The Price of Gold

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With the word of our Emma being pregnant, we are starting to get inquiries into the price of a puppy and a place on our list. Because of recent events in my missionary and breeding careers, I find it helpful to take nothing for granted and have become somewhat superstitious about anything going as expected. That being said, I do of course have thoughts on the price of things…

One of our recent callers thought the quoted price was high. Today’s society expects instant gratification and discounted services and products. Charge cards and business competition have allowed most of us here in the USA to satisfy our whims and desires with very little preparation or investment of time and energy. I am as guilty as everyone else, and use big box stores, generic medications, and competitive bids to save needed dollars. I have also been on the losing side in dealing with insurance companies who have managed to devalue my professional services for many years. Fixed discounted professional fees have replaced charges determined by your overhead and business costs.

Recently we made some landscape changes to our Farmington home to make it more dog friendly. With both the landscaping and fencing companies, however, each refused to make any concessions despite written and verbal communications. Because they are noted to be among the top people in their respective services, I grudgingly agreed to their higher prices. Now with the work done however, I can clearly see that a lot more skill and craftsmanship went into the projects than I ever anticipated. Both Barb and I are extremely happy with the outcome.

Medical Ministry International, the Texas based umbrella organization that sends out teams like ours to 33 plus countries all over the globe has a simple formula. For the office care that will be rendered, the cost is one day’s family income, whether that be in produce, chickens, or money. That way, the care is earned and not just received. Surgery is one month’s equivalent of income. And the care is limited to clearly defined poverty levels so that wealthier folks can’t cheat and get American care for a pittance. However no one is turned away if they are unable to meet this price. Also each provider on the team has to pay their way there, as well as a fee for the “luxury housing”, food, and missionary support. All told the cost of going there as a medical person approaches two thousand dollars. So both the patient and the practitioner have invested time, energy, and some sort of money. Medical Mission International feels that this formula creates respect on each side, and that the patient will appreciate the results even more. “Out of pocket costs” for the patient in the Dominican also involves the cost of their IV solutions for their surgery. When we did their preop consultation, we would determine if their surgery required one IV bag or two. Then they would go to the local pharmacy to pick up their required fluids for around 2$ a bag. There weren’t many medications stocked in the pharmacy but there were plenty of fluid bags when the medical team was in town.

Where was I?

The asking price of our puppies at this time is 1200$ plus 6% CT sales tax.

When I querried our mentor, Sydney Waller, she mentioned that her breeding friends are charging 1300$ to 1400$. One of my obstetrical patients was in the office recently and mentioned that her parents and sister had each gotten a golden retriever from the West Coast. They used the same breeder that Oprah had when Cesar Milan bought her her golden retrievers. The asking price was 3000$ to 4000$.

My puppy price philosophy stems from growing up in a family where every dollar was hard earned and quickly spent. I grew up with four younger sisters. Our then high school educated parents always had at least 3 to 4 jobs between them to support us all. My father didn’t want another mouth to feed and so he refused to let us get a dog. We had cats, and hamsters, and rabbits, and the occasional injured bird that was found in the neighborhood. But never a dog. So now one of my missions is to find a way to get puppies into younger families who have to make a real sacrifice to come up with the needed funds. So Barb and I have: the neighborhood discount, the patient discount, the repeat dog discount, the relative discount, and the special situation discount.

However, my accountant tells me now that we have an LLC corporation, we must at some point be profitable. That is a laugher at the moment. Let’s see, this year over three thousand dollars to get Emma through her infertility and insemination procedures. The cost of keeping our small family of females healthy and fit, and the needed changes to our home, is in the range of half a year private college tuition. The number of puppies this year to date: zero. Our accountant is not going to be happy.

One of our daughters, a city dweller, recently bought a pug puppy from the “reputable” puppy store in the area. The asking price was 1300$. Cute as a button, once she got the dog home, the problems began. The added vet bills from her not thriving initially, and having a number of medical problems added several hundreds of dollars to the initial cost, plus untold stress to my daughter.

I was browsing the Golden Retriever Club of America website that is linked on our website. They have a wealth of information on buying a puppy that includes a section on the prices charged. I would encourage all potential puppy owners to spend some time reading what they have to say.

My final thoughts though are that no matter what you buy your dog for, you are getting a bargain. A companion, exercise buddy, therapist, and best friend, there is always someone waiting to greet you with a wag of their tail and a cuddle when you get home. New adventures are always just a car ride away. Our Riley demonstrated that today when we were bringing our Christmas tree home in the dog van. As soon as the door opened and we got out, in she went . Tennis ball in her mouth she looked at me as if to say “let’s go there are adventures out there awaiting”.

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The rewards of multiple moments like this every day are indeed… priceless.


Final Tribute to Abby

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My family and neighborhood friends were well acquainted with our Abby. She was our first breeding female and a special friend to me. Because her three litters were our initial efforts at breeding, we had adventure after adventure that Barb and I still laugh about even now. When taking rides anywhere, she always pulled rank and rode shotgun in the front seat, never allowing any other dog to sit next to me. When we lost her to cancer, I felt I wanted to mark her passing by doing something special. The creation of this web site has allowed me to do just that.

Here are some of my favorite photos showing her calm nature and strong maternal instincts. She was also never too far away from a tennis ball and could play catch and fetch until she wore you out.
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Celeste and Dana Rockel (my website gods) and I have put something together to add to Abby’s tribute.

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Called Abby’s message, I hope to convey the essence of what loving and sharing your life with a golden retriever or any dog for that matter can mean.

When we travel to Vermont another of her pups rides shotgun with me now, while other of her pups climb the same hills and roads we once traveled. It is not quite the same as having her by my side but her spirit lives on in them and in me. Click this link to see: Abby’s Message


Emma and Mulder Update

Barb went to the vets yesterday for Emma’s ultrasound. Unfortunately there are no pictures because I am home on bedrest after my recent medical adventure. The good news is that they saw at least six pups. We will take an Xray when her due date nears to be sure about the numbers.

Berna, Mulder’s owner, just sent me the formal photo of them winning the Eastern Regionals this fall. He is one handsome dog. Emma is feeling well but sleeping more. The pups are due the week after Christmas.
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Of This and That

Quite a lot has happened to me since the last post on Thanksgiving…

I went to the Springfield dog show on the holiday weekend hoping to see some of the up and coming champion looks and colors among the Goldens. Got my times wrong and missed them all. Enjoyed walking around though for a few hours, and seeing the thousands of dogs among hundreds of breeds, all being fussed over with owners and handlers nervously pinning their hopes on the judging in the rings. I naively thought I could post some photos, but proper etiquette makes you refrain from making flashes that could startle a dog or owner. So I furtively took two from a distance. If you haven’t been to a dog show it is quite the event to watch the animals and people.

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With our ultrasound in the office showing Emma definitely carrying some pups, I set to work to convert our puppy center back to it’s original purpose. About a year ago I got bit by the home wine making bug, and started brewing grapes for fun and for advertising for our dog business. As usual with me things got a little out of hand. The whelping box made a great place to store all the tools of the trade. And my small wine hobby has blossomed into now 23 kinds of wine made from grape juice all over the world.

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The whelping box is not pretty, but makes a safe place for the pups to begin their new life.

Over the weekend, I received my pictures in the mail from the Dominican Republic mission. The images brought back raw emotions tinged with regrets and what ifs. The 31 member surgical team started the week confident in our skills and abilities. We started by doing two emergency cesareans with healthy babies the result in moms who had little prenatal care and were very ill. The photos we took of the first baby and her mom was like any other delivery outcome here in the states. On rounds that afternoon and evening everything seemed fine…

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The shock and dismay when we arrived the next morning to find the mother had died overnight was just indescribable. If there was ever one commandment in this unpredictable business of obstetrics, you just don’t lose moms, ever. It took several days for the medical group to come to terms with the loss of someone so young and facing the start of a beautiful life with her baby, to be gone without the benefit of any intervention or aid. This is probably the only picture that baby boy will have of his mother, and we have no way of getting it to him. Now the photos seem to mock the pride we felt in coming from America where we have the best of everything. Little did we know but soon learned, without continued postop care, lab work, and medications, life is precarious. A stroke or embolism claimed her life without warning.

Finally, I just returned home from St. Francis Hospital from my own medical emergency. A stubborn bronchitis caught on the Dominican trip has made my life miserable. It all took a turn for the worse yesterday in the delivery room when I suddenly developed severe vertigo and fell and hit my head. Without warning I was the center of a medical emergency and thought I was having a stroke or seizure. Now here just 36 hours later, I sit at my home computer. With a million dollar workup behind me of CAT scans, MRI’s, Ultrasound, EEG, EKG, and numerous lab tests, I am feeling better on a battery of medication. And thankful that unlike in the Dominican when you come upon a door marked Lab, or XRay or OR, you open it and find incredibly trained and gifted people using amazing technology. In the Dominican, like in most third world countries, there is no magic behind the door, just empty space and empty tables. I remain most thankful and humbled.


Holiday Blessings and Fabio Unveiled

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family! It has been a very blessed and happy morning here at the Bourque household. First our son Michael called and said we were going to be grandparents for the second time. 🙂 🙂

Then Barb and I took our Emma to the office and did an ultrasound. I was holding my breath while I put the transducer on and looked at the screen…

Lo and behold we saw multiple gestational sacs with little puppy fetuses inside. 🙂

We will be having a formal ultrasound next week at the vets, but there is no doubt that Mulder came through with the help of high tech veterinary medicine. The pups will be due the week after Christmas.

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So now I can show everyone (with his owner Berna’s blessing) the photos of Mulder (Emma’s Fabio) taken during our infertilty adventure last month.

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Such a sweet good natured golden, and to be a father again. Thank you Berna again for letting us “borrow” him for that weekend.


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