Continuing Education

Chimera Shih Tzu Puppies in SW Florida

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Our Continuing Education Efforts

We continue to better ourselves and our breeding choices by keeping an open mind and seeking out advice, science backed studies, and other resources. Some of our favorites are:

There is always more to learn.

Before breeding, we had a lot to learn and experience.

I spent years learning all I could about dogs, about behavior, training, health, breed traits, and rescue. I took my children to the local animal control to scoop poop, clean pens, wash laundry, help to feed and water the homeless dogs. I helped several dog rescues and pet pig rescues build their social media presences. I assisted or was in charge of fundraising, evaluating shelter dogs, fostering, transporting, taking dogs to vet appointments, training dogs, attenting public events, screening volunteer applications, screening adoption applications, and more.

While fostering rescued dogs in our home we helped dogs to heal from trauma, to train them basic manners, to manage and heal their neglected health, to shape them into great adoptable pets, and to advertise them to potential adoptive homes with pictures and videos that showed off their wonderful personalities.

We also raised several litters of abandoned kittens. Some were still with their mommas, and some we had to bottle raise. Some were healthy, some were very sick and needed medical care.

I built a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting pet pig rescue. I spent years fundraising to help owners spay, neuter, microchip, and keep their pigs in their homes. I wrote books, websites, and brochures to help educate the public on the needs and care of pet pigs, the challenges and uniqueness of this special pet.

I volunteered with several pet pig rescues, fostering, raising orphaned piglets, networking, marketing their adoptable pigs, building adoption applications, screening applicants, working with the pigs, training them, and learning about what types of home would be a good fit for each individual pig, to find them the best match possible where they would thrive.

I very much enjoyed my time working with rescues, shelters, adopters, and donors. I really learned a lot about dogs, about people, how to help people & dogs succeed long term, and how to support those owners or dogs that are struggling. I learned what dogs need to acclimate into their new homes. I also learned that there is infinite heartache in the world. I spent 20 years picking up the pieces that others left broken. It really takes a toll. On the pets and on the people. It certainly hardened my heart and made me who I am today. It gave my children experience and world views that most adults aren’t even aware of.

We have a very well rounded bout of experience that I feel gives us a better perspective when choosing to breed and when choosing to place puppies in homes. We feel the entirety of that responsbility, including all the things that could go wrong in genetics or environment, and know that we want to be there for any dogs we bring into the world, for the rest of their lives.

My rescue friends have asked how I could choose to breed after seeing the heartache in rescue. My answer is that, while there is heartache in rescue, it is due to human error and human failure. I want to take a different path. I want to prevent that human failure from ever affecting puppies and dogs. To support a dog for it’s entire life, I will be there. I want to start at the begining and prevent these bad things from happening, instead of trying to fix them after the abandonment and neglect has hurt them. I can’t stop all the pain and suffering that others have caused, but I can provide a better life for the Shih Tzus that I bring into this world. We do this by selectively breeding for health and disposition, carefully choosing families for our puppies, and supporting those families as they care for our precious puppies. We are here for the Chimera Shih Tzus and their families, for life.