The boys really enjoyed meeting and playing with the puppies, and the puppies enjoyed them too. Their own mother apologized for her kids disturbing us, but I told her that her kids were welcome and that the puppies were not for sale, so she was not in danger of having to be the one to say, no, you can't have one. I think she was relieved to hear that.
The "tabs" are a result of leash abuse ;-) Leashes left in the wrong places get chewed. Over the years I have lost the original function of many leashes, but no worries, they gain a new function- puppy leash training. I have many leather leashes of various lengths. Those different lengths serve different purposes. Even the clasp itself is useful as it introduces weight and something dangling.
I have a favorite leash type- 1/4" leather, braided, not stitched or riveted, small clasps, 6' long. There was a wonderful vendor who made her own leashes of this style in many leather colors. She would vend at dog shows and I bought leashes from her on a regular basis. For a while I would also sell her leashes (at cost) to puppy buyers. Most commercially available leashes are not appropriate for sheltie puppies. The claps are too big and heavy as are the leashes themselves. Sadly for me, she retired. Happily, I was able to find this style of leash available from a company that has been around for awhile.
J&J dog supplies is a company that specializes in supplies for obedience, agility, rally and many other competition sports. Their leashes only come in one color, but they meet all of my criteria. They suggest the 1/4" is for dogs up to 15lbs, but that is the size I have always used and will continue to use. My dogs don't pull while walking, it fits well in my hand and softens to a pliable feel and use. Leather is not as slippery as nylon and when you clamp down on the leash, it won't keep slipping in your hand.
Google is most likely where most people start who want to put some thought into a dog. I have an ad on AKC Marketplace https://marketplace.akc.org/ and hope that people looking for a purebred dog will look there. I am pleased the answer to that is yes. I googled AKC marketplace and AKC marketplace was not the top choice in my list, a place called puppystop was listed first, and that was with me specifically using the name of the site itself!
For many years, Mike and I hosted our families for Thanksgiving
at the farm. My sister Beck’s 9 year old daughter, Cadence, was really hoping that Liza would have her puppies during their stay, but sadly, she did not. Liza delivered November 27, after all of the
guests had gone home. Cadence is now a senior in college and has
just been accepted into Vet school.
I feel so fortunate that Holly had included instructions in
her last Will and Testament that he was to be returned to his breeder if she preceded
him in death. All of our puppies are sold with a contract
stating:
Over the 28 years I have been breeding dogs, I have only had
a handful of instances where the life circumstances of a dog have changed. I hope that truly only a handful of our dogs
have had lifechanging circumstances. That
is the case for Brig.
I was first contacted by Holly’s friend Kris that Holly was
in the hospital and Brig was safe with a friend. Kris told me that once Holly got out the hospital and rehab she would be going to assisted living where she would be allowed to have Brig. That sounded good. Holly and Brig would be together. Sadly, Holly never made it to assisted living and the
home that was caring for Brig while he was waiting to be reunited with Holly
couldn’t keep him long-term. No problem,
he is always welcome with us.
Brig seems to be taking this change in stride. Resilience is a great trait. We are proud of him and happy to have him back.
The difference between a professional and an amateur is not necessarily the level of skill, but rather that professionals do “the thing” for a living, while an amateur does it for love. In a 2022 article by Natalia Beard, she said, “When we denigrate the amateur, we dismiss the fact the at the origin of the word ‘amateur’ is the Latin verb ‘amare’-to love. Our passions are what make up our inner life, a place of consolation where things of meaning are stored and preserved, ready to be drawn on whenever we want or need them. They should be cultivated at all costs.” Peter Gray, PhD says, “The difference may lie in the dimensions of motivation and attitude, not competence.” To be an amateur does equate to accepting a “lessor than” status when doing “the thing”, but it might equate to a lessor capitalistic pursuit of “the thing”.
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