Hello Everyone! I have decided to add a Blog to my website. There are just too many social media platforms to reach everyone, so I have decided a Blog on my website will be the most appropriate approach. In this very first post, I want to introduce myself and answer my most frequent question I get during visits to my kennel.....
A little about myself.
My husband Buck and I are a very active, very busy family. We have three young boys that are just as busy. It's all-boy all the time around here on the ranch. We live in a tiny farming/ranching community tucked against the western foothills along I-5. The type of community where you know every vehicle that drives by and their brother, sister, aunt and uncle. I truly couldn't ask for anyplace better to raise our kids.
Our lifestyle is our job. Everyday there is something to do that is paramount for the future of tomorrow.
Buck and I were both raised in an agriculture. We have carried the family roots and farm for a living. When I say 'farm' we grow for 120 acres of Almonds, we care for 100 pair of Angus/ Akaushi mother cows and grow some hay for our animals. Not to mention the farm animals we have at home like chickens/ducks for eggs, pigs for all the extra milk and greenhouse scraps, a jersey cows for milk, horses, kids and dogs....
I will try to answer my most frequently asked question....
How did you get into breeding dogs?
Well, going back to our upbringing, Buck and I have lived and raised animals our whole lives. From cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens and horses, the dogs have been apart of that as well. No, not labs, but a variety of cattle dogs. Kelpie, Border collies, Queensland heelers and McNabs. These dogs were bred and raised for help around the animals. They served a purpose.
When we had children of our own, we decided to settle on a family breed that we could still enjoy working along side of us. Going back to my childhood Lab named 'Owen', we settled on the Labrador. A dog that can play, work and we felt was child safe.
I am certified to Artificially inseminate cattle, so learning to 'AI' dogs was a piece of cake.
Breeding dogs or any animal for that matter, is knowing what you want in the end and working backwards from there. Trying to figure out how to produce that perfect animal. When I say 'perfect' there are a lot of factors to that. Perfect health, temperament, look, style, maternal instinct and reproductive qualities. But breeding dogs is much more tedious than any other animal. The genetic testing, orthopedics, OFA, color, coat, eyes, heart.... The list is long! There is so much more than just putting two AKC registered dogs together. So as a breeder, I will beg you, as a potential pet family, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. There are reasons breeders take so many precautions before we breed. There are reasons we choose pedigrees loaded with Champions show dogs. There are reasons we do the testing. There are reasons you should look at the parent dogs before deciding on a puppy. Remember all puppies are cute, but will they mature into the dog of your dreams? And this is where I will stop.
I am looking forward to chatting with everyone through my blog posts. I will try to link up with my facebook account, allowing more exposure and getting more information out there. If you have a topic or question, please feel free to comment below or email me. We can get a discussion going.
Happy Day Everyone!