About Us (CAthryn and suSAN)
I, Susan, have personally had Shih Tzu as companions for over 20 years. Cathryn and I have had the pleasure of breeding Shih Tzu for over seven years now. It was rather by happenstance the way we began. When my Sasha passed away from old age, Cathryn, being a wonderful friend, bought Molly (who was 14 months old already) and gave her to me as a gift. I had 10-year-old Murphy’s Romance (who I had purchased from a show breeder who retained breeding rights to him) and we decided to breed them once. We had homes arranged for the puppies with family members...Cathryn kept Emmy, I kept ChinaDoll. Cathryn and I had so much fun raising and loving those puppies…two middle aged women, totally enamored with those adorable puppies. Cathryn would come to my house everyday and we would “gush” and fuss over those precious babies! That was the start… Since then we have come a long, long way. Cathryn and I both keep our dogs and puppies in our homes, this gives us the ability to have more dogs to use in the breeding program we have established than the normal in-home hobby breeder. This is a joint effort and we still enthusiastically look forward to the arrival of each new litter of puppies! (Luckily, we both have husbands who "tolerate" our endeavor ;o)
OUR BREEDING PHILOSOPHY
We love the Shih Tzu and feel a deep responsibility to maintain the integrity of this wonderful breed. We know that there are many, many people who are now familiar with, own, or know people who own a Shih Tzu. It is our belief that healthy, well socialized, beautiful Shih Tzu should be available to anyone who chooses to love this very special breed. Shih Tzu are currently (2007) the 9th most registered breed with AKC…over 35,000 were registered last year. Common sense dictates that these puppies came from several different sources... American Shih Tzu Club members, reputable breeders, backyard breeders, and unfortunately, unethical breeders, pet stores and puppy mills. We encourage you to research and investigate the reputation of people and places where you are considering buying your life long friend. The best way to do this is through references. We are always happy to provide references both from our veterinarian, and past customers. As you read the letters, emails and guest book comments on our website, (all unsolicited), we hope they will give you a good idea of who you are working with when you select us to be your breeder. Remember, a breeder does not need to be a member of a club in order to be reputable and responsible…and just because a breeder “says” they are reputable, does not mean they are.
Most importantly, do not buy from pet stores, brokers or puppy mills. You need to educate your self about these places. Be sure to speak with the breeder of the puppy you fall in love with…this must be the same person selling you the puppy! Middlemen are brokers (who sell puppy mill puppies). Websites that feature multiple breeds of puppies could be fronts for puppy mills…you might feel more comfortable with a breeder who is passionate about the one breed of dog she loves! Ask the breeder if she is only breeding Shih Tzu… some are “smart” enough to have a website dedicated to each different kind of dog they breed so that the general public does not make the connection. If they are not honest with you, they are unethical and not worthy of your trust.
We have dedicated ourselves, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to loving, maintaining and breeding the best Shih Tzu we can. It is our desire to deliver healthy, well-socialized, beautiful pets to as many people as we can. We feel a tremendous responsibility to each dog we have, and each puppy we bring into the world. We have an application process because we MUST feel confident that each of our puppies is going to be loved and cared for in the manner we require and find acceptable... nothing is more important to us than the welfare of our puppies and the subsequent happiness we are able to share with others.
In life, there are no absolute guarantees...in the eight years we have been breeding Shih Tzu, we have not had to replace a puppy. We stand by our 5-year health guarantee with pride. We have made it our number one priority to insure the puppies we share with you are as healthy and well socialized as can be.
Please be sure you are committed to sharing your life with a Shih Tzu before you buy one…they are more like humans than dogs. We believe that anyone who makes a conscientious decision to have a Shih Tzu in his or her life should be able to find an affordable, healthy, loving representative of this special breed!
