What's love got to do with it?

It ought to be about dogs. About friends, that is, not trophies; companions, not inventory. Purebreeds are great, but askals should be welcome as well. Askals are canines, too.

Having worked briefly for the Philippine Canine Club, Inc., a non-profit corporation involved in the promotion of dog breeding in the Philippines, I came to see up close how the ownership of the "best" dogs around (note the quotation marks) does not necessarily translate into love for dogs. Where dog breeders are concerned, it's simply not a given. For many dog breeders, the professional ones at least, it's not about friendship or companionship. It's about the sport, the prestige, the prize. For that's what they and their ilk consider dogs to be: the subject of sport, even though the most common type of dog show in the Philippines, the so-called conformation show, is more beauty contest than it is sport.

I really shouldn't have been surprised or even disappointed. After all, I had seen it years ago when my babies, despite all I did to prevent it, still produced puppies. I could easily spot dog breeders when they came. How? They never smiled at the sight of puppies at play. The others did, those who came looking for a pet, often one to replace a pet they had lost. The dog breeders were different. They examined the pups like they would possible inventory, looking for patches of thin hair, the like. It often made you wonder if they could pass through the same kind of scrutiny themselves. Anyway, dogs are a lot smarter than these professional dog breeders think. One pup, Beloved, just lay down listlessly when a family of dog breeders came; when a mother came later looking for a dog for her child, Beloved was up and playing, showing her best.

Dogs know. And dog breeders, out to control, just don't give dogs that much credit.

For them, it's about the sport, the prestige, the prize. And perhaps the money that comes with all that.

Being around these dog breeders, though, you often wonder exactly what's in it for them. Many really don't love dogs. They don't talk about dogs that creatures that they love but as objects for competition. Outside of competition and breeding champion lines, the dogs are nothing. They spend much, yes, but for the monetary or prestige objective, not for the actual care of such wonderful creatures. But do they really get much money out of breeding? Maybe, maybe not. With all the money they put in for the best food, who knows if they actually make money? Who can afford their dogs? What's in it for them anyway? You got me.

I have a theory, though. For the most part, I've found professional dog breeders to be mediocre people who, outside of their money, much of which has come out of accident of birth, they don't have much by way of accomplishment to speak of. They have a bloated sense of self-importance, such that they expect to be attended to lavishly every time they come around. So they breed dogs. It's easy. The dogs are beautiful to begin with. You just have to make sure you don't spoil that beauty--which dog breeders often do, however, by turning dogs into robots.

For them, what's love got to do with it?