You’ve often heard that ‘breeding is not for the faint of heart’ to which I readily agree, but it is also not for the prideful, the all-knowing or the one who thinks their experiences have put them above others.
Every breeding is different from the previous, there are constantly new experiences, new challenges, and new discoveries. Puppies from different combinations vary in personality and growth. Even repeat litters differ according to time of year they are born and environmental exposures. New owners, new locations, new vaccines, new research. The pure joy of seeing an offspring thrive and total devastation of seeing one who is lost.
So no, breeding is not for those who are stuck in their ways, not for the one who has nothing to learn or the one who always has someone to blame. It should be a hobby that teaches you, grows you, stretches you and humbles you to be the best you can be.
This means that over time I will change how I do things from raising my own dogs, to the health testing I do, to how I raise and interact with the puppies that I produce. My 2nd litter had better nutrition than my 1st and each subsequent litter has had more environmental exposure than the previous, because with each litter I learn.
I will learn from my puppy owners. I will learn from other breeders. I will learn from those who have done more research than I. I will learn from other people’s mistakes and losses as much as I learn from my own. I will learn and try to pass on as much of that information as I can. And as I learn, I will change and adjust.
I may not be the same breeder today that I was yesterday, but I will strive to grow each moment of this insanely crazy, sometimes over the top exciting, sometimes heart wrenching Boerboel life.
November 18, 2016/Jennifer Fuller/Fuller Boerboels