Carolina Kennel Club Veterinary Scholarship

For me, purebred dogs and veterinary medicine are intertwined. My journey in the dog fancy started when I was 16, right around the same time I was deciding what I wanted my career to be. The veterinary field has many challenges and obstacles, which made the decision difficult as I weighed the options, and thought most importantly about the financial commitment the education requires. My first job was for a local Pembroke Welsh Corgi breeder as a kennel assistant, and from there, I would go on to fall in love with handling dogs and breeding myself. Though it started as a simple part-time job for a newly-licensed teenager, it very quickly snowballed into a passion for two breeds I still adore, Pembroke Welsh Corgis and Miniature American Shepherds. What always kept drawing me back to veterinary medicine was the same pull I felt with the dogs and AKC. I loved working with animals and I especially loved reproduction work. As many will agree, new life is precious and sacred. To be an orchestrator of that process, to bring well-rounded, healthy puppies into the world, is a gift that never stops giving despite the constant work that goes into creating those lives. As all responsible breeders will tell you, this isn't all about the cute fluffy 8-week old puppies. I loved the difficult parts just as much. Staying up late with a poor-doer puppy, tube feeding a litter because the dam came down with mastitis, treating the mastitis in the dam, monitoring nutrition throughout the pregnancy, puppy socialization and training, planning the breedings themselves, whether that be natural or artificial insemination. There are so many moving parts to a breeding program, and I think veterinarians play a crucial role in many of the decisions I made as a breeder. I routinely sought information and advice to maintain the health of my dogs, and the trusted source of that information is typically a veterinarian. A good veterinarian is a partner in a breeding program, helping you make decisions for the health of your current dogs, and the betterment of your future litters. I cherish the veterinarians who assisted me in difficult decisions, and were there to celebrate a new litter of healthy wiggling puppies. Just as there are bad breeders though, there are also bad veterinarians. I've had my fair share of poor advice given from veterinarians, who probably meant well, but weren't necessarily aware of the sacrifices and commitment I had to my breeding dogs. This is not a secular experience as many breeders face bias and prejudice in the veterinary field. I got into veterinary medicine for two reasons. One is because I love medicine, and resolving animal suffering through medical management. The second is because I wanted to be a positive resource for breeders, and help change the negative narrative surrounding breeding in veterinary medicine. Veterinary medicine was a natural choice to me because of this, and I've loved every experience that got me into this program. I thoroughly enjoy talking with my peers about my own breeding program, letting them meet my dogs that I bred, and maybe shifting their perspective on purebred dogs. The narrative will only ever change through hosting those pivotal conversations, and I'm so thankful to be in a small position to hold those conversations.