On being a breeder

I want to cultivate the seed that was placed in me until the last small twig has grown.
- Kathe Kollwitz

People often ask me "how can you bear to let your puppies go" or sometimes in the equine world I also frequent "how can you even think of selling your horse". The answer is plain and simple, joy. My dogs, and horses, bring me immense joy. The kind of joy that entangles itself so deeply into your heart and soul that to remove it would be to remove all of yourself. I am who I am today because of the animals who have come into my life and taught me the lessons of being a participant of this world. I, being a breeder (and sometimes a equine broker), have the very unique opportunity to be able to gift others this same type of joy and, in doing so, receive it back ten-fold.

If you own one of my puppies you may or may not know that I candidly watch you from behind the scenes. I share in your joys and frustrations and am often moved to tears when I watch you succeed with a puppy that came from me. I have more than once caught myself entranced in a moment as an owner leaned down to gently kiss the top of a head of one of my grown puppies in such a tender, loving, and intimate way and thought to myself, "how lucky am I that I can be a part of that". When I have a bad day, or am feeling a little down, I seek out photographs I have collected of my owners and their puppies (my extended family album so to speak) and find peace in them.

All of this came back to the fore and was driven home this weekend when I saw, for the first time in almost a year, my gentle sweet Indy and his new girl so madly in love with her horse. I was taken by surprise when a friend sent me a picture, captured with her cell phone, of him being grazed by a toddler on the busy show grounds. I didn't even realize until a tear worked it's way to the surface and found a path on my cheek just how happy that single image made me. Later that day when his new owner excitedly accepted her fancy 3rd place ribbon in a big class I was humbled by the knowledge that I had some small part of that.

So to all of you who own, or will own, an animal that has come from me know that you are forever entrusted with a little piece of my heart. Your celebrations will be my celebrations, your frustration my frustration. I will always be there to cheer you one, hold your hand, and give you a hug if you need it for you have something of mine so precious that words can never do it justice:

I have in you planted the seed of joy and the fruit it bears will feed us both for many years to come. Plant that little seed in the place where sunshine abounds and water it frequently with love. Harvest it as often as you can and know that every time you do I feel it in my heart.

Inseguire Warden

Life is a lively process of becoming.
- Douglas MacArthur

Inseguire Warden 14.5 wks

I could not be more pleased with the way our little Warden is growing up. At almost 4 months he is showing all the signs of quality I has hoped for from his linebred pedigree. He has the sweetest temperament, never far from my side, yet he is feisty and outgoing, and mischievous. His outstanding structure is highlighted in his lovely long neck, strong head, and fabulous front end his pedigree is so well known for producing. I wish I could take more credit for this lovely boy who proudly bares my kennel name but he is more the product of Michelle Ward's Little Eden Terriers and her dedication to quality in this breed than anything else. When I did this mating I wanted something not directly related to my females but still with enough similarities in pedigree and structure to compliment our bloodlines. My fingers are crossed that Warden is it! He has a long way to go yet to fulfill the expectations of his ancestors but he is well on his way. He will make his show-ring debut this month at the Rainier trial in Washington state and I am pretty excited to hear what the judges think of him! 

Stash

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~William A. Ward

I do not think words can express just how thankful we are to welcome Woofgang Stash to our pack here at Inseguire. So many people were instrumental in his arrival that we would like to take pause and thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

Stash is a lovely terrier, both inside and out, and we have admired him for many years. His pedigree is second to none and he has produced some stunning offspring. This has been in the works for some time now and we are just so excited to finally be able to welcome him into our home. He is a very easy terrier to fall in love with and adores spending the evening cuddled up on the couch. He has found a friend in our little Calliope and she plays with him at every opportunity. She has made it her job to show him all the ins and outs of terrier life here and he seems to enjoy her company as well. We look forward to taking him with us to our remaining trials this year and possible heading out into the field with him this fall. He is no newcomer to field work as he already holds an NHC to groundhog but we want to take some time to bond with him before we ask that of him. Down the road I am sure he will play an instrumental role in our breeding program but for now we are just enjoying getting to know this lovely terrier.

Bedfellows

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.
                                                                                                                     - Albert Camus

 

I could not help but share this photo taken today of our intact male Fell Terrier, Patton, with his new little shadow Inseguire Ellie Mae. Patton is a wonderful dog, a true testament to what an intact male's temperament should be like, and he often helps us socialize our puppies. Ellie has really taken a shine to him and as I watched them today I got chills thinking about the power these two terriers will pack if and when they are ever taken out into the field together!

Time flies when you're having fun

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

- Abraham Lincoln

Inseguire Warden

While time always seems to fly by as my litters are born, develop, grow, and leave I imagine that one the other side, the people waiting for their puppy, time must drag on and on. I can therefore not be to somber as the day they leave fast, and all-together too quickly, approaches as that is a day that signifies such joy for so many others. This litter has been a blast. Our first experience with anything more than 4 puppies and WOW have they kept us busy! Watching personalities emerge and develop has been amazing and getting to know each puppy as an individual is so rewarding. I have one of everything in this litter, the cuddler, the adventurer, the jester, the cutie-pie, the toy fiend, and the food hound. And, best of all, I have a wonderful homes waiting that suits each of them - as a breeder you can not ask more than this. Thankfully, mercifully, they will not all be leaving me next week, "Elektra" and "Warden" will be staying on to provide me my daily puppy fix and hopefully, all willing, start the next chapter of our Inseguire line.



Before you know it they are grown

Not a having and a resting, but a growing and becoming, is the character of perfection as culture conceives it.
                                                           - Matthew Arnold

Inseguire Lokasenna, 10 mo

With all the excitement surrounding the arrival of our Diva x Dempsey litter I have somehow missed my little "Loki" morphing from a rambunctious puppy to a lovely, outgoing, adult. Maybe it is because I see her every day and the change is so gradual, so subtle, that until you compare the images seen through the camera lens you do not notice how much she has changed. It was the success of her littermate, Strike-A-Pose "Snookie" who is owned by Denise DeCosta of Sea Dog Terriers, that inspired me to go out and take some updated pictures of her. Snookie was Puppy Conformation Champion this last weekend at a huge show in Connecticut while being handled by her favorite junior, Katya. After doing so well in the junior handler division Denise asked Katya if she wanted to show Snookie in her open conformation classes. Show her she did and the pair walked away with top honors beating some lovely lovely terriers in the process. I am so proud of Snookie and her connections and can not thank them enough for giving this beautiful terrier so many opportunities to shine! Our little Loki is slated to make her conformation ring debut in 2 weeks and I am beyond excited to introduce her to the show ring. She is a lovely terrier, inside and out, and I am very excited about our future together.

Inseguire Strike-A-Pose, 6 mo

I also managed to get a few updated pictures of Kiwi, a task I have been intending to complete for quite some time now. I am thrilled with the way she has developed and at 2.5 years is a solid, strong, terrier with a character and personality that can not be beat!

Inseguire Keepsake, 2.5 yrs

No, sorry, I don't want to sell you a puppy

The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this, that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed, but a thing created is loved before it exists"
                                                                                                                                ~ Charles Dickens

Spring is upon us and with it comes the inevitable phone calls about puppies. Now I should make it clear that I do not mind people calling about our dogs in the least. Quite the opposite I am always very honoured when people call and want to have one of our puppies in their homes, or want to know more about our dogs or the breed. I love talking terriers, as any one who has ever had to listen to me will attest. What I want to do instead is prepaer you for what that conversation is going to look like and the attitude one should bring to the table when calling a breeder about their puppies.

So the desire to increase your family by one four legged and furry member has hit you and you start looking for a puppy. You may have narrowed down you breed choices and researched breeders and now you are making some phone calls. I say phone calls because I will not sell someone a dog without speaking to them first, not now, not ever. Email is great for first contact but if you are really serious call me. When you do please remember first and foremost that I do not want to sell you a puppy, not even a little bit. It is nothing personal I just don't want to sell my puppies to anyone. Simply put, I want to keep all my puppies. I have underlined this because it is the very most important thing for you to remember if you are going to call me or another breeder like me. I love my puppies, I love their parents, I often have loved their grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and so on. There is generation upon generation of love built into these puppies from the moment they are conceived. Now the reality is that it is not very practice to keep all the puppies my kennel produces. Even if I was a wealthy person (and being afflicted with the desire to breed and raise dogs ensures I will never be) I can simply not provide the care, attention, and socialization that many dogs require. This then leaves me in the situation where I need to place the vast majority of the dogs I produce.

So what do I want from you in our conversation? I want to know first off that you REALLY do want a Jack Russell and know what they were bred to do and truly understand that you will never, ever, train this out of them. I don't care if you are Cesar Milan, Leslie McDevitt, or Ian Dunbar himself, Jack Russells are Jack Russells, plain and simple - you will never train them to be anything but the highly driven, independent, workaholics that they are. You can, if you are savvy, direct all that energy in an area of your choosing but you best have a sense of humour, miles of patience, and someone super knowledgeable to help you along. During this opening part of our conversation I am probably going to tell you about all the horrible stuff JRTs like to do, stuff they think is fun, stuff I find hilarious, and this same stuff generally horrifies the regular public. How you react to this information will determine how much longer this conversation is going to be.

Next I want to know what kind of dog owner you are. Are you dedicated to your pets? Do you stick things out even when they get a little rough? Are you willing to include your dog in your daily life (very important to a JRT!)?. Are you willing to fit your life to your new dog in some ways and not just expect them to fit seamlessly into yours? If you have answered yes to all these questions awesome! Now we can talk about what you are looking for in a dog. I want you to describe to me your perfect dog. Knowing of course that no dog is perfect I want to hear what you would "order" in a canine companion if you could? What attracts you to the JRT specifically and how does it fit into these ideals? So many questions already I know! Are you starting to get the feeling like I am trying to talk you out of getting a puppy? Well I kind of am. If I can scare you off this easily just think what that little white bundle of terror, sorry terrier, is going to do! I like people who are strong willed, a little tenacious, and willing to go that extra mile to get a dog, it says to me you may just be able to handle and even enjoy one of my little critters.

So now that we have established that the JRT is the right dog for you and you do in fact want one now we can talk about if I actually have any puppies available. Even if I don't I know lots of great breeders with super dogs so all that hassle I put you through won't be for not! Please understand that like most good breeders we have a waiting list. People who want a puppy and want it now scare me a little. Not to say that they could not potentially be great homes but remember that old saying that goes "the best things in life are worth waiting for", well we think that applies to our puppies and our owners. We have waited for the right homes to come along so please be patient while we find you the right puppy. Now the right puppy may not have a specific facial marking, be a specific color, or have that cute little spot at the base of it's tail but what it will have is the right temperament and demeanour to suit the purpose you are looking for. Coat type, color, markings don't matter in the bigger picture and we think all our dogs are pretty cute regardless. Now this is not to say that if you like color on your terrier and the next person likes minimal markings and we get two puppies with similar temperaments we won't place the one that you think is "prettiest" with you I just want you to understand that this is secondary (maybe even lower but I am not sure of the word for that). Just be prepared to wait, and the more selective you are on cosmetic specifics the longer you could be waiting.

Next be ready to fill out an application (so I can have your information on file and at my fingertips) and provide references. Even though you sound great to me on the phone I have known people who've been duped before so I want to talk to a few people that know you. Also keep in mind that I am not only interested in what these people have to say about you but the impression I get of them as well. It is often a common occurrence that we surround ourselves with like individuals so if I like you, and I like your friends chances are I good I will grudgingly part with one of my special little white dogs. Once you are on my waiting list I will do you the courtesy of keeping you updated on the progress of your new addition right up to the time it goes home with you, please in turn offer me this same courtesy through your terrier's life time and keep me updated on occasion. Remember how you loved those cute puppy pictures I sent you? I love pictures of my dogs, even if they are old and grey, enjoying their new homes and new lives. I don't need you to email me weekly but please once or twice a year send me a little note that says all is well. Like I said before a lot of love went into that puppy and it did not end when it left my home. They may grow up, move away, and find new families to love them but they will always be in my heart. So I apologize if I ever seem short, or come across as elitist, it is not my intent. I am simply trying to find the very best homes for my puppies because I love them and there is nothing I will not do to ensure that they lead the best possible lives, for this is the promise I make when I bring them into this world.