WHY MOYEN POODLES?
I, like many other people I know, didn't like poodles because I imagined the half shaved, poofy, pompous looking dogs I'd seen watching dog shows. However, we were thinking about having children and I couldn't handle the thought of having my kids crawling around in dog hair like we'd experienced with past dogs and at friend's houses.
I researched more into poodles and found that they can look however you want them to look. It might seem obvious, but I didn't realize that poodles can be trimmed to look like a teddy bear, lion, bison, or even a dinosaur! I didn't want a large dog and my husband didn't want a small dog. I was frustrated that I couldn’t find anything in between the AKC miniature and standard sizes until I stumbled upon the 'large miniature' and 'moyen' wording in a few ads. I must admit that, at that time, I was ignorant as to the importance of a breeder’s integrity. I knew enough to ask questions and make sure it wasn't a mill, but I didn't know to ask about things like genetic testing, if the puppies were raised with a curriculum, how socialized they had been, and specifics of nutrition.
I see many of my potential clients on the verge of making the same mistake that I initially made when looking for our first poodle; they’re shopping for a 'bargain'. When I finally found a ‘bargain’, I ended up with my poor Moose. I got him at 16 weeks old, which was too old considering that he wasn't raised with any sort of method or socialized. I later found out that although the breeder had a fantastic kennel set-up, their puppies were not raised in their home or socialized. Moose was terrified of the adjustment to our home, and it turned out that he was also fragile. He broke his leg 3 days after we got him after jumping from the porch. The vet said that a jump from that low of a height should not have caused a break and diagnosed him as being malnourished. He wasn't emaciated and he looked fine, but he had been fed low quality chow and his health had suffered because of it.
That was when I first had a pull towards breeding. I wanted to raise quality puppies that didn't suffer the ordeal that Moose did his first months. I wanted to be among those who took pride in being the opposite of those who think building a kennel and letting puppies grow up in a pen and yard is enough. It's not.
BEGINNING OF BREEDING
How I got started with breeding poodles
Despite Moose's issues that were brought on by an inadequate start to his life, he was an amazing companion. Loving and loyal to 'his' people. The lack of hair all over the house and no contribution to allergens was more valuable to my anxiety than I realized. His size was perfect to sit on the couch with me, but he was active and spry enough to hike and be active. He's intelligent and easy to train, although from the beginning he seemed to think about if he wanted to do something when told. He has many of the traits of a typical poodle. I'd planned on using him as a stud only, but then decided that I wanted to make sure he wasn't fathering puppies that weren't raised in kennels or outdoors without love, training, and care (developmental, nutrition, medical).
I realized that I didn't trust anyone but myself to raise any puppies that Moose sired, so I decided to handle the breeding myself. Neither then nor now do I have any desire to have a large or kennel-based program. Red is our only breeding female, Dixie will breed when she is older and fully health tested, and I hope to eventually have a 3rd female. While I want to maintain 2-3 litters per year, I also want to make sure that both my kids and my puppies get the attention they need.
I definitely did not fully understand what all I wanted to do to be a responsible breeder. I knew I wanted the basics I've mentioned above, but I didn't know where to find the guidance for the knowledge I needed. I found the Puppy Culture program and it is a great resource with methods that optimize puppy development from the first days of life until the puppy goes to it's new home. The husbandry knowledge that I needed I found through training courses created by Avidog and accessible as being a part of the GoodDog community of responsible breeders. There is always more to learn, but I feel like I have a solid foundation that I can continue to build on for hopefully decades to come.
I guarantee the health of my puppies and I have an important policy where I will always take one of my pups back into my home should anything happen and their new family can't keep them. I use microchips that permanently save my information as the breeder of the dog in case the family cannot be contacted. I don't want any of my puppies to ever end up in a shelter. Can you imagine a world where breeders took responsibility for every dog that they produced and owners spayed/neutered/supervised their pets to keep from producing accidental, unwanted litters? That may be off topic for this section but is a dream that would make the world so much better for these special creatures that humans began molding to live alongside us more than 14,000 years ago.
THE RED BARNS
What's up with the barns?
As you may have seen on the main page, we live on a retired 40-acre dairy farm with 3 magnificent (in my opinion) barns. The property was bought by my grandfather-in-law when the farm was split up and auctioned off in the 1980s. He bought the center 40 acres that had the barns and house. My in-laws moved onto the property in 2000. In 2020 we began renovations on my late grandfather-in-law's house and moved into it in 2021. With our kids, it makes 4 generations that have lived on this property, 3 of which are still here. The infatuation with the barns began many years before we moved to the property though.
As you will see in the pictures, the barns have been an inspiration for us (and other photographers and artists) and our favorite background for pictures. There are 3 large red barns on the property that are called the tractor barn, the chicken barn, and the big barn. Some of the family think the barns are money pits (which they are), but they are also historic and great for storage. They are so large that any roof damage requires a large lift and any internal structural repairs require the craftsmanship and expertise of the Amish. You may notice in the different pictures that the tractor and chicken barns have been recently painted and custom made windows to replace the broken/missing ones in the tractor barn. Crucial structural repairs were also made to the tractor and chicken barns last year. We plan on upkeeping these historic buildings through our lifetime and hopefully the next generation will also cherish them.
REMEMBERING BY GENE FLOWERS
This work of art was created by Gene Flowers in 1989 and depicts our big barn and the chicken barn.
