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 I am a very
unconventional hobby breeder. I raise my minpins as pets. I now only
have three brood bitches, one Specials bitch and two show puppies,
turned pet puppies right now. They are for sale. I bred a litter in
October that stayed in my house. I plan to breed in July. Up to last
fall, I had up to 20 minpins, with up to nine intact studs. I only had
to separate a couple of my studs when I had bitches in season. They
basically didn't fight. The only thing that was different then, was
that I brought everyone in, in the evening for two hours, except the
studs who marked like crazy. I think everyone got along so well
because of all the space. The bitches actually fought more over
favourite chew toys. I didn't want be upset by accidents so I have all
hard surface flooring and all leather furniture.
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My minpins have a "pet
friendly" detached kennel. It is 1600 sq. ft. and I use every inch
for the dogs. Part of the space does double duty as I also purchased
used kennel mats from a Club that was closing and I put them down to
assist with training my puppies. My dogs also have free run of 13
acres, but seldom venture out unless I go with them. I do four walks
per day. They are all at my heels everywhere I go and never stay in
the house if I come to the kennel. They pretty much lay on the window
seats in my kennel when I am working at my computer kennel and
"survey" their property.
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I have equipped my
kennel as a "rough" cottage and it has a hi efficiency wood stove and
a FAG furnace. I also added a computer, old model big TV and our
fitness equipment. I put in a small water heater and made some small
and inexpensive dog friendly renovations. My biggest splurge and
expense, was to cover the 13 acres of oak fencing with five foot high,
stiff ,mesh fencing. I got the higher mesh as I had professionals do
the install and they buried it three inches in the ground. This spring
a couple of Pins learned to climb the mesh fence. They would disappear
into farmer's fields and while I was running after them, they always
turned around and came back. (Didn't anticipate that! - the climbing
or the turning back so quickly). I purchased inexpensive chicken wire
and my husband and I stapled on another 16 in. That did the trick. I
have two dog doors into my kennel and one into my family room. |
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 My dogs
sleep in vari-kennels and eat (half raw half kibble) in their
crates. I use wool lined sleeping bags for them to sleep in. They
are warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
The pluses
are: that my dogs are heavily muscled and in excellent
show condition due to all the time due to the running. All right,
the older girls might be a bit chubby. I have had Judges comment
on this in the ring and I believe it has helped my winning
record: As mentioned, my Pins all get along well due to all
the space and I treat them all equally: I have very happy well
bonded Pins that give it all back and more: my
dogs are content and very interactive, so they make wonderful
companions: and best of all. I couldn't be happier!!. July 2010 |
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