Webster`s Dictionary gives some interesting definitions to the word BREEDER: "To nourish, cherish... to generate, engender... to cause, to occasion... to bring up, to nurse and foster" and more to the point, "to produce by special selection of parents or progenitors".
Anyone who puts two animals together for the purpose of producing young does "generate, engender and cause or occasion" the propagation of that species. Most breeders, thankfully, do fall under the definition "to nourish, cherish, to bring up, to nurse and foster". Only a handful of persons involved in the reproduction of any species can be said to "produce by special selection of parents or progenitors". Therein lies the rub.
A breeder, in the utmost sense of the word, is one who plans, studies, thirsts for knowledge, wrestles with decisions of conscience, convenience, or personal commitment. One who sacrifices, if necessary: personal interests, finances, time, friendships, and fancy furniture and deep pile carpeting! He or she is one who gives up the dream of a long, luxurious cruise in favour of making the Specialty this year`s "vacation". The breeder goes without sleep A breeder`s back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending and sitting in the whelping box, but strong enough to enable and recreational activities (but never coffee) in hours spent planning a breeding, in watching anxiously over the birth process, and then every little sneeze, wiggle or cry. The breeder skips dinner parties because puppies have to be fed. The breeder is one who disregards birth fluids and puts mouth to mouth in order to save the
gasping puppy - literally blowing life into a tiny helpless creature who may be the culmination of a lifetime of dreams. A breeder`s lap is a marvelous place, where many generations of proud and noble champions (hopefully!) once snoozed and cuddled. A breeder`s hands are strong and firm and often soiled, but ever so gentle and sensitive to the thrusts of a puppy`s wet nose. A breeder`s back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending and sittingin the whelping box, but strong enough to enable the breeder to leash train and show the next choice pup in Sweepstakes! A breeder`s shoulders are stooped and often heaped with abuse from competitors, but they are wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and frustrations ... and to cry on. A breeder`s arms are always able to wield a mop, support an armful of puppies, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer. A breeder`s ears are fine tuned to the whimper of a sick pup or the cry of one in distress and, if sometimes red ("they`re" talking about the breeder) or strangely shaped (from hours pressed to a phone receiver) or seemingly deaf to criticism, they are nonetheless sympathetic. A breeder`s eyes are blurred from pedigree research, sometimes blind to his own dog`s faults but ever so keen to the faults of others, and always, always searching for that perfect dog. A breeder`s brain is foggy on faces, but on dogs it is so full of knowledge that sometimes it "overloads". It catalogues and records thousands of good fronts, hocky rears, promising pups ... and buries in his/her depeest cells, the failures and the ones that didn`t turn out. A breeder`s heart is often broken, but beats strongly with hope everlasting - and is always in the right place!
Oh yes, there are breeders ... and then there are breeders!
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