Our Moms and Dad are FULL BRED SHIHTZU, AKC registered - the name Teddybearshihtzu came from our 4 year old daughter when our family first started our passion of Shihtzu puppies!

WHO WE ARE:

Out of the mouth of Babes

​Our Family consists of Gavin (Dad), Tonya (Mom) and our kids:  Desmond, Breann, Ayden, Carson and Ellzah.  I am a very grateful at-home-mom or what I like to call now a day’s a taxi-mom.  We have five very talented kids that are in their own extra-curricular activities besides getting good grades.  Desmond is our piano player.  Breann plays piano also but her passion is in singing.  Ayden is our drummer.  Carson excels at guitar and our little Ellzah just started violin. 
As a family we knew if we ever got a dog it would be a Shihtzu.  Years ago when our kids where still toddlers and in strollers I would take them for walks and our neighbor, kids call him Grandpa Everett, came home with this gorgeous puppy.  It was a ShihTzu and I and the kids both fell in love right away.  Prince (Everett’s Shihtzu) easily became a joy to see.  He stayed a puppy.  I was convinced that when my kids were all in school I would be getting one of those puppies that stay puppies.  Because we all know that you get a puppy because it’s cute and we forget that a puppy will grow into a dog.  So what better than a puppy that stays a puppy.  Not even in size but looks and personality.  Score!!!
Now only thing left was to convince Daddy.  About Ten years later when our baby now five and was starting preschool, my husband was traveling every other week.  One week while working from home, I think he noticed how quiet (loved it) and lonely it was in our big home with all the kids gone to school each day.  He said to me, maybe we should research a dog.  We both knew however that it really had to be hypoallergenic not just claimed to be.  He and a couple of our kids have allergies.  In our research we found an old neighbor that was selling teacup sized Shihtzu for $75 dollars.  We wondered how that was so.  So continuing our research found out they were second generation sibling breeding and we just couldn’t risk not having the best because of allergies and risk of vet bills and broken hearts if the dog had some genetic illness.  In our continued search we found that a lot of the time it is the dogs bringing in stuff from the outside that causes problems with allergies.  So I was crushed.  I thought my dream of being a ShihTzu owner was over.  Still refusing to give up, I went back to the drawing board and what I found was www.modernpuppies.com.  This opened up a whole new world.  Being a country raised girl, this was a huge eye opener.  I showed the sites video to my husband and to my relief he really liked it.  YAY!
Two months later we found Cutie Patootie ShihTzu and the timing was perfect.  Sweet Pea was available.  And we both fell head over heels.  She was the one.  So the final test was when we went to Cat’s (the breeders home) to meet Sweet Pea.  My husband decided to really test it and he did not take his daily allergy meds and off we went.  And we sat in Cat’s home for maybe an hour and not a sniffle, except maybe from me because we had to leave Sweet Pea.  She had two more weeks before she could come home.  Great nesting time for me to get everything ready.  We were starting from scratch. 
While putting the deposit down and getting ready to leave, Cat asked us, “Now do you want FULL or LIMITED AKC.”  We had briefly discussed this amongst ourselves but hadn’t completely decided.  But the next thing I know is Gavin is telling Cat we want the option so we want FULL as he hands her the deposit.  Wow, complete turnaround.  And he has been all in ever since.  Including a year later suggesting a second dog.  A male so we can have our own to stud Sweet Pea with.  And that’s where Zorro fits into the story.
I have loved learning and learning I have done.  I have learned stuff I didn’t even know I didn’t know.  Progressing forward with gaining knowledge as all my kids are in school during the days has been a great blessing for me.  And I want to be able to learn it all and be the best for these beautiful dogs that I can.  And the best tool I have is my mentor and example Cat Anderson.

​Ayden’s story:
 
My family and I had decided to get a dog.  We chose the Shihtzu because my Dad was allergic to every other breed.  Also my mom wanted a puppy.  And in her mind a Shihtzu stays a puppy.  She also wanted a small dog to keep her company, and to go on walks with when everyone was at school.
We got Sweet Pea (the name of our first dog) around October in 2014.  We got her from a breeder called “Cutie Patootie ShihTzu”  My mom chose this breeder because Jacob (a different boy dog – who was so cute- but too far away and looked a lot like Sweet Pea but we also wanted a girl for potential breeding.
In January of this year (2015) we got our second dog named Zorro.  We chose to get him from Shihtzu Roundup in Texas because he was so cute.  We also got him because Sweet Pea needed company.  We also got him so we could breed Sweet Pea.
When we got Sweet Pea, we started to train her right away.  It was hard to train her at first, but then she and we got used to it.  She is very well behaved now.  Zorro is too!  It was easier to train him than Sweet Pea because dogs learn from dogs, We did have to try hard to train him on a few things, like barking but he has got that down now.

Carson’s Story:  
 
My family has five dogs.  Their names are Zorro, Sweet Pea, Grace, Raider and Chance.  They are Shih Tzus.  We just had Grace, Raider and Chance on October 11th 2015.
Zorro’s age is zero because he is not quite one.  We got him from Shih Tzu Roundup.  He is really cute.  Sweet Pea is two years old.  We got her from Cutie Patootie ShihTzu.  Grace, Raider, and Chance are zero years old.  We got them from Sweet Pea.
We decided to do Shih Tzu because my Dad was allergic to any other dogs. In my mom’s mind she thinks Shih Tzu stay puppies, and in “my mind” they are so cute.
I love being in a family of dogs.