Day 9: Winnie's Breeder

Well, today was the big day. I was going to track down Winnie's breeder in some small town in Northeastern Missouri. I was starting to get real nervous. This area is very rural and very remote. I got a late start because I was doing some business work that morning in the hotel.

So I plugged into my GPS the address I got off the USDA approved breeders website (This does not necessarily mean it's a good breeder). Near the town I started to get directed to smaller and more remote roads. (See pic.)
My GPS was not working well...I would be directed to dirt roads that dead-ended into someones homestead- I backed up and got out of there as quick as I could. I finally figured out to stay off of anything called a "county road;" this meant it is dirt and likely a dead end. Okay, after driving around for almost an hour, I drove by the place. It just looked like a lot of the other farms out there. I had a work telephone conference scheduled so I went to town to take care of that and get a sandwich. The "town" didn't feel too friendly...small and rural. If felt like my little CA-plated sports car with the luggage tube on top stood out like a sore thumb. I was feeling like an outsider - unwanted and distrusted ....and I was a bit scared to go up unannounced to that farm. But I said I would do this...and, quite simply, I wanted to know where Winnie came from.

So, an hour later, I go back and drive up the driveway...I don't hear any dogs. There is a house, cars, several "out buildings" and barns.
When I get out of the car, 4 guys with bloody knives come out of the barn! (Turns out they run a butchering/meat processing business). I say, "Hello! Are you Mr. so-and-so?" (I am not going to use real names.)
There is total silence in response. They don't seem mean, just distrustful. So I do my version of an "aw shucks" shoulder shrug and answer my own question, "Well I guess that depends who's asking." I immediately smile, walk forward with my hand extended and start gushing that I got that great dog bred by Mr. so-and-so and I had come all the way from California to tell him so and see his dogs. Well, I'm such a goof, that people lighten up. The man explains the dog breeder was his brother who sold all the dogs a few years ago and moved to Illinois. I'm pretty crushed. But then another young man there(I think it was his son) reminded his dad they still have two dogs. I ask the names and it turns out one of the dogs is Winnie's dad, Roscoe!!! So, meet Roscoe in these pics.
Roscoe is in a cage, but he is clearly socialized and friendly.
They let him out, and Winnie and him are introduced.
He is little and cute. He lets me pick him up and the family tells me he's a sweet and calm guy. But on closer inspection it turns out his fur is coming off in places and his teeth are terrible- his canines stick out close to right angles from his mouth.
I'm trying so hard to be friendly that I'm not right then judging these people. We make small talk a little more. I determine they are Mennonites and they tell me abit about their 180 acre farm. Winnie does her tricks for them..they are more amazed than amused. I thank them and leave.

Thinking about it later, I think they treat dogs like livestock; favored livestock, who they play with and let out of cages, but still livestock. I try not to be too judgmental. I conclude that at least this is not the bad puppy mills where the dogs are never let out of their cages and have broken bones and sit in their excrement. Humanizing dogs is most likely a symptom of our modern urban wealth. Who is to say that those in more rural impoverished areas don't have the right to treat dogs more like horses, sheep or chickens, as long as they aren't cruel. I don't know. But I try to see both sides.

I am relived and start driving. I end up driving through Hannibal, Missouri- the home of Mark Twain (also the home of "the unsinkable Molly Brown" on the Titanic). Incredible to see the "mighty Mississippi" which inspired so much of Mark Twain's work (that was his pen name, his real name was Samuel Clemens). I wander the town a bit with Winnie, seeing mark Twain's boyhood home (see pic) and a little bit of a museum.
We get some good coffee- finally, a real coffee house versus the brown water of gas station coffee! We follow the Mississippi River in to St. Louis. We get to bed late, but are excited about the herding clinic with Tammy Van Deusen here tomorrow.