Our breeding philosophy

OUR BREEDING PHILOSOPHY

"He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are
his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true,
to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of
such devotion" -- Unknown

Over the years, we've developed a philosophy regarding our breeding program that we're proud of. Our "quality without compromise" is a goal that we are constantly striving for. We hope that each generation of our dogs is better than the one before, and work hard to achieve the level of perfection that we have in our minds as the "ideal" Italian Greyhound. Rather than saying we are breeding to "improve the breed", we are breeding to live up to the standard of the breed.

"As a custodian of the Italian Greyhound breed,
I intend to leave it as good as I found the best of it because that's how it was passed on to me."

The dogs we place in companion homes are often dogs that could be successful in a conformation ring. They have received the same level of care as our future champions. Our own dogs are our household companions first, and showdogs second.

Much planning goes into each of our breedings. Sires and dams are compared on many levels to give us the best chance of improving what is there. We don't agree with the popular sire syndrome so often seen in pedigrees. By not following the trend of using the "current popular stud dog", we feel that we are maintaining lines that are unique while still being typey and sound.

Over the years, there have been dogs that we've culled from our breeding program, often before they're ever bred. Just because a dog has a CH in front of their name, does not necessarily mean they will be a producer of sound get. Unfortunately, sometimes it is a dog that we have finished ourselves that we decide this about, and so that dog is spayed or neutered and placed in a companion home. By the same token, we have dogs or have utilized dogs in our program that haven't finished a championship for one reason or another. If the dog is physically, emotionally and mentally sound, we see NO reason not to incorporate that dog into our bloodline.

We perform health screening on our dogs, including yearly eye exams and CERF registry, cardiac and patella soundness screening. We have, or are in the process of having, all of our dogs OFA certified for patella and cardiac soundness. Currently, we have 7 of the only dozen or so IGs in the US with OFA cardiac numbers. We are also embarking on having all of our dogs tested for von Willebrands Factor, OFA registry for hips, OFA registry for thyroid health, and BAER testing for hearing soundness where it is deemed prudent. This is a huge undertaking, both logistically and financially, so will take us a bit of time to complete. It is one that we feel is extremely beneficial, not only for our own peace of mind, but also for the peace of mind of those that use one of our stud dogs, or acquire a dog from us, whether as a beloved companion or as something they wish to incorporate into their own breeding program. All of the results of these tests will be included on this website for each dog.

We understand and work with the knowledge that there are NO bloodlines that are 100% free of inherited problems in the pedigree. We make every effort to know what problems are in the backgrounds of our dogs, and to use this knowledge to breed wisely.

In the approval process for outside bitches being bred to our stud dogs, we require that the bitch is either a AKC (American) or CKC (Canadian) Champion of Record, or of a quality that would be consistent with the breed standard and at least two years of age. We do not accept bitches with alternative registrations such as APRI, ACA, etc. The pedigree of the bitch must be one that we are confident of it's representation of quality Italian Greyhounds, both physically and health related. The bitch must also have a minimum of the following testing done: current CERF registration, OFA patella clearance and brucellosis negative. It is highly recommended that the bitch have a DNA profile number with AKC.

We believe in honesty in reporting health issues that we may have encountered in our lines to the best of our ability. We feel that if everyone were open and honest about health issues in their lines, we as a group could make great strides in reducing the number of health issues in our breed. If and when we find that there are issues with any dog that is in our pedigree that could affect the dogs we've placed, we notify each and every owner of those dogs as to what the problem is, and how it might affect them. We also let them know how to determine if their dog might be personally affected. We provide full disclosure of any health issues that are known to be in the immediate pedigree of any dog we place during the selection process.

We highly recommend that the people that get one of our dogs include the recommended health testing for our breed as part of their dog's overall health plan, including yearly eye exams. It is only by encouraging these tests, and the feedback from our puppy owners, that we can determine if there are any issues in our lines on a proactive basis, rather than a reactive one.

Before going to their new homes, each of our puppies has received a preliminary screening for patella and cardiac soundness. Any dog placed as a show prospect will have an AKC approved DNA profile swab done before going into its new home. Every puppy we place will have received a BAER test for hearing prior to going home if we have any reason to believe there might be a hearing issue. The findings of these exams goes into the documentation we send home in our puppy packet, including the names of the veterinarians that did all procedures.

Our vaccination protocol has changed some in 2006, due to an unexpected and devastating outbreak of parvovirus that decimated two lovely litters of puppies in a week (even with intensive veterinary care in an ICU ward). Our puppies will continue to receive a vaccination protocol that will afford the best protection from this and other core diseases. We are currently using a "high titer" vaccine that is more successful in overriding any residual maternal antibodies, thus affording the puppy the most protection we can give.

We feed a totally raw diet to our dogs. After much research, we have found that this is an excellent way to keep our dogs healthy and in good condition. We don't require someone getting a dog from us to follow this diet, but we highly recommend it.

We're still learning, even after 20+ years in the breed, and over 30 years in purebred dogs. As we learn, we will incorporate that knowledge into our program, so that our dogs will continually get the very best that there is to offer.