QCKLime, now that's a story of a dog living and loving its life!

One of the things that always bothered me as a breeder, back when I had a huge yard, was all of these wonderful dogs "just sitting there" on a chain and never really getting to enjoy themselves as individuals. Yeah, they would run around barking, digging, and whatnot, but they never really got to enjoy what it felt like to run free and just have a blast. The paradox was, in order to build a bloodline I had to have a lot of "genetic options," and yet in having a huge yard I made every dog a prisoner who could never just run around and enjoy itself as a "doggie."

I much prefer having 7-10 dogs now (rather than 30-80), because I can even take them out in groups because most get along. I live on 50 acres and have about 3 of it cleared off, and every day I let the dogs who get along (say a female and some of the young pups) run all over the place and have a blast. It is hilarious to watch them sometimes, and the dogs who "don't get along" get put up while the others are running around ... and then they get their own time too, after the others are done.

So ... nice story :grin:

Jack