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Crowned Chinese Cresteds, Venice, FL (2026)

09/05/2026

Breeding the Pedigree Instead of the Dog

Dog people love a beautiful pedigree. Put a pedigree in front of us filled with champions, specialty winners, famous kennel names, and dogs we have admired for years, and suddenly everybody gets very interested.

And honestly, pedigrees do matter. They can tell you where a dog came from, what lines are behind it, what traits may be repeating, where certain strengths are coming from, and sometimes where certain weaknesses may be hiding.

But the pedigree is still not the dog.

That sounds obvious, but it is surprisingly easy to forget when a dog has a pedigree that looks incredible on paper. You can get so impressed by the names behind a dog that you stop paying enough attention to the actual dog standing in front of you.
That is where I think breeders have to be careful.

I want to put my hands on the dog. I want to watch it move. I want to look at structure, balance, breed type, temperament, front, rear, topline, feet, head, and all the other things that matter in the breed. Then I want to ask the question that really matters: does this dog bring something I actually need in my program?

Because breeding should not be about collecting famous names in a pedigree like trading cards.

Sometimes a lesser-known dog is a much better choice for your bitch than the current popular stud everyone is talking about. That popular dog may be beautiful. He may be winning. He may be producing champions. He may have a pedigree that makes you want to frame it.

But if he has the same weakness your bitch has, then what exactly are you fixing?
You may just be reproducing the same problem with a fancier family tree.
That is where trends can get breeders into trouble. One dog starts winning, then everybody wants to breed to him. His offspring start winning, and suddenly everybody wants to breed to them too. Before long, you start seeing the same names over and over again in pedigrees.

Now, that does not automatically mean there is anything wrong with that dog or that line. A truly exceptional dog can absolutely make a valuable contribution to a breed.
The problem comes when popularity starts replacing judgment.

A famous dog is still not automatically the right dog for your bitch.

The same thing applies to kennel names. A respected kennel may have produced some outstanding dogs over many years, but that does not mean every dog carrying that name is automatically the best choice for your program.

No breeder produces perfection every time. Not the famous ones. Not the small breeders. Not me. Not anybody.

And sometimes people get so excited about what is behind a dog that they start making excuses for what is standing right in front of them.

“Well, his grandfather was incredible.” -- Great. But I am not breeding to his grandfather.

“Yes, but his mother was a specialty winner.” -- Wonderful. What does he have?

Because genetics does not let us order from the pedigree à la carte. We do not get to say, “I’ll take the grandmother’s head, the great-grandfather’s movement, the mother’s topline, and please leave out whatever Uncle Fred was contributing back there.”

If only it worked that way.

When you breed a dog, you are breeding the whole genetic package, including things you can see and things you cannot. That is exactly why the pedigree is important, but it should be used as information, not as a substitute for evaluating the dog itself.

A pedigree can help explain what you are seeing. It can help you recognize patterns. It can help you understand what traits may be more likely to come through and where you may need to be cautious. It can also help you avoid doubling up on weaknesses you already know are present in your own line.

But a pedigree should never talk you into a dog your own eyes and hands are telling you is not the right choice.

The longer I breed, the more I appreciate dogs that consistently bring something valuable, whether or not their pedigree is the flashiest one in the room. Maybe they consistently produce beautiful movement. Maybe they improve fronts. Maybe they bring wonderful temperament, longevity, health, or strong breed type generation after generation.

Those things matter to me far more than whether everyone at ringside recognizes every name in the pedigree.

At the end of the day, I want the pedigree to support what I see in the dog. I do not want the pedigree to convince me to ignore what I see in the dog.

Because the goal is not to create the most impressive piece of paper.
The goal is to create the best dog you can.

09/04/2026

“Do you have any true hairless girls available?”

That question comes up constantly — and I completely understand why. And with a litter on the ground I am getting the same question on repeat every day so time for a little lesson on hair and chinese cresteds.

A beautifully furnished Chinese Crested with a naturally naked body is stunning.
But here’s the part people often don’t understand:

A Hairy Hairless (HHL) is still genetically a Hairless Chinese Crested, just like a True Hairless (THL) is genetically Hairless.

They are not different varieties genetically. What I mean is ... if you do a hair test on both these dogs called a Fox13 (which is the genetic test for the hairless gene) they will both have it. So both are hairless but so why they don't look the same?

The difference is simply how much hair that Hairless dog expresses and where Mother Nature decides to put it.

And let me tell you… Mother Nature has a sense of humor. 😂

She may give you a puppy with a gorgeous flowing crest, beautiful socks and plume…
…and then randomly throw hair across the shoulders, down the sides, over the rear end, or somewhere else entirely.

It’s a little like a bald man with a hairy back. Clearly the hair showed up. It just did not consult anyone about placement. 😂

And that is the part we cannot perfectly predict.

When I plan a breeding, hair is honestly pretty far down the priority list.

Health comes first.
Structure comes first.
Temperament comes first.
Overall quality comes first.
Would I like less body hair?

YES --- Absolutely. But “less hair” is not really the entire goal. Because everyone still wants that beautiful crest, socks and plume.

So the real goal is that sweet spot:
A naturally naked body that does not require shaving, while still keeping the dramatic furnishings that make a Chinese Crested so beautiful.

And those two things do not always arrive together in the same puppy.
You may get very little body hair and also very little furnishing.
You may get gorgeous furnishings and more body hair.

And occasionally Mother Nature gives you that magical combination of a naturally naked body with beautiful furnishings.

Now make that puppy female, healthy, beautifully structured, good-tempered AND available…

That is not a puppy request.

That is a specification sheet for a unicorn. 😂

And one more thing…
If what you truly want is a naturally naked dog that does not need body shaving, you may actually want to look at an American Hairless Terrier or a Xoloitzcuintli.

Because here is the dirty little secret about Chinese Cresteds:
A lot of Hairless Cresteds require some degree of grooming or shaving to achieve that perfectly naked look people see in photographs and in the show ring.

That does not make them any less Hairless.

It simply means the amount and placement of hair can vary tremendously.
So if your number-one priority is: “I never want to shave body hair.” There may be another hairless breed that fits that wish better.

With Chinese Cresteds, I am always breeding for the whole dog first.

Health.
Structure.
Temperament.
Quality.

Then we can discuss whether Mother Nature decided to give us a beautifully naked little dog…or the canine equivalent of a bald man with a hairy back. 😂

Hair can never outrank the dog underneath it.

09/04/2026

Should Breeders Publicly Disclose Health Problems in Their Lines?

Here is a question that sounds simple until you have been breeding dogs for a while:
How much do we owe each other when something serious shows up in our lines?
Most breeders will say they believe in transparency. We all want health information. We all want to make informed breeding decisions. We all want people to tell us when something important appears behind a dog we are considering using.

The uncomfortable part is what happens when the problem is in our own backyard.
Suddenly transparency can feel a lot more complicated.

Nobody wants a dog, a kennel, or an entire family of dogs branded because one health issue appeared. And that concern is legitimate. Genetics is rarely as simple as “this dog produced this once, therefore every relative is bad.” Congenital conditions can have complicated causes, and one affected puppy does not automatically tell us exactly where a problem came from.

But that is also why information matters.

Recently, PRAA came up in discussions within our breed. Persistent right aortic arch is a congenital vascular ring abnormality that can constrict the esophagus and cause problems such as regurgitation when puppies begin eating solid food.

When breeders learn that something like that has appeared in related dogs or previous litters, that information may influence whether they repeat a breeding, use a particular dog, combine certain pedigrees, or simply watch future puppies more closely.

That does not mean screaming it from the rooftops with accusations attached.
It does mean having honest conversations.

Because there is a huge difference between saying, “This occurred, we do not yet know exactly why, but I think you should know,” and allowing another breeder to make a breeding decision without information you already had.

One of the reasons programs such as OFA’s CHIC exist is precisely because accessible health information helps breeders make more informed decisions. OFA explicitly encourages making health screening results publicly available because more shared information benefits the breed as a whole.

And here is where breeder culture sometimes shoots itself in the foot.

We say we want people to disclose health problems, and then when somebody does, everyone circles the wagons, screenshots the conversation, starts whispering about their line, and acts as though admitting a problem is proof of being a bad breeder.
Well, congratulations. We just taught everyone else to keep their mouth shut.

No breeding program is going to remain completely untouched by health issues forever. We are breeding living animals, not manufacturing appliances with identical parts.

The breeder I trust is not necessarily the one who claims nothing bad has ever happened.

I am much more interested in the breeder who can say, “Yes, I saw this. Here is what I know. Here is what I do not know. Here is what I changed afterward.” That is useful information.

And frankly, I would rather learn about a potential problem before making a breeding than hear six months later, “Oh yeah… we saw something like that before.”
That is a sentence no breeder wants to hear.

So maybe the real question is not whether every health issue belongs in a public Facebook post.

Maybe it is whether breeders have an obligation to share relevant health history with the people whose breeding decisions could be affected by it.

For me, the answer is yes.

Transparency does not mean condemning a dog or an entire line.
It means giving another breeder the information you would want if the positions were reversed.

And if we genuinely believe we are preserving a breed rather than just protecting our own kennel names, that should matter more than avoiding an uncomfortable conversation.

What do you think? Should health issues be openly discussed within a breed, or are there situations where that information should remain private?

09/03/2026

Nobody warns you that whelping a litter is basically a 12-hour CrossFit class… except instead of cute workout clothes, you’re sitting on a cold tile floor, hunched over a whelping box, covered in towels, fluids, and questionable life choices. 😂

Today I am being reminded of that very clearly.

After a 12-hour whelping session with a VERY determined Chinese Crested mama who was equally determined to have every single baby HER way, I am now walking around like I competed in a marathon yesterday.

My back hurts.
My knees hurt.
My hips hurt.
I’m stiff.
I’m limping.

And apparently muscles I didn’t even know I owned were heavily involved in delivering puppies. 😂

Meanwhile, Mom is lounging comfortably with her babies like, “What? That wasn’t so bad.”

Breeders know.

The puppies may be the ones being born… but somehow WE are the ones who need physical therapy afterward. 😂🐾

09/03/2026

Echo and Tink are curious as to who the new additions are to the household

09/03/2026

Is Monthly Heartworm Prevention Really Necessary Everywhere?

This is one of those dog-health topics that can turn a perfectly civilized Facebook discussion into a small bonfire, so let’s start with what the veterinary experts actually recommend.

The American Heartworm Society recommends year-round heartworm prevention for dogs, and the Companion Animal Parasite Council says the same thing: all dogs, regardless of lifestyle, should remain on heartworm prevention year-round.

So technically, the answer from the major veterinary parasite organizations is yes: continuous prevention is recommended.

But I think the question people are really asking is, “Does a dog living in Minnesota in January have the same heartworm exposure as a dog living in Florida in July?”
Obviously not.

Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes, so geography, climate, season and mosquito activity absolutely influence exposure. But that does not automatically translate into a neat six-month “safe season.” Weather is unpredictable, dogs travel, mosquitoes can show up earlier or hang around later than expected, and heartworm-positive dogs can be moved from one part of the country to another. That uncertainty is one reason the current recommendations favor year-round prevention rather than trying to guess exactly when mosquito season begins and ends.

There is another little wrinkle in the wording too: “year-round prevention” does not necessarily mean giving a pill every month. There are monthly oral and topical products, but there are also injectable preventives that provide protection for six or twelve months.

Now, I completely understand why some breeders and owners question giving medication when they believe the actual exposure risk is extremely low. I think asking questions about what we put into our dogs is reasonable.

What I do not think is reasonable is pretending heartworm risk disappears just because a dog lives mostly indoors or because somebody has decided mosquitoes are “done for the year.”

Mosquitoes apparently did not receive the memo.

And heartworm is one of those diseases where prevention is a whole lot easier on the dog than treatment after infection. It can cause significant damage to the lungs, pulmonary arteries and heart, and CAPC still recommends annual heartworm testing even for dogs receiving preventive medication.

So where do I land?

I think there is room to discuss individual dogs, geography, lifestyle and medication choices with your veterinarian. But if we are asking what the current veterinary consensus says, it is pretty clear: year-round protection and routine testing.

That may not be the answer everyone likes, but it is the answer the major heartworm authorities currently give.

Now I’m curious where the breeders are on this one.

Do you use heartworm prevention twelve months a year regardless of where you live? Do you adjust seasonally? Have you changed what you do after moving from one part of the country to another?

This one should be interesting.

09/02/2026

Are Some Show Dogs Being Rewarded for Exaggeration Rather Than Correctness?

This is one of those topics that can make people a little uncomfortable, but I think it is worth talking about because trends in the show ring can absolutely influence what breeders start producing.

What I am seeing more and more are fronts that are getting overdone and rears that are becoming overly angulated. At first glance, that kind of dog can look impressive. There is more reach, more sweep, more drama, more of that big “wow” picture going around the ring.

But impressive and correct are not always the same thing.

The breed standard is supposed to be the blueprint. It tells us what the dog should look like, how it should move, and how the pieces should fit together. The danger comes when a certain look starts winning consistently and people begin breeding toward the winning look instead of toward the standard.

That is how exaggeration creeps in.

A little more front becomes even more front. A little more rear becomes even more rear. Before long, balance starts getting sacrificed because “more” catches the eye.
And that is where I think breeders and judges both have to be careful.

A dog should not need exaggerated angles to look beautiful. It should look balanced standing still and still look balanced when it moves. The front and rear should work together, not look like two different dogs were assembled at opposite ends.

When the rear is so angulated that the dog cannot move cleanly and efficiently, that is not an improvement. When the front is so overdone that the outline becomes exaggerated or the movement starts looking theatrical instead of natural, that is not necessarily better either.

It may be flashy. -- It may win.

But that does not automatically make it correct.

And here is the uncomfortable part: breeders pay attention to what wins. Of course we do. If judges repeatedly reward a certain look, people start thinking, “Well, maybe that is what I need to produce.”

That is where trends can become self-reinforcing.

The judge rewards exaggeration. The breeder breeds for exaggeration. The next generation shows even more exaggeration. Then suddenly the moderate, balanced dog starts looking “plain” simply because everyone’s eye has adjusted to seeing too much.

That is how breeds can drift.

For me, the goal is not to produce the dog that makes the biggest entrance into the ring. The goal is to produce the dog that best represents the breed.
Sometimes those are the same dog.

Sometimes they are not.

I would rather see a balanced dog move cleanly and effortlessly than one that looks spectacular for three seconds and then falls apart when it actually has to use its body.

So here is the question I am curious about:
Are we still rewarding correctness, or are we starting to reward exaggeration because it is more eye-catching?

And if a dog is winning because it has “more” of everything, at what point do we stop and ask whether more is actually better?

09/01/2026

Should Breeders Take Deposits Before Puppies Are Born?

This is one of those breeder practices where everyone seems to have their own system, but mine is pretty simple: I never promise an unborn puppy, and I do not keep traditional waiting lists.

There are just too many things I do not know yet.

I do not know how many puppies will be born, how many males or females there will be, how many will be Hairless or Powderpuff, how they will develop, or even how many I may ultimately want to keep. So taking someone’s money and promising them “the third female” before those puppies are even here has never made much sense to me.

Besides, most people who contact me are looking for a puppy now or in the relatively near future. If I do not have one available, I am usually happy to help them find a responsible breeder who does. I would rather help someone find the right puppy than ask them to sit on my waiting list for a litter that may or may not give them what they are looking for.

Once my puppies are born, I still do not immediately announce, “Okay, everybody is available!”

I need time to watch them.

As they grow, I slowly start narrowing things down. Which puppy might I want to keep? Is there one I may want to place in a show or breeding home because it could be important to my program later? Is there a puppy another breeder and I have discussed because it brings something useful to both of our programs?

Only after I start answering those questions do I gradually make puppies available to pet homes. That means it is actually pretty rare for me to have an entire litter available at the same time. And honestly, I like it that way.

I am breeding for my program first. I am trying to preserve and improve what I have spent years building, not produce a litter and immediately start assigning puppies in the order people sent deposits.

The puppies deserve time to show me who they are before I decide where they belong.

I know some breeders take deposits before breeding even takes place, and for them that system may work beautifully. It can certainly help determine whether there is serious interest in an upcoming litter.

But then Mother Nature gets involved.

You were expecting six puppies and got two. Everyone wanted females and you got four boys. Someone wanted a Hairless and the litter gave you Powderpuffs. The breeding did not take at all. Or maybe the puppy you originally thought would be available turns out to be exactly the puppy you need to keep.

Now you have money attached to puppies that did not cooperate with anybody’s plans.

And puppies are notoriously bad at reading contracts.

For me, taking deposits later keeps things much cleaner. Once I know which puppies I am comfortable making available and I have found the home I believe is right for that puppy, then we can talk about securing the placement.

That does not mean my way is the only right way to do it. Plenty of reputable breeders maintain waiting lists and take deposits successfully.

It simply is not how I choose to run my program.

I would rather have someone disappointed because I cannot promise them a puppy yet than have money in my hand for a puppy that does not even exist.

Breeders, I am curious about this one. Do you take deposits before puppies are born? Keep a waiting list? Wait until the litter arrives? Or, like me, do you wait until you have had time to decide which puppies you are actually willing to let go?

Crowned Chinese Cresteds

09/05/2026

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

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