A Video for Our Boy

I created a short video for our baby boy we lost in August. I can quite honestly say that, in all the time I’ve been breeding, this loss hit me the hardest.

I sometimes think that people assume that breeders don’t get attached to their puppies. I suppose some might not, but the ones I know are all passionately, emotionally involved with their puppies from the moment they are born. I’ve not known a single breeder who didn’t mourn the loss of even the smallest puppy. I also know breeders – many breeders – who have kept the puppies that by all rights should probably not have been allowed to live. Maybe part of the price for being a good breeder is facing up to the pain involved in making these wonderful creatures such large parts of our lives.

It has taken me since August to be able to look at any of the images I have of our boy.

On Blip –
http://blip.tv/file/512618/

Or on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g-Qu70-eTU

Or embedded after the cut.

Norman went to his new home yesterday. After meeting Beverly, I have every confidence that he is about to become a very well loved and adored member of her family. Beverly also gave me a disk of photos of her lovely boy, Tiger, who she lost to illness not long ago. I’ll be preparing a memorial to him in the coming week.

In the meantime, here as some photos of Norman and his sister Penelope, with a few random shots of Delilah.