Hi, I am Connie Hayes of Con-Lea Pekingese formerly Con-Dar Pekingese.

   I am very thankful that my grandparents, Ruby and Bill Dudley,

introduced me to the Pekingese breed.

 
 

 
 

 

It was not until I owned a Peke (or I should say that one Peke owned me) that I found out how truly loving and devoted the Pekingese are. I have shared many pleasant experiences with my Pekes for most of my life.

     After a tragedy in my life, my grandparents gave me a female puppy. They gave me the opportunity to be exquisitely loved by this precious little creature. I continued to keep a Pekingese companion for many years.

     Grandma and Grandpa Dudley gave my children a lovely male Pekingese puppy. My family named him "Worthless". Worthless was a living doll for my daughters to play with. They dressed him in baby clothes and Halloween outfits, etc. They curled his hair on bad hair days. He was precious to all of us.

     After we adapted to the special qualities only a Peke has to offer, I discussed the idea with my family of raising a few darling Pekingese. We decided to go for my dream of continuing my grandparents' love and devotion for the betterment of the Pekingese breed. We purchased four older females and two young males from my grandparents. I thought raising Pekingese would be really easy.

     Our first litter was a nightmare. After several trips to the vet and a lot of stress, Topaz delivered our first two beautiful babies.

 

 One of the babies, Goldie, was healthy, but the second little girl started falling away and screaming by the end of the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 We had taken her to three different vets. They all said that she had fading puppy syndrome and that there was nothing that they could do for her. It was horrible to work day and night with this precious little baby--only to see her gradually slipping away. Eventually she left us heartbroken and devastated. Goldie turned out to be a beautiful golden fawn, sassy girl.

 

It has really been a difficult and rewarding learning process for us. We have learned it takes a lot of patience, knowledge and time to whelp and raise the puppies, but it is worth it!

 

     Again, I mentioned my continued dream of showing Pekes with my family. We decided to show Goldie. With no experience, we entered our precious girl and started showing her. The first time I went into the ring I was concerned that they would need to call the clean-up crew for me -- not for Goldie. The Peke people were extremely nice to help me. They gave me helpful hints on showing, grooming and encouragement that I could do it.
I am deeply indebted to everyone for all their help, because without it I would not have made it. I am especially grateful to my grandparents for all their support and love. A special thanks to them for giving me Dud-Lee's Lucky Lyon-Hart (Lucky). Lucky has been an outstanding foundation stud for us and for our latest addition, Dud-Lees Majical Parti-Dude (Dude).
 

 

 

Dude is such a joy to show with all his enthusiasm. Today, we enjoy the competition in the show ring, but we still reminisce about our learning experiences.

     Currently we have 18 adult Pekes and 5 puppies. We home-raise our puppies with loving care. As we sit at our kitchen table, we are entertained by two of Goldie's babies.
 

 

 

They are precious and beautiful just like their mom. When I sit in our recliner, I watch the puppies play in their playpen.
 

 This is an example of what 5 days old Peke puppies look like.

It is not an ordinary litter because of the large number of 5 and they were all girls.

This was our solid gold litter.

 

I am so thankful and encouraged today because the enormous problems of whelping and rearing Peke puppies has decreased due to the support and knowledge that Peke friends have shared with us.

    It continues to be the pleasure of my days to breed, whelp, exhibit, and just to enjoy the unusual and pleasurable qualities of the Pekingese breed. We have been truly blessed with friends of Pekes like all of you. I am deeply grateful to my family;
 

to my daughters, Tina, Amy and Kristie; to my parents; to my grandparents, Ruby and Bill Dudley, and the rest of my family for all their support and love that they have given to me. I hope that you have enjoyed knowing a little portion of my love for the Pekingese.
 

  Written by Connie Hayes

 

 

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