News and Photos from Friends

"Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn. "~Lewis Grizzard    

Happy March everyone! The months seem to be zooming by! I don't know about where you live, but around here March really did "come in like a lion."

This blog post is comprised of emails and photos from people who have our Lhasas. I was glad to hear from so many because the news around here is sparse. I do have news about Winter (Joyslyn Mon Ami Winter Wind), who is being shown by Sue Cannimore. Winter went to Sue with two points. She is now up to nine, including one of the two major wins AKC requires for a championship. She needs one more major win and three single points to finish. Wish us luck at this weekend in TX and at the upcoming shows in NC.

So below are the emails and photos. Because many of you reading this blog own Joyslyn puppies, I thought I would add notes throughout telling who the dogs' sires and dams are so you can determine if or how they are related to your Lhasa.

Note: If you are using Chrome, you may be seeing weird fonts and sizes throughout this post. I have no idea why, but after multiple tries to fix it, I give up. It seems to work okay on Safari and Firefox. Another thing I am experiencing since I updated Chrome is that on some (not all) emails and websites the Y and Z letters are missing from words that are supposed to have them. My computer at the office is doing the same. !!!

We begin with this photo from Stacey and Lisa. It shows their Golden Elliot, Lhasa Lola, and Lhasa puppy Enzo napping together. Notice how Lola, on the left, is turned away from the boys. She gives the impression that she is not really happy about Enzo joining the family! Stacey told me that Lola, who usually loves every dog she meets, has been rather standoffish with Enzo.

Jim wrote about Daisy, "I tried to send a video but it was too big. She is just the best dog. the other day we were walking around the city and she was complimented on in three languages - Spanish, French and English. One guy even walked up to us and said, you have a beautiful dog. We are planning on seeing relatives for Easter and will see a number of dogs, like my mom’s Yorkie, my aunts two goldens, and my brother’s puppy Aussie. 

My parents were sending us photos of their dog in California and showing off how their dog was at the beach and making us jealous of the weather. So we joking set daisy up in front of the tv and told them that daisy was visiting Tibet to learn about her heritage."

Yes, she has a self-assured regal attitude!

Note from Joyce: Daisy's sire is Breaker and her dam is Greta.

Joy wrote, "Little Lucy is definitely a Lhasa through and through! She is a delight and full of personality. She and our other dog Ella like to play, and Lucy more often than not dominates...and Ella (being who she is) lets her."

"I just wanted to share some cute pix we took of Lucy (15 weeks old) this afternoon. She is so sweet and ADORABLE, and her coat is beautiful! She is very wiggly, so I am happy to be able to send some non-blurry photos to you!"

Mark wrote about LiLi and YoYo: "They are both Beautiful Lhasas, One word describes YoYo WILD!!! She is hilarious. Her coat is just beautiful.
She has a co-dependency with Lili, she has to know where she is at, at all times.Thanks so much." 
In the photo below, LiLi is in front with YoYo sitting behind her.

Judy posted information about on my FB page and wrote, "Gus is learning agility. How cool is THAT? … I am so proud of Gus, and I know that you are also proud of him. 11 months old next week. He is still a major puppy, and a BIG puppy. All 23 pounds of him. He is NOT fat, his coat is just very fluffy and he is blowing coat like crazy. Gus is a very well-balanced Lhasa Apso of excellent breeding. Duh. He's a Joyslyn's Lhasa Apso! Such a joyful and happy countenance. And what a good kisser he is! I discussed with Kathi, his trainer, about him getting his Canine Good Citizen title, and then his Basic Trick Dog title. Slowly, but surely. We will start after Gus is one year old."

Lynn wrote about their Lhasa girl, Amie: "Joyce..thought you might like this. She even naps with her ball!! I know a lot of other Joyslyn’s Lhasa owners write about their dog’s’ obsessions with balls & such.....it’s such a hoot. There’s always JOY in our household! Even Poppet tries to distract her by taking her ball when she’s got a treat....it usually always works for him."

I wrote back, "I Love it!! Here is what you need to know. It is genetic! Her mom, Maggie, CH Joyslyn's Moonlight Magic, also had a favorite "thing." Hers was a toy. I am sending a photo of Maggie carrying around her alien! Amie's 1/2 sister, Kimmi, also a Maggie kid, carries a bone around with her. She even holds it in her mouth while she barks! I have a Kimmi daughter (Autumn) but she doesn't seem to have inherited the characteristic."

Here is a photo of Amie and Kimmi’s mom, Maggie with her favorite toy. Amie's sire is Duncan.

From Sally in upper MI: "Ginger is doing very well. She is healthy and happy and keeps me busy playing at all hours of the day…I hope you are well and that spring is coming. We are buried in snow and it's still cold. I am looking forward to some warmth at some point."

Note from Joyce: Ginger's sire is Josh and dam is Luna.

Michelle sent a cute video of Sunny dancing in his exercise pen. Here is a still shot from the video. She wrote, "I was looking at some of your videos on Facebook of the puppies last night and Sunny heard your voice and he just looked like where is Joyce, I can hear her?!  He knows and remembers his first human mommy! We also bought Sunny a fence, he likes to dance along it! We put part of it in the house to help keep him in a smaller area. Then we put most of it outside in the front yard since it’s not fenced in but since it’s still cold here it’s easier to take him there to go potty…We both love him so much! He is a true blessing to us! He has given us such joy…"

Note from Joyce: Sunny, Enzo, and Lucy are littermates. Sire is Breaker and dam is Jenna.

Here is what Kathy told me about Jampa: "March 30th is Jampa's first birthday.  He's a delight and keeps us on our toes! Originally, we taught Jampa to "speak" and taught him to bark when he had to go out to potty.  However, he also barked to play, at strange noises, snow plows going by, and when he is hungry, etc.  Hard as I tried, I could not always figure out which he was barking about.  So, I bought a kit that has a button that the dog can push with nose or paw.  The button transmits a signal to a receiver plugged into any outlet (next room or upstairs, where ever you can hear it).  The receiver plays a tune.  (38 to choose from, including door bell chimes and "Dashing through the snow"!)  So, I taught him to push the button.  Then I added the tune.  Then I mounted the button on the wall by the door to outside.  

Each time we took him out, we would encourage him to push the button to play the tune.  It took awhile and at first, we weren't sure he understood.  But, one day we were just sitting in the kitchen (where the button is mounted) and the tune began to play.  Seems he knew all along how to use it, because after he pushed the button, he sat there very calmly waiting for us to act.  He went out and did what he was supposed to do.  All the while we were trying to teach him, it was if he was saying, "I'm ready to go out, you are dressed up to go out.  Why should I push the button now?"  Anyway, it's been fun.  Sometimes Jampa pushes the button just to get our attention.  I know this because he will refuse to go out!  We are putting our foot down, though.  When he pushes the button, he goes out, regardless!

Jampa is so smart and responsive in so many ways.  I knew that dogs can make other vocalizations besides barking and growling, but I never heard a dog with such a wide range of "voices".  Maybe it's a Lhasa trait?  In any case, he talks to me all the time, except when he's sleeping.  He will walk over and stare me in the eye.  If that gets no response he will make a tiny "woof".  Then he will lay down at my feet, still looking at me.  This can mean a lot of things with Jampa, but there are other clues, such as what time of day is it or when is the last time he went out to potty (yes, he doesn't always use the button, but will "resort" to that if necessary!).  If I'm sitting and puts his paws on my leg, he wants to play.  I tell him, "Go get Mr Red Bear" and he will bring a toy (not necessarily the bear!), and we will play tug of war and "fetch".  I put fetch in quotation marks because he will chase and catch the toy, but bringing it back is not his MO, or if he does bring it back, he jerks it away just as I reach for it.

The weather is warm this week and our snow pack we've had since Christmas is melting.  Jampa loves whatever weather we get except the driving or blowing rain.  Doesn't matter how cold, how wet, how snowy, he wants to spend plenty of time outside.  He will "fetch" a tennis ball out in his fenced yard.  If he really wants you to play, he will actually bring it back to you to throw again.

I've signed Jampa up for more basic obedience training which starts in 2 weeks. It'd be great to get a Canine Good Citizen certificate!  Also, I'm considering having him assessed as a therapy dog.  Not sure that will fly because he gets so excited to see new people, but we can try.

 I've pasted a photo of Jampa taken just last night after a grooming session at home.  His head fall is finally long enough that I can keep most of it out of his eyes!  Jampa is about 9.5 inches at the shoulder and 13.2 lbs.  A little guy, but adorable!"

Note from Joyce: Jampa and Gus are littermates, along with our Millie. (I have been very remiss about getting photos of Millie, which is too bad because she is also lovely!) Sire is Josh. Dam is Bekka.

Jampa

Here are photos of Denise's puppy, whom we called Enzo and she named Cooper and her husband renamed Colonel! The photos were taken after Denise's daughter groomed him and cut his bangs.  Colonel and YoYo are littermates. 

Dam is Greta. Sire is Josh.

Gwen and her Lhasa Beethoven were back in the show ring recently. Beethoven is the litter brother of Chance and Bekka. 

Luna is their mother and Winslow is their sire.

Waiting for his turn on the table

That's it for today. Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!

Joyce

Pictures, Resources, Etc.

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." ~Albert Schweitzer

I have to admit that things are really quiet around here with all the puppies now in their new homes. The workload has decreased also, which is not altogether a bad thing. That said, we are hoping that April brings new puppies–and warm weather! I'll let you know if our breedings resulted in puppies. Keeping my fingers crossed...

While I have not been in the show ring yet this year, our girl Joyslyn Mon Ami Winter Wind, a Josh daughter, has had some success in her first two shows with her handler, Sue Cannimore. Her first weekend out with Sue, Winter took Winners Bitch for a point both days. She also took Best of Winners and Best of Breed one day and Best of Opposite Sex the other. (Note: If you are not sure what all that means, here is a quick explanation: Winners Bitch is the female that the judge chooses over all the other females entered. Winners Dog is the male that the judge chooses over all the other males entered. Best of Winners is the Winners Bitch or the Winners Dog the judge chooses as "best"between the two. (I know, grammatically that should be "Better of Winners" but that just sounds weird!) Best of Breed is the male or female the judge chooses over all the Lhasa entries that day. Best of Breed is usually a Champion but does not have to be. If a male wins Best of Breed, then Best of Opposite Sex is awarded to a female. If a female wins Best of Breed, then Best of Opposite Sex goes to a male.)

Winter with her handler, Sue

I will not be going to any shows in February or early March. I'll be entering Millie in shows in late March. I've been trying to find opportunities to take her to the Wednesday classes, but the weather has been too iffy for me to venture out at night for an hour and a half drive each way--or I have had Wednesday night meetings. 

Photos and Notes from Others

From Jan: "Hello Joyce, Pebbles wanted to tell you Happy Valentines..Here are a couple pictures of Pebbles Grace after being groomed. ( which she loves having done).. It’s almost impossible to keep her hair straight right now...🙃 One of my clients said “ why don’t you just cut it!” I told her because she is BEAUTIFUL 🥰❤️. We are amazed that everyday Pebbles is a different color..  By the way how did our puppy’s become 10 months old already!?!?  The time has flown by..How is Millie doing with her training?  Mike and I LOVE all the pictures of her brothers and sisters and other dogs."

Pebbles, sister to Millie. Josh and Bekka are their parents

Pebbles

From Michelle: "Joyce, you have bred one of the cutest puppies we have ever seen and we are s in love with this little one! We have had a very good week! He's one tired puppy tonight."

Michelle was writing about the Breaker and Jenna male we referred to as Male #1. Here is a photo of Sunny zonked out after a hard day of play.

One tired puppy

Breanna sent a photo of Sunny, a daughter of Breaker and Onyx.

Sunny

From Mickey: "I’m sending a picture of Biddy my youngest g-daughter took of her over the holidays.  Biddy was in a huff over something Mols & I did and went to the floor & stared us down.  Little devil.  She loves people & dogs in general, but she is a growly girl still at the groomers & Vet's office…She still growls at her vet when I am present.  This last visit we went to a different location to see her vet.  I had hopes going to a new location she might be better.  The tech came in the room & she loved her, the vet walked in and she started growling.  They take her to the back room to examine her, give her shots, etc. and she is fine.  This time when the tech brought her back to me she was licking the tech's hands.  The vet was so jealous… Anyway she loves to go visit grand dogs when we go out of town.  She knows the sound of my son in laws car before he comes in the house.  He usually brings the dogs to run our property while he is here.  Biddy hears the car and is at the door whining before we even know he is here.  It is funny."

Biddy, who is a Luna daughter

Cindy sent an update on her dog Luther, who for no known reason suddenly developed some skin problems. She took him to numerous vets, even holistic ones, changed shampoos, gave him a variety of supplements. She wrote, "Hi Joyce, wanted to give you an update on Luther's skin issue, even tho the vet was 'pretty sure' it was a topical /groomer related issue and not food. I took him off BilJac canned, kept the dry and have been doing beef Fresh Pet for about 6 weeks with no issues! Fingers crossed! Love the blog!"

I have heard other good things about the Fresh Pet food. I'm so glad Cindy found that it is helping Luther.

Joy wrote, "Attached is a picture of our darling puppy, who we call Lucy. I took this picture on Monday, when it was almost 70 degrees outside.... a far cry from the single digits the weather was in when we picked her up in Macomb! She looks like she is in jail, but she is in the exercise pen on our back porch. Henry, Ella, Lucy and I were all outside enjoying the weather together. I thought you’d like to see how big she is getting and how beautiful her coat looks in the sunshine." 

Joy and Dog registered Lucy as "Winter Weather Advisory" because they drove to Macomb from TN to pick Lucy up during some extreme weather alerts.

Lucy, the cream female from the recent Josh and Greta litter

From Judy in IN: "Hi Joyce, Our  trial was a success. We added an additional 40 runs this year, and the weather also wan't too bad!. We had one Pach and 3 Machs this year.Two years ago I had an artist friend create 5 polls and in 2018 we gave away one and this year we gave away the remaining four…Ty was Ty! He zoomed through the first 8 jumpers and the tunnel and stopped at the weave poles as if he had never seen them before. He timed out..better luck next year. At practice Monday night he did 36 weaves with no problem...what a character. Tonight is Rally with Winny and the great Izzy.  Another day and another challenge. Some nights she is perfect, and then the following class she is the class clown. Can you believe she is 13 years young? Everyday I thank you for giving me such great dogs.Take care, Judy and the fun Lhasas."

Izzy (L) and Ty (R)

Here are other photos people have sent:

Karen sent this picture of Cooper, a Breaker and Onyx son.

Stacey and Lisa have Male #3 from the last litter (Breaker x Jenna). They also own Lola, a female we bred. Lola is not fond of the puppy, whom they named Enzo; however, their dog Elliot and Enzo have become best friends. Of the photos they have sent, here are two of my favorite.

Congratulations Are In Order!

If you watched the Westminster Kennel Club group judging on Monday night, you were lucky enough to see the beautiful Lhasa Apso taking second place in the highly competitive Non-Sporting Group! What a thrill to see Eric, otherwise known as GCHB CH Shut Up and Kiss Me Dell' Alberico at Xeralane, moving so beautifully in that show ring. Congrats to the guys at Xeralane Kennels and to Adrian, who handled Eric so well. What an exciting win!

This is Eric and Adrian after they took BISS at the 2018 American Lhasa Apso Club National Specialty

Eric resting after his big win Monday night!

Other Things That Might Interest You

www.puredogtalk.com

Listen to podcasts, read blog posts, watch videos

Here is just one that you might enjoy. It is about teaching tricks.  https://puredogtalk.com/podcast/128doug-ljungren-is-up-to-trickstrick-dogsakc-vp-of-sports-and-performancepure-dog-talk-2/

American Lhasa Apso Club (ALAC) member Sue Ridgley is our national club’s go-to expert on Trick Training. She has four articles posted on ALAC’s website at

https://www.lhasaapso.org/fun-your-lhas/trick-training-4-articles

Sue also has a column in the monthly ALAC online newsletter.

Marsha Susag has an article listing "Fun Things To Do With Your Lhasa Apso" on the ALAC website at https://www.lhasaapso.org/resources/lhasa-apso-play

Speaking of ALAC…would you be interested in supporting the breed by joining the club? Membership is only $35 a year. A full membership requires that you have 2 current ALAC members as sponsors, but the club also has an associate membership that does not require sponsors. Best of all, you already know the person from whom you can get a membership application—me! I'm the club's membership chair. Just email me at joyslynslhasas@outlook.com, and I will email you an application form to fill out and return to me. It’s as simple as that and just another way you can support the breed you love. 

ALAC members include:

• fanciers (people who are not necessarily into involvement in any AKC event, but just love the breed and want it to thrive so they support ALAC’s efforts through membership); 
• people who would like to get a Canine Good Citizen title on their dogs;
• people with therapy dogs, those who participate in obedience, rally, agility, nose work; 
• people involved with Trick Dogs, barn hunt, and Fast Cat and other lure coursing events; and
• those involved in confirmation (dog show) events. 

In other words, you do not have to be involved in showing dogs to be a member of the club and a supporter of the breed. A $35 annual membership fee costs less than a penny a day! (LOL…now I sound like one of those TV commercials!) 

That's All for Now!

Joyce

Good-bye January!

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward. ~ Henry Ford

As January draws to a close, I reflect on the last few weeks comprised of cold weather, out-of-town meetings, a GPS that took me in circles, definite worry about Mom's sudden illness and hospital stays (she seems okay now), the fun of a staff Christmas party that was delayed because of a December snow storm, the pressure of revising one of the grant budgets at work to determine how to best spend an extra $30,000 (It would have been easy to do had it been my own money!), the joy of meeting new friends who came to pick up their puppies.  It's been a full month for sure. 

Since we have no puppies, I don't have puppy pictures to share, but I do have some notes and photos that others have sent that I would like to share with you.

Denise wrote, "Cooper/ Enzo had his checkup today and the last vaccination.  We will wait until he is about a year for the Lepto vaccine, as he does not go outside. The rabies will be in 2 weeks. She said you had very good records.  All is well.  We are enjoying Cooper very much.  We are trying to teach him to come, since he is hard to catch and scoots backwards and he is quick!  So playful, and he loves that crushed water bottle. Thanks again."

Enzo (now Cooper)

Sharon wrote about Giza: "Another year has passed us by and my Giza is 14 years old now. She is definitely showing a little age for the first time…She likes sitting outside in the summer on the patio furniture and checks to see if the neighbor’s dog is out…We have a good groomer that loves her and grooms Giza every 3 wks. I could go on and on. We love Giza and can’t think of life without her. She is as sweet and beautiful as ever. Loves everyone and everyone loves her."

14 year old Giza

Violet wrote, "Shadow just loves watching TV. Yesterday he was by the coffee table in the living room, the TV is always on here. Roman found him just sitting there  looking up at the TV and just watching it for quite a while. Do your dogs do that?"

The photos above are of Shadow. He is a litter brother to Chance and Bekka. Chance loves to lie on the sofa and watch tv! Bekka? Not so much. Must be a "guy thing!"

Mark wrote, "YoYo spends her time keeping track of LiLi, her shadow, they get along so well. I don't know how but LiLi is so patient with her, YoYo is relentless, they have their routines, play time, lay down time, nap, YoYo knows when it is bedtime, exhaustedly walks right in her kennel, but then when we go upstairs she still yips for a bit?? They are both a non stop entertainment show.

YoYo - a Greta and Josh puppy

YoYo sharing a bed with LiLi (also a Joyslyn's Lhasa)

YoYo pestering her big "sister" LiLi

From Sally: "I just finished catching up on your blog and looking at all the photos of your puppies and everyone's beautiful Lhasas. I have to agree with Kathy~ you have made quite a difference in this world. I am so thankful to have found you and been lucky enough to get one of your puppies. 

"News of Ginger- she had her one year check up and weighs 17.5 pounds..... I'm hoping that is it for her. ha! But she is beautiful and in perfect health. The vet and her techs were in love with her and said they wished I could've bred her so they could have her puppies. ha! 

"I am sending you a few pictures~ sorry so many. One is of snow pants I got her for the sticky snow as she hates it forming balls on her fur, however she is not a fan of the snow pants either as you can see. Then a couple fall pictures and one of her in the hole she dug for herself to cool off. Then of course after grooming with her little red bow in her hair and then climbing a snow bank in front of my apartment. She loves that so much. She isn't fond of her grooming table but it makes it much easier for me. We are doing good with grooming now." 

Ginger, all groomed and gorgeous

Ginger modeling her snowpants

Queen of the Snow Mountain - Ginger!

Michele wrote: "Enclosed is a more recent photo of Trinket taken right before Christmas straight from the groom shop. She is growing up quickly and has made a remarkable recovery from the spaying procedure. Trinket absolutely loves the snow and is enjoying the outdoors and experiencing lots of new things. She has a high energy level much higher than the owner. I am teaching her how to jump over small plastic blocks slightly above the ground  in the back yard in order to provide her with additional exercise.  We need to enroll for another obedience training class. We are adept at sit, down, some heeling but we are having some difficulty with the “stay” command. Practice makes perfect.  One day she will surprise me. She is such a great pet, I love her dearly and could not have had a better choice. So many thanks to you Joyce and all your years of professional experience for breeding such a wonderful Lhasa Apsos. I must tell you that keeping the longer hair free of tangles is a real job. Will transmit another photo in February right after the groom session. Take care and good luck in the future shows."

Trinket - all decked out for Christmas!

This is a photo I received of Davy, who passed away at age 12, still in beautiful full coat. He was spoiled and much loved by his owner. He had over 100 toys!

Davy

 Davy was one of our retired Champions that we placed in a pet home when he was 3 years old. His owner opted to keep him in show coat (with the help of a willing groomer). 

From Mary: "Belle turned 11 years old on Christmas Day. Of my 3, she has the softest personality; always wants a peaceful atmosphere. She is fun when motivated to run, play, outside. She beelines it like a locomotive when I call her across the yard. She has a silly nature at times, brings a smile to all who meet her. She will protect what is hers but doesn't look for a confrontation with the other two. Well, sometimes her and Moka do a pony tail pull and body slam girl interaction. Her love of life is food, as long as it suits her tastebuds. She always finds the squash in her morning meal, pushes it aside, but will reluctantly eat once I put it in my hand. She is always looking for the "cookie" dog treat. Her idol I think was Roman. She followed him anywhere. She is soft with Rafe, able to put her face close to him, inspect for any crumbs he left behin. She and Moka have a sisterly bond, will snuggle together, crate together without a fuss. Belle makes life happy. Thank you for such a great girl."

Belle (aka Joyslyn's Beauty Secret

Mary bought Belle as an adult when I decided (well Belle decided) that she did not want to be a show dog. So I sold her to Mary, who magically turned Belle into a dog who loved rally and agility! Mary also owns one of our retired Champions, Rafe (GCH CH Joyslyn's Inherit the Wind), who happens to be the sire of our Autumn. 

Rafe

Here is a photo of Mary's three Lhasas.

Belle, Moka, and Rafe

Pat wrote, "Enclosed are pictures of my "sweethearts." They provide an abundance of Joy & Love!"

Baron and Willow

With the aid of his owner, Eddie sent me and email: "I apologize for not writing you sooner but I have been exceptionally busy with the holidays. Playing with all my nieces and nephews and spending time at my favorite activity, fetching. Boy oh boy do I love to play fetch! At the risk of tooting my own horn, I am great at it too!

Mommy and Daddy love me and snuggle with me all the time and I return the favor. Mommy refuses to feed me at the grown up dinner table but Daddy sneaks me a tidbit once in a while as long as he knows it is nothing that can make me sick.

 All in all I am extremely happy here and I get along with everybody around me.(Even the Cats!) I remain very healthy and well cared for."

Eddie

Eddie

Something that might be of interest:

Here is the link to AKC’s online Jan/Feb 2020 issue of Family Dog. 

https://link.akc.org/view/5b8e80e32ddf9c2195101267bd67m.9/638293b9

Finally for today's post, an article written by Cathy Blatz of Summerhill Dachshunds

In Honor of Breeders

In the not too distant past the dog Breeder was held in high esteem. It was an honor to be considered a Breeder. Pedigree Dog Food advertised as the food of choice of Top Breeders. The AKC touted the Breeder as the BACKBONE of the pure bred dog sports.

There were always puppy producers out there but they were never considered Breeders. Breeder said it all, the word needed no qualifiers.

Slowly, over time, the Animal Rights (AR) extremists changed the language of the dog world. Pets became companions. Owners became guardians. People were told they bought from a a Breeder, but adopted from a shelter or rescue.

The AR movement found the worst of the sub-standard puppy producing kennels and labeled them "Puppy-Mills." Pictures of these sub-standard kennels proved to be a tremendous money maker for the AR Movement. Rescues and Shelters joined with the AR movement trying to convince the pet loving public that buying from a Pet Store or Hobby Breeder increased the suffering in "Puppy Mills." Adopt don't Shop became the new mantra.

True breeders tried to distance themselves from "Puppy-Mills." They called themselves responsible. They raised their puppies with love and care. Puppy's parents were members of the family, were show champions and health tested. These breeders were always available to their puppies and puppy buyers.

Today even the most dedicated breeder is hounded by the AR extremist, whose ultimate goal is the elimination of all companion animals. Organizations like PETA and HSUS campaign for legislation to make any breeding illegal or to make permits so expensive that very few can afford one. AR organizations want all companion animals de-sexed so there will be no new pets.

True breeders, who pour their hearts and souls into their dogs, struggle to survive the AR onslaught. True breeders still breed the best to the best. They stay up day and night with their moms and new babies. They spend hours, days and weeks handling and socializing their puppies. They agonize to find just the right home for their precious pups.

These Breeders need no qualifiers, they need not make excuses. They are BREEDERS. They provide a valuable service to the future of their chosen breeds and to the pet buying public.

Will these wonderful home breeders survive the AR agenda of eliminating companion animals? Will the minds and eyes of enough animal loving people open to see the truth behind the AR propaganda?

That is up to you. It is up to each of us to learn the truth behind the slick ad campaigns.

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Thanks for stopping by to read this! Until next time!

Joyce