the one that went partnership, the video camera, the bed, the puppy pens, the wormers, the puppy food, the extra special food for Sammi ... and that's without considering the stud fee and diesel there and back ... twice. To bring this litter safely into the world was a huge financial burden, but worth every penny to me anyway. Also let's not forget the emotional burden and the pure hard work of breeding and rearing a litter. Of course there is profit, but that goes into the dogs moneybox. We have already dug in and bought 2 cages, 50 bags of food and a new quality shed for storing the food safely, it won't last long but at least there are no show entries currently going out of it.
First and foremost I don't breed to make money, I breed to get a puppy for myself and as I said any profit goes back into the dogs .. and cats! I can't deny it, I love having a litter, though there is often stress, tears and heartache the memories that remain are usually of joy and happiness. I try and do it right, I really do and I cringe at these breeding litters over and over for financial gain. They just can't put the work in, we are knackered after 4 weeks of broken sleep and 4 weeks of entertaining puppies. Maybe puppies reared in kennels are less like hard work, but I would never want to rear a litter in a kennel no more than I would want to keep my dogs out in kennels. To me it's pointless, just pointless, get a garden ornament instead!
Anyway mentally and emotionally exhausted after the "K" litter, bitten, battered and bruised by Orin I really do hope to do it all again soon. Bring it on Miss Kaiah, we are waiting for the "L" litter ... On the way I may have picked up a wonderful extra passenger in Orin and half a puppy in his sister Isla, but a sable Kaiah daughter is still, and always will be the next dream!
