I know this is stupid.

I've had this crazy obsession lately with the idea of becoming a dog breeder. I think it's maternal instinct taken a weird turn, and it really is crazy.

Long time readers may remember my thoughts on dogs in the lead up to buying Arry - our 5 year old Cavy x Tibetan Spaniel. I was really after a battery operated dog, not a real one. But since then I've become a dog person. I'm a little silly in my affection towards Arry. She lived outside for the first couple of years of her life but now is a thoroughly inside dog. I don't mind her sleeping on my bed. I know. How far I've fallen. In the middle of the year we started looking after Daphne while Andrew's brother and his family are touring around Australia. Daffy is a little dog of unknown parentage. She is extremely affectionate. We've loved having her but have to give her back at Christmas. I have so enjoyed having two dogs, that I want another to replace her.

So I've been touring the web looking at different breeds of dogs.

But reading up on dog breeds has made me want to enter the world of dog breeding myself. Puppies are so cute! Why buy one pup when you could have all the excitement and suspense of a doggy pregnancy then a whole litter of beautiful pups? It is a New Idea. A New Interest. A New Hobby. I'm very into the idea. 

But it is silly.

1. The kind of attention to detail that you need as a breeder - vet visits, worming pups on time, registering them, selling them - is completely beyond me. I'm also not at all into cleaning up puppy poo and wee. Or staying at home to look after needy animals.

2. We could not breed from Arry. Even though she is still capable of it, being a hybrid dog herself, her pups mightn't be so desirable. Pedigree breeders (dog eugenic nazis) consider hybrids - even deliberately mated hybrids - an abhorrence. I don't agree at all, but I've been convinced by what I've read about responsible breeding that second generation hybrids are a lot riskier than first generation hybrids. 

3. I'm quite taken by the Cavalier / Bishon Frise mix. How beautiful is this pup?

But to breed pups like this, I'd need to buy two high quality pure bred dogs. That would make us a three dog family. Then, with a litter, perhaps a 7 dog family. 

4. We rent at the moment. I imagine it would be tricky to find a landlord in town that would be good with dog breeder tenants. And our current house really isn't suitable anyway.

5. Becoming a dog breeder would be entering a very weird community. I have my own set of eccentricities but I don't think they match the quirks of the dog breeding community.

Clearly it would be a stupid thing for me to contemplate becoming a dog breeder. Clearly. 

But...