Our Story
Dogs Always Had My Heart
Ive loved animals for as long as I can remember, but dogs always had my heart.I checked out every dog book I could get my hands on and practically wore out the library's collection. I couldn't wait for the next issue of Dog Fancy magazine to come out and spent countless hours reading about anything dog-related.
I was also the self-appointed trainer and groomer of our family dogs. If there was something dog-related to read, learn, or do, I was interested in it. Even then, I knew I wanted to work with dogs in some capacity when I grew up.
The one thing I never expected was that / would eventually develop allergies. As a young child I had no issues around animals, but over time I became allergic to cats and other animals. Eventually, as a young adult, I started developing allergies to many traditional shedding dog breeds as well.
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A Different Kind of Dream
By the time I got married and started a family, life looked a little different than I had imagined as that dog-loving kid. Growing up. I had always pictured myself working with dogs in some capacity. But when I became a mother, my priorities changed. More than anything, I wanted to be home raising my children. At the same time, my allergies had gradually gotten worse over the years.
Between wanting to stay home with my kids and no longer being able to comfortably live with many dog breeds. I figured my childhood dream of working with dogs probably wasn't going to happen. I loved being home with my kids, but I still missed having dogs as a bigger part of my life. That desire never really went away.
The Best of Both Worlds
Around that time, I was talking with a friend about how much I missed having a dog. She happened to have allergies herself and told me that was one of the reasons she had been a long time poodle owner. According to her, poodles didnt trigger her allergies the way many other breeds did. I remember thinking that didnt make much sense. A dog is a dog. right? How could certain breeds affect allergy sufferers so differently? Since she understood exactly what I was dealing with, she invited me to spend some time around her dogs and see what happened.
My eyes didnt start itching. I wasn't sneezing or wheezing. For the first time in years, it felt like maybe there was a way for dogs to be a bigger part of my life again.Not long after that, we welcomed our first poodle into the family. Then came our second, and the breeder of that second poodle eventually became my mentor. Before long. I found myself raising poodles of my own.
Breeding gave me the opportunity to do something I had wanted to do since I was a little girl white still being home with my children. It truly was the best of both worlds. It also quickly became a family affair. Our children loved the dogs. loved the puppies, and were always eager to help. The puppies grew up surrounded by people who adored them, and our kids learned responsibility, compassion, and respect for animals along the way.
More Than Just Dogs
Dogs have always been a big part of the story. But so has family. Many of the decisions that have shaped our program were influenced by the simple fact that our dogs were never just dogs to us.
We Thought Dog Problems Were Just Part of Life
As our program grew from poodles to the doodles we raise today, so did my desire to learn everything I could about becoming a better breeder. Ive always liked understanding how things work and why. As a kid it was dog books and magazines. As an adult it became breeding. genetics, puppy development, behavior, and eventually health. When I first started breeding, I did things much the way most breeders did.I followed the recommendations I had been given and trusted the conventional approaches that were widely accepted at the time. I genuinely believed I was doing the very best I could for my dogs.
Over the years, some of my dogs experienced health challenges that left me searching for answers. Like most owners. I pursued the conventional treatments and recommendations available to me. Sometimes they helped, and sometimes they didn't. But after enough of those experiences. I found myself wanting to understand why these problems were happening in the first place.
Asking Better Questions
That's when I started digging deeper.
I began reading everything I could get my hands on about canine health and nutrition. One topic led to another, and before long was learning about everything from genetics and puppy development to natural rearing and the many factors that can influence long-term health. The changes didn't happen overnight. I'm the kind of person who likes to research things thoroughly before making major decisions, so I took my time. I read, listened, learned, and gradually started looking at health differently than I had before.
The more learned, the more I found myself asking questions about practices I had once accepted without much thought. Some of the answers challenged what I believed. Others confirmed things I had already suspected. Little by little, my approach began to change.
Why I was Doing Things Differently
For years, I had been intentional about the choices I made for my family. I cared about nutrition, wellness, ingredients, and creating a healthy environment. I spent time researching because / believed those things mattered
Our dogs weren't just pets. They were family too. The puppies we raised were born in our home. Loved by our family, and cared for as if they were our own.
Eventually I found myself asking a simple question: If I believed these things mattered for my family, why wouldn't they matter for my dogs and puppies as well?
Over time, I gradually moved away from many of the conventional practices I started with and toward a more holistic, natural rearing approach to raising and caring for dogs. It wasn't a sudden shift. It happened over years of learning. observation, and seeing positive changes in my own dogs.
Raising Healthy, Resilient Dogs
Today, natural rearing is an important part of our program, but I don't view it as an all-or-nothing philosophy.
I lean heavily toward natural and holistic approaches whenever possible, but I also believe in being practical and open-minded. If there's one thing Ive learned over the years, it's that extremes usually aren't where the best answers live. My goal isn't to follow an ideology. My goal is to make the best decisions I can for the dogs and puppies in my care.
Looking back, I do things very differently today than I did when I first started breeding. Every step of that journey has helped shape the program we have today. Today, our goal is simple: to raise healthy, well-adjusted companions and give them the strongest start in life that we can.
Everything we do, from health testing and breeding decisions to puppy raising and natural rearing, is guided by that goal.
Now, it's hard to believe where that path eventually led. What started with a love of dogs as a little girl has grown into a family-centered breeding program that allows me to do what I love while helping other families welcome a wonderful companion into their lives.
Breeding Life Photos - Behind the Scenes
