|
I
am writing this to help people learn to
educate themselves before purchasing a
Maltese. I have gone through a lot of
heartache and disappointment with some of
the purchases and decisions I have made.
I hope that my story inspires people who
want to show and do right by the breed to
never give up and strive to do what is best
for the Maltese breed. I hope to educate
people to breed and show according to the
standards of the breed.
It all started for me when my daughter
graduated from high school.
I went to her friends house to pick her up
and just fell in love with their little
white dog, and just thought how perfect it
was in size and personality. I asked her
where she got her dog and she told me she
got her from a pet store in Canada. That was
not an option for me as I had read about the
horror of pet store pets.
So from that moment on I was on a mission to
find one for me. I looked all over the state
of Vermont and no one, and I mean no one had
even heard of Maltese. So I went to our
neighboring state of New Hampshire. I scoped
out all the newspapers and found one about 3
hours away. My husband and I drove and went
to see the puppies. When we got there, there
were a litter of puppies, a mom, dad and a
female from previous litter. The
female seemed to be starving for attention.
The woman said that she couldn't find her a
home, because the minute everyone sees
puppies, they want them and not the female.
I felt really bad. She was bigger than the
female I saw at my daughter's friends house.
She was 5 pounds at six months . Back
then I knew nothing about standards or what
to look for in a dog. I didn't have anyone
to guide me either. I was on my own and
unarmed with knowledge. To us she was
beautiful and we saw beyond any flaws. She
was perfect to us. We brought her
home.
About a year and a half later, I decided
to breed her and maybe I could get something
from her to show. I found a male that I
liked and breed her to him. The pups were
cute, but not quite what the breed standards
required, so I placed the pups on spay and
neuter contracts and started learning and
educating myself even more on the breed and
showing. She now lives with my son and is
his loving pet.
Along the way, I met some nice people who
are now doing well for themselves in the
Maltese Show Ring. I would share with
them my dreams, goals and passions of
wanting to show. I continued my search for a
show dog.
I purchased Dallas, not as a show dog, but
as a dog I could possibly show if I wanted
to, but a month after he arrived he had a
seizure and was diagnosed with a Liver
Shunt. I was devastated, I called the
breeder and we cried on the phone together.
She offered to take him back and I just
couldn't do it. She sent some money to help
with his care. Dallas required two
operations. One, to biopsy his liver and the
other to see if his shunt could be repaired.
It could not. We had Dallas neutered and
Dallas lived with us, for two years on
medication, until he passed away on February
4, 2005.
When I found out about Dallas' disease, I
started my hunt all over again, this time I
bought from a "show breeder" or at least
that was what I thought. I saw my dream with
Dallas wither away and wanted so badly to
show, I felt desperate and discouraged. I
started to ask this woman questions about
her dogs and
she told me she had a handler and some nice
lines, I couldn't go wrong and I wouldn't be
sorry, etc. I was very excited and told my
husband about it. I told him that she was a
"show breeder" and had a handler and she did
have some puppies available. My husband said
that because of all we were going through
and it being around Christmas time, he would
get the dog for me for Christmas. We called
the lady up and she faxed us the pedigree so
we could look at it and make sure the puppy
was AKC registered, and at the shot records
also. My husband drove 8 hours one way to
New York with a friend of his with whom he
worked with and picked up the puppy.
When he left the residence, he called me on
his cell phone and he said that he was
concerned about the size of the pup for the
age we were told the pup was. I thought we
were purchasing a 12 week old puppy.
He said the pup was dirty and scared. I
waited the 8 hours it took him to get back
home and took the puppy from him when he got
here. I was horrified, the puppy looked too
young to be away from its mother, and it was
filthy. My husband got home at about
2:00 am and by 9:00 am, I was on the phone to
my vet's office. I took the puppy in and was
told that the puppy looked to be about 8
weeks old and it had a severe 4 -6 grade
heart murmur and that further testing would
be required and a specialist should be
consulted. I was so mad! I called the
breeder, who refused to give me back my
money, but wanted to give me another pup.
WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I WANT ANOTHER PUP
FROM HER! I was not going to go through that
again. I wanted a refund and felt that I
deserved it considering that it had been
less than 24 hours since the pup left her
residence. After carefully looking
over the registration papers she had faxed,
I found that there was a co-breeder. I ended
up taking the pup back to the Co-breeder and
getting a partial refund. The pup was taken
away from the mother too soon and the
co-breeder was happy to have him back and
apologized for the situation I was put in
with the other person. This other breeder
from NY, ended up being the woman from
hell and years later she is still well known
to all the show breeders and America. She
had told me that she will make sure that "no
other breeder will sell me a dog, nor will I
ever be able to breed to get a pup for show,
and she will be sure of that!"
So again I was on the lookout for another
dog. I called the show breeders and again no
one was willing to give me a chance to
start, because they didn't know me. It was a
nightmare and so many times I thought about
giving up, because no one would give me a
chance to get my foot in the show ring.
But I wanted so badly to be able to show
dogs. So I went to a popular internet
pet site to find a dog (wrong thing to do),
and there was an ad placed by a "show
breeder". It was a female dog, named
"Shadow". I was all excited and sent it to
my friend. I decided to answer the ad. I
thought this would be good for Dallas also
as he was needing a friend after all he had
been through and a fellow small canine would
be great for him.
When I spoke with the woman, I was telling
her my story and how I was hoping that
Shadow would be the key to my dream. She
told me that Shadow had been with a handler
in Florida but was homesick and had to come
home. She told me that if I wanted to show
her I would probably have to show her
myself. I told her that was exactly what I
wanted and I purchased Shadow. When I
arrived at the airport to pick her up, I
noticed she was extremely thin. I was very
concerned and called the breeder, who told
me that she had lost weight as a result of
her being so homesick while in Florida.
I said ok and tried to fatten her up, which
seemed like a rollercoaster ride. But we
loved Shadow. Shadow and I attended handling
classes and we had so much fun together. I
noticed she was a little leggie and she just
seemed very petite, no substance to her at
all. I kept growing more concern and took
her to the vet, they did blood work and put
her on a special diet. The diet was just
another rollercoaster ride where her weight
went up and down. I decided that
Shadow couldn't be shown or bred, because I
just wasn't comfortable with how she looked
and with her weight problem. But I couldn't
give her up, so she and Dallas hung out
together and were the best of friends.
So here we were with 2 pets and no show
dogs.
I really felt like giving up. Until,
finally in July of 2004, my husband bought
me a male for my birthday, from a show
breeder in Kentucky. She was a show breeder
of Yorkies and this was her first show
Maltese. I was so excited. I needed a kennel
name to show with, so I used "White Diamondz".
I talked to her on the phone and she started
to show the dog we named "Stringer's Set N'
Diamondz", at shows and got him ring ready.
We met in Orlando in September of 2004, at
the American Maltese Specialty, where she
showed "Navar". Navar placed first in his
class on the day of the Specialty and placed
3rd in his class the next day in
conformation. I was so happy, because she
told me not to expect him to do anything as
there would be some big names there, with
nice dogs and this was her first show dog.
I finally had a real show dog. I can't even
begin to explain the joy and happiness I
felt after all the disappointments we had
endured. Navar finished to his
Championship on my birthday the following
July. This to me, was the greatest birthday
gift as I had him right from the beginning
of his show career and he ended it on my
birthday as a Champion.
Dallas passed away in February 2005, and two
months later, we lost Shadow to a possible
liver shunt also. She died on April 20,
2005. I was terribly heartbroken. When I
took her to the vet because she could not
stand , walk or eat on that morning, they
took blood work and said that the blood work
that was done previously showed signs of
something, but it was not concerning
at the time and I was going through the
illness with Dallas. The blood work showed
she was anemic, her counts were not good,
and problems with a possible shunt. She was
gravely ill and they put her on all the meds
that they put Dallas on and the same special
food. They told me I could take her home and
try that and see if it worked, and if it
didn't I could try to put her through a
biopsy and all the testing Dallas went
through, but they weren't sure she would
make it through. They pumped her full of
fluids as she was dehydrated. They told me
to call them later and let them know how she
was doing, they said that if she wasn't any
better, that I could call and have her put
to sleep so she didn't suffer, or she may
just go on her own. I didn't want to leave
her there as I knew she would fail quickly
if she thought I was gone and left her. I
didn't want her to lose her will. My
heart was so torn. I brought her home and
tried feeding her, and giving her meds all
day. I watched her struggle to get on her
feet and go to the water bowl and fall down
and fight to pick herself back up again. She
look like a colt that was just born and was
trying to learn to walk. I cried and held
her and told her how very sorry I was and
that I would not let her suffer anymore. I
picked up the phone and called the vet. They
said they knew I wasn't ready to make the
decision that morning. I brought
Shadow in and cried. Everyone at the office
was crying too as they knew us and Dallas
and some knew Shadow from Handling class.
When they gave Shadow the shot, I held her
and kissed her and told her to go where
there is no more pain. Shadow passed before
they finished administering the dose. I held
her there for an hour after she passed and
then brought her home and buried her just
behind our house.
Since Navar finished in July, many things
have changed. One of the things that has
changed is my kennel name. I am no longer
"White Diamondz Maltese". The name was being
used by many other not so reputable
breeders, with different spelling
variations. And it was very long to
use when registering a dog. So I thought
long and hard and decided on "Ambrose" as it
is a combination of my daughter's name.
And that is the birth and history of
"Ambrose Maltese".
I continue to love the Maltese breed and am
striving to better my lines and do right by
the breed, I don't want to breed quantity,
but quality. There is a lot more to breeding
and showing than to find two dogs breed them
together or picking up a newspaper and going
by a picture or someone's word to breed and
find a show dog. I have learned that a
lot of time, patience and understanding can
help one accomplish their goals in the world
of showing, but you must first go through
your trials and tribulations to educate
yourself before you can achieve the goal of
making it to the show world. I still have a
long way to go, but at least now I am armed
with information and I am not walking
blindly anymore.
My
goal isn't to be a big kennel or a big show
breeder who wants to be big in everyone's
eyes. I want to be able to put my head down
on my pillow every night knowing that I am
doing what I am doing, to better the breed,
not to hide faults that my dog may have just
to win (I don't want kennel blindness), and not to swindle someone out of
money and break a family's heart, etc.
I am doing this for the love I have for the
breed and want to do my part to make it
better, because of the passion I have for
Maltese. I never want to forget what I had
to go through just to get where I am now. I
want to always remember where I started.
I
want to feel proud when one of my dogs is in
the ring and I want to make proud the people
who helped me along the way, especially the
friends who supported me through it all.
I
like to be able to keep my dogs in my home
underfoot, where I can insure that they are
socialized, happy and healthy. I want to see
them everyday and know everything about
them. So you see quantity is not an option
for me, quality is the only option for me to
strive for.
My Maltese are first and foremost a part of
my family and my heart.
All good things come to those who wait and
work hard!
Yvonne
|
