The Good Breeder Spotlight Column: Doc

Peanut was not the first dog I ever bred. As a rescue, he was neutered and would never breed. But he was my first Chihuahua, and he was definitely the genesis of M-Class Chihuahua Ranch. My wife, Lola, and I were "empty-nesters." Even though I had owned, shown, and bred several great dogs of several various breeds, we had not had a canine pet in a few years. Our son and his wife, very active in dog rescue and dog fostering, urged us to rescue our next dog. So, while visiting our son one day, we went to browse the aisles of the OKC Animal Shelter, a shamefully vast facility where Lola and I quickly got separated. 

There were literally hundreds of incarcerated dogs and though we had no plans to select our new pet that day, I could feel it happening. Hundreds of dogs were joyfully announcing their availability. Tongues were lolling. Tails were wagging, and Peanut was jumping, and jumping, and jumping; each time landing with a thud! I clearly understood the code he tapped out: "Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" I stopped and played "Please-don't-bite-my-fingers" with him as I tried to make visceral contact. I smiled, enjoyed the moment, and moved on, but I knew we had "connected."

As soon as I found my Lola, she said, "Come with me. I want to show you this dog." And she led me right back to a severely overweight, black and tan Chihuahua that shelter personnel had named Peanut. Indeed, we had found our peanut and after processing, we brought our Peanut home.

"Just now I found a peanut, found a peanut just now."

I could tell you how he would "herd" us to bed, or how he taught us to communicate with him, or how our granddaughter would hold him for days on end, or how he curled up on our landlord's lap and won him over when we weren't supposed to have pets. Suffice to say, Peanut was amazing! And when the white hairs on his muzzle outnumbered the colored hairs, and the teeth missing outnumbered the teeth remaining, we realized we could not live without him. We seriously investigated cloning him.

Instead, I had a massive heart attack in the widow-maker artery. As if that was not enough, an abscess had been building onto my liver for the previous 20 years. It was now nearly four inches long and it chose to rupture, filling my bloodstream with three different kinds of strep infection. The "good news" was, as they examined my innards, they discovered a spot in an inoperable location on my pancreas, and a cyst the size of an orange on my right kidney. I was alive and grateful for it--but, not knowing if these other issues were malignant or benign, I became quite depressed. Peanut, intuitive as ever, comforted me both day and night.

As Peanut nursed me through my recovery from the double-edged sword that nearly killed me, I realized that I was going to live. And I realized I was not about to live without Peanut. Cloning was beyond our ability. Reversing his neuter was beyond our ability. After all, it had been more comprehensive than a vasectomy. The only thing to do was to take up breeding again, and to take up breeding Chihuahuas.

"Ethical" breeding was not a concern that came up. I knew I would never build a "puppy mill." Making a profit was also not a concern. What I did know was that I had experienced greater love from a Chihuahua than I thought possible. My wife, not the greatest fan of dogs at first, also loved Peanut and took full credit for acquiring him. We did not set out to be ethical Chihuahua breeders. We only set out to love as many high-quality, purebred, registered Chihuahuas as we could afford to purchase and care for with the greatest attention and affection.

Certainly, we could have done this without breeding. But we were empty-nesters with grandchildren we rarely saw. We wanted puppies, and we wanted them on a regular basis. We wanted to share these incredible animals with deserving people who also wanted an affectionate animal to love. It took a long time to realize that this love for the breed, and this desire to find deserving people to share that love with is the essential foundation of ethical breeding.

It causes us to spend small fortunes with our great veterinarian (who, himself bred Chihuahuas). It causes us to always feed the finest foods, even cooking up fresh and fortified food for our family of dogs. Just add a dash of salt and we can eat their food too! It causes us to make sure their sleeping quarters are spacious, clean, and comfortable. It causes me to give each dog 20 to 30 minutes of individual lap time every day. Every dog is brushed daily, is groomed from teeth to nails on a schedule. Every dog is protected from parasites and tested for them on a schedule. I don't do these things to boast I am an ethical breeder. I love my dogs. I care for them because my love for them is genuine.

And I love my babies. I have read of the horrors of "baiting" and "pitting." I have known some who want to be known as dog owners but have no clue how to actually care for the dog! I will never forget the first times I declined to sell a dog to a person. I have refined my application process to make it more revealing. There are times I have taken a loss on a dog because I believed in the person. I wanted that person to own one of my puppies, even if it cost me. I am most proud of those people. They never fail, even after years, to send me photos and updates of my (now adult) babies. I call my owners, my Great Chihuahua Family!

Finally, I will never forget those who have written to me or written about me, that I am the most ethical breeder they have ever heard of. It still surprises me. I never meant to be an ethical breeder. I just love my "babies" (the term that describes my adult dogs, too) and I am determined to treat people right in all my business with them. After all, if they deserve one of my babies, they deserve my respect.

Although Peanut crossed the Rainbow Bridge four years ago, his memory and legacy of love and healing will never be forgotten.

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