Today, Jelly’s co-breeder, N24, and I took Jelly and Jelly’s dam to see a vet held in high esteem by serious dog breeders. We had some questions regarding blood work that we had done at a clinic that showed Jelly was positive for Lyme and Anaplasmosis and what if anything should be done about it. The vet had a good suggestion, additional tests (notice plural) to measure titers and antibodies, to which I consented. I then was talked into using a different anti-flea and tick product instead of the perfectly fine one I had at home. At the check out desk, my bill was $500.00, and I was positively stunned. And this was for a wellness visit, for a seemingly perfectly healthy dog. This phenomenon has so much become a problem today with pet ownership.
I am also having Jelly shown because she is worthy of it, to see if she is a candidate for a Grand Champion. She has points toward it already. Next weekend, she is going away with a handler, N3, whom I trust and who owns her sire. In several more weeks, N24 and I are taking her to the annual Borzoi National Specialty show in Ohio where N3 will handle her there in the Best of Breed class.
I can hear the clinking sound of the cash register as a continuous din in my mind. What have I done? Moreover, a different breeder, N27, has a bitch that is due to have a litter any minute now, and a puppy is on reserve for me! Then I will have two show dogs! I have gone mad.
I am totally immersed in my love of borzoi but how to pay for it is becoming challenging. I am almost done renovating my house but a certain person has a way of still finding work for him to do, for pay, of course. I wonder what he would do or say if I said I cannot use him for a while, for about three months or so, while Jelly is out with her handler and the new litter is whelped. My modest cottage has the amenities of an upscale designer home by now. Even I know I must slow this sport of spending down.
But my home is really Blyss Kennels, and it is all I have. It is filled with the memories of the original Blyss borzoi who moved here with me in December 2012: Casanova, Mikhailya, and Paris. Now, they are gone, and I see my home as a something of a tribute to them and what Bob and I achieved, and a shrine to their lives and accomplishments. Some photos are included here.
I wonder why our special happiness could not go on and on. When suddenly in June 2013 Mikhailya passed away I was shocked. It was unexpected, even though she was ten years old. The loss of Casanova at eleven years of age the following year, and then Paris some time later left me totally alone in my home, something I never planned to be. It awakened many dormant and not so dormant demons. I cried for comfort and compassion but found little or some of dubious nature, still difficult to evaluate. It is easy to trust a dog, their love is pure love. You may expect the same of others, but it is not that way, and it is easy to forget it is so. The bitterness of the betrayal when it comes goes deep, yet we never cease in our quest for that perfect love and beauty.