March 22, 2008 – Sunny, cool. There is a special love between a great dog and his or her breeder, and I saw it this morning when I took Lenore back to see her breeder, Gretchen Pinkel of Argyle, N.Y. (Kee-Pin Labradors) this morning. It was poignant reunion, and Gretchen and Lenore both lit up when they saw each other. There are all kinds of good ways to get a dog – breeders, rescue groups, shelters – and I have gotten dogs all of those ways, but there is something extraordinary when a good breeder, a great dog, and a dog lover intersect.
  Gretchen was happy to see how Lenore was growing, and Lenore was happy to gather all of the bones in Gretchen’s house and gnaw on them. Dealing with Gretchen was a pleasure, from the first. She saw the way Lenore and I cuddled at seven weeks and told me that was the dog for me. She saw the dog Lenore would become, and the dog that I wanted and needed, and, like great breeders with good instincts, matched them.
  Gretchen (and her husband John) and I share the same philosophy of about dogs. They are not people, not children, and need to be loved and appreciated as the wonderful animals that they are, not as furry versions of us. Gretchen loves following the work Lenore is doing in Hospice and it was a joyous reunion all around.
  Good breeders are special people. They are anxious, loving, conscientious. They work hard. They don’t do it for the money. They do it for the love of preserving a breed’s landmark traits, and of matching up the right dog with the right person. Gretchen said if I ever couldn’t keep Lenore for any reason, bring her back. Fat chance. But I am grateful, for Lenore and for the friendship of Gretchen and John. Every dog lover should be so lucky.