Monday Musings

Lucy waiting at ringside, May 2004.

Here are just some random thoughts I've been pondering today.

The declining interest in Lhasa Apsos is troubling.

I was looking through AKC's website, trying to find some information that I absolutely could not find. Frustrated, I emailed someone at the address given on the AKC website. I received a quick reply that contained not the information I requested but the following statistics about AKC breed rankings that really are quite alarming as far as Lhasas are concerned. In 2000, Lhasas ranked 33rd, a ranking which declined to 39 in 2005, 54 in 2009, and 62 in 2010.

Often people looking for AKC Lhasa Apso puppies will contact me and wonder why they cannot easily find puppies. "There just do not seem to be any available in our area," is a common complaint.

Why? Well, because (for whatever reason) demand for puppies is down, Lhasa breeders are not breeding as many litters as they did in the past. Fewer litters means fewer puppies. Many of us who have been involved in breeding and showing for 30 years or longer are getting to the point where we have to start thinking about how many dogs we currently have, their ages and life expectancy, as well as our own ages, health, and expectations for the next 10-15 years of our lives.

Being a reputable breeder means you take care of the puppies you cannot sell. That is why I have "the three girls!" It's definitely not because I needed or wanted to raise three puppies from the same litter. I love them all to pieces—they are all so cute and have great personalities—but I really just planned to keep one. When a breeder finds herself in that situation, it becomes necessary to put some future breeding plans on hold. I've said many times "you can't keep them all" – and now I can add "unless you have to!" Raven and Whisper are still available should the right home come along.

What is this world coming to?

Unless you have had your head in the sand, you know that more than a few things about life in the U.S. lately are raising eyebrows and causing a lot of us to wonder how the lack of civility and common sense has achieved the levels it has nowadays. You know organizations like PETA and HSUS are promoting anti-breeding, breed specific, and other legislation that makes purebred dog ownership difficult. And while the lack of civility problem is pervasive in our society and certainly not just related to dogs, this is my dog blog, so my focus is dogs.

A recent example: Cafepress, an online company that sells clothing and other items—including some Lhasa Apso items that at one time were sold to support the efforts of our ALAC Rescue Network (and may still be for all I know)—was selling items with the slogan "Save A Pit Bull – Euthanize A Breeder."  As I did some online research about the subject, I found out that the slogan originally said, "Save a Dog – Euthanize A Breeder." To me, the breed or even the species (dog, cat, whatever) makes no difference. "Euthanize" is a euphemism for "kill." The companies that produce and sell the items, as well as the people who purchase them, are advocating "death to breeders." I don't think it is funny, nor do I think its promoters intended it as a joke.

Cafepress was asked to stop selling items with the "Euthanize A Breeder" slogan and originally refused. Finally, bowing to pressure from many dog breeders who took issue with the slogan and bombarded the company with letters, the slogan was removed.

Even so, I continue to wonder, "Why have those of us who retain a sense of right, of civility, and of common sense in this crazy world of ours allowed the nut jobs to take over?"

I love my Lhasas!

I have to end on a more positive note. My dogs are an important part of my life. They love me and I love them. Showing them is fun. Well, okay, it is also hard work, expensive, and aggravating at times too, but I would not do it if I did not enjoy it. Breeding dogs—and doing it right—is rewarding, but it also is expensive, difficult, and at times frustrating and heartbreaking.

Our little ones are now five weeks old. They are growing, getting cuter everyday, and learning something new each day. They engage in short-lived puppy battles, think the piddle pad is a toy to shake and drag around the family room, investigate places where I never dreamed they'd go, then suddenly decide they are tired and end up in a big puppy nap pile. We've come up with temporary call names so we are able to distinguish them from each other. The girls are Tempe, Callie, Dreamer, and Penny. The boy is Jake. Of course, new owners will give them their own names but for now, that's how we'll distinguish them. We'll get new pictures posted soon, hopefully by the end of this week or early next week.

Breaker and Whisper are headed for class tomorrow night unless I decide to take Walker instead. Walker has a show this coming weekend and has not been in the ring since October. He's an old pro at it though so I am not too concerned with him needing a lot of practice. I know he'll love being back in the ring. I'm sure people wonder why I keep showing him and are thinking, "Why doesn't she just retire that dog already!?"

It's because he loves the ring (especially that big Group ring) and I love showing him. 

The photo on this page is of one of our girls named Lucy (Joyslyn's Lucy in the Sky). Isn't she a beauty? She now lives in CA. I ran across the photo when I was going through some files and thought I'd share it with you. Lucy was so funny. She wasn't fond of showing and in the show ring would jump the tape holding down the corners of the mat. She was a little bit of a dog. A judge told me I needed to get some weight on her so a friend shared a recipe called the "Fat Diet," which was supposed to put weight on a dog quickly. The only problem was that Lucy was allergic to the wheat germ in the mixture (I did not find that out until after the catastrophe!) and she scratched out her coat on one side of her head. Such a mess!  

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce