| About Me |
| I was first introduced to Shih Tzu as a child during our family trip to Maryland to visit my grandparents. At the time, my grandma had a 1 year old black & white female shih tzu named Tara. I secretly named her Tara the Terror. I hated that dog, but my parents absolutely loved her. She had the temperament that I avoid in my dogs. She was very moody, territorial, and not at all kid friendly. I was surprised to find that on my 14th birthday my parents bought me my own Shih Tzu puppy. I knew they were puppy shopping for me, but I thought it would be a Maltese! Well, I told myself that I would make it work and that this little 10 week old brindle & white boy would not end up like Tara. He turned out to be the BEST dog ever. Very obedient, eager to please, and is such a gentleman. Sportly was the start of my renewed love and involvement with the breed. Sportly now lives with my Dad since his retirement from the Air Force, he needed a buddy to get into trouble with :-) My puppies are born and raised in my bedroom until they are 5 weeks old. At that age, I move them into a gated part of my kitchen where they become familiar to the sounds, sights, and smells of a normal household. They learn how to drink from a water bottle stand and eat a mixture of wet puppy food and Esbilac. They enjoy sleeping in their padded door-free crate and getting used to going potty on their pee pads. They are started on dewormer at 2 weeks old and receive their first shots at 7 weeks old and again at 9 weeks. I am very big on temperaments, training, and health. My dogs, those that live with me, continually take some form of obedience or agility training, whether through classes or competition. I recommend at least one form of obedience training within a class setting for all of my puppies/buyers. Obedience training is easy to do at home, but it does not beat the many distractions that an obedience class will introduce. I also at least encourage one beginner’s agility class. Agility brings out the confidence in dogs, builds a strong bond with their owners, and is just a fun sport to do with your dog. Other than the Shih Tzu, I am also a junior at Mary Baldwin College. To prevent myself from having to relocate to Staunton, Va I decided to complete my MBC classes online. I am also a nutritionist assistant for the health department. With the dogs, school, and work my life stays pretty busy. However, I always have time to chat about my dogs and give advice to all of my puppy owners. |
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
