Recently I went to the butcher's for meat and ordered a larger amount. The saleswoman looked at me a little puzzled, as if unsure she had heard right. When I explained it was for my dogs, because they eat better than many a person, she smiled and said something like: "Yes, of course, these days dogs already sleep on the sofa. Where are we heading?" That remark stayed with me all day.
It was not meant unkindly. It was only a reflection of something that still lies deep in our society: the belief that a dog is somewhere beneath us. That it is an animal that should be grateful for scraps, not a being that would deserve a place in the bed or good meat in its bowl.
From a tool to a family member
Once, a dog on a farm had a clear role. It guarded, hunted, warned. Its value was measured by how useful it was. A dog that no longer did its job often became a burden. This was the reality of the past, and I understand where it comes from.
Today, for many of us, a dog is something entirely different. It sleeps with us, travels with us, grieves with us. And yet the old mindset has not disappeared. I still meet people who see a dog as an object that can be discarded at the first problem. And it is precisely this gap, between how far we have come and how far we still have to go, that occupies me most as a breeder.
Why this even matters
When someone sees a dog as a thing, they treat it that way too. A thing does not need socialisation, does not need love, does not need thought before purchase. A thing is bought and thrown away. And that is precisely why shelters are full.
In my kennel, Little Shining Angels, near Žalec, I breed chocolate Terriers, black Terriers and Biewer Terriers from a different starting point. My dogs are not a product. They are part of my family, and this is exactly what I try to pass on to the people who come to me for a puppy. Anyone looking for an animal for a kennel or for reproduction is not at the right address.
That remark at the butcher's did not hurt me. On the contrary. It reminded me why I do what I do. Every time I hand over a healthy, socialised puppy to a home where it will truly be part of the family, that old myth dissolves a little more.
Literature and sources
Animal Protection Act (ZZZiv), Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.
Council Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes.
Serpell J (1996). In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships. Cambridge University Press.
