08/27/2026
SIX MONTHS AGO, WE THOUGHT WE KNEW WHERE WE WERE GOING. TODAY, WE KNOW WHY. ❤️
This is a long one, but if you've ever followed River's Edge, considered one of our puppies, supported us, questioned us or simply watched from the sidelines, this one is worth reading.
A dear friend asked us something recently that really made us think: “If you looked at River's Edge six months ago and compared it to River's Edge today, what would you see?” At first, we thought about the obvious things. Our dogs, our plans, our testing, our future pairings and everything we're working toward. But the longer we sat with that question, the more we realized the biggest changes aren't necessarily the ones people can see. Our entire mindset behind this program has changed.
Before we get into any of that, we want to put something into perspective because sometimes what people imagine River's Edge looks like and what actually exists behind these doors are two completely different things. We currently have one breeding male and two breeding females. We have one upcoming female and two young female prospects we're growing out, one produced right here at River's Edge and one we intentionally brought into our program. We're also hoping Rouge and Buck give us an incredible male to hold back and grow as a future stud prospect.
And prospect is an important word around here now. Being kept back or purchased with breeding potential does not guarantee any dog a place in our breeding program. They still have to mature into the temperament, health, structure and overall quality we're looking for. We don't have a house full of breeding females, and we aren't trying to build a program around producing as many puppies as possible. We are not a puppy mill. Bigger has never been the goal. Better is. If anything, we're becoming more selective about the dogs that earn a place in the future of River's Edge.
And that brings us back to six months ago.
We're not going to sit here and tell you we were perfect then, because we weren't. We're not perfect now either. We had good dogs, a tremendous amount of love for them and a vision for what we wanted to create, but there are absolutely things we understand differently today. There are decisions we wouldn't make again. There are things we would research further. There are times we would have slowed down. There were opportunities we probably should have simply said no to.
Owning that doesn't embarrass us. We're actually proud that we've grown enough to see it.
One of the biggest things we can own is something we've thought about a lot. For a period of time, we helped whelp and raise litters belonging to other people. We had the experience and ability to help, we genuinely loved caring for the puppies and yes, it provided extra income for our family. In our minds, the distinction was simple. Their litter belonged to their program and our litters belonged to River's Edge.
But eventually we realized that's not necessarily what everyone else saw.
Someone following our page didn't always know whose female was here, where a litter came from or why another group of puppies was being raised in our home. They simply saw puppies at River's Edge, then more puppies, then another litter. When we finally stepped outside of our own perspective, we understood how that could leave a bad taste in people's mouths and create an image of our program that wasn't what we wanted River's Edge to represent.
Our intentions weren't bad. We were helping people, doing something we were experienced at and making some extra money along the way. But we've learned that good intentions don't mean we shouldn't consider how our decisions affect the program we're building. We can know exactly why we were doing something while also being mature enough to understand how it may have looked from the outside.
Eventually, we realized the extra money simply wasn't worth it. We would rather put that time, energy and attention into our own dogs, our own goals and the puppies carrying the River's Edge name.
So we stopped.
There isn't a villain in that story. There isn't hidden drama or somebody we're trying to call out. We don't regret caring for those puppies, and we don't need to tear anybody else down to explain why we changed.
We simply outgrew something that no longer fit the direction of our program.
And strangely enough, that one decision taught us a lot about breeding. Not every opportunity needs to become our opportunity. Not every dollar needs to be made. Not every dog needs to be ours. Not every puppy we fall in love with needs to stay. Not every dog we keep needs to reproduce. And not every plan we make needs to happen simply because we once planned it.
Sometimes responsible breeding means being willing to change your mind.
Our entire way of looking at our dogs has become deeper. We're looking harder at temperament, structure, genetics, health and pedigrees. We're paying attention to strengths while being honest about weaknesses. We're researching the dogs behind our dogs. We're asking what a pairing is actually meant to accomplish instead of simply asking what puppies it could produce.
We're thinking in generations now, not just litters.
We're also learning to be patient with our young prospects. A puppy can look incredible today and develop differently tomorrow. That's why we're willing to grow them out, evaluate them and let them show us what they're going to become. If one doesn't develop into what we need for River's Edge, that's okay. They don't lose their value to us because they don't reproduce.
A loved dog and a breeding dog don't have to be the same thing.
That realization alone has changed the way we're building this program.
There is also a tremendous amount happening behind the scenes at River's Edge right now. We're evaluating what we already have before constantly looking for what's next. We're researching bloodlines. We're expanding our knowledge of genetics and health. We're becoming more intentional about future pairings. We're looking at how we raise our puppies and asking ourselves where we can make an already hands on program even stronger.
Some plans we're incredibly excited about will happen soon. Others may take years.
And we're finally okay with that.
We don't want to build River's Edge quickly. We want to build it correctly. We want our puppies raised with purpose. We want them handled, challenged, loved and prepared for real life. We want to understand the dogs we're producing beyond coat color and pretty pictures. We want stable temperaments, functional structure, health and the qualities that make a Catahoula a Catahoula.
When a family chooses River's Edge, we want them to know there was thought behind their puppy long before that puppy was ever born.
And somewhere along the way, we changed as people too.
We've learned to ask more questions. We've learned that saying “We don't know, but we'll find out” is far more valuable than pretending we have every answer. We've learned to listen to people who know more than we do. We've learned the importance of having people around us who aren't afraid to challenge an idea or tell us when they think we need to look at something differently.
We've learned boundaries too.
There have been people who supported River's Edge fiercely, and there have absolutely been people who tried to tear our name apart. There have been rumors, accusations and opinions from people who didn't know what was actually happening behind our doors. Six months ago, we probably would have spent far too much time trying to make every person understand.
Today, we'd rather spend that energy on our dogs and on becoming better breeders.
That doesn't mean every criticism was right. Far from it. But sometimes growth comes from being secure enough to separate hate from something that might actually be worth thinking about. If something is nonsense, we let it go. If something makes us stop and think, we look at it. And if we realize we can do something better, we do better.
That's accountability to us.
We aren't interested in rewriting our history and pretending we've never made mistakes. We aren't interested in presenting River's Edge as some flawless program that has everything figured out.
We don't.
We're working with living animals. We're going to learn things. We're going to change plans. We're going to have young prospects that don't make the cut. We're going to make decisions that experience later teaches us to make differently.
What matters is what we do when that happens.
We would rather be breeders who can say “We learned something, so we changed” than breeders who spend twenty years doing something the same way simply because their pride won't allow them to admit there might be a better way.
And maybe that's what we're proudest of when we look at these last six months.
River's Edge didn't grow because we added a bunch of dogs.
We grew because our standards did.
Our patience grew. Our knowledge grew. Our boundaries grew. Our vision became clearer. And the people behind this program grew right along with it.
Six months ago, we had the passion. We had the love for these dogs. We had the dream.
Today, we have direction.
So no, we're not ashamed of the River's Edge that existed six months ago. That version of us got us here. Every success taught us something. Every mistake taught us something. Even some of the people who tried the hardest to tear us down unknowingly gave us another reason to look at ourselves and ask how we could become stronger.
We don't need everyone to believe we've changed.
We'd rather show you.
Watch what we keep and what we don't. Watch how our puppies are raised. Watch the standards we set for ourselves. Watch the decisions we make when the easy choice and the right choice aren't necessarily the same thing. Watch what we produce and, most importantly, watch where River's Edge goes from here.
Because we're not trying to become the biggest Catahoula program. We're not trying to produce the most litters. And we're certainly not trying to convince anyone we're perfect.
We're trying to build something we're proud to put our name behind.
One dog. One pairing. One litter. One generation and one better decision at a time.
And if we can look back six months from now and realize we've grown this much all over again, then we'll know River's Edge is becoming exactly what we always dreamed it could be. ❤️
