My Story

I was raised in a home with animals all around. Country living meant daily caring for our own cats, dogs, chickens, & rabbits. The love affair with dogs is something that is part of my earliest memories. Even as a child it was apparent there was something that was different and special between me and them. They were drawn to me. They listened to me. They trusted me. I raised and loved those we had in our family, and I rescued those that were found lost and lonely.

My love of working with animals grew until I’d decided veterinary medicine would be in my future. Two years of college with that goal in mind, and then children entered the picture. I put my own college plans aside and focused on nurturing and raising my children, and of course it included the joy of dogs in our home!

In 2001, when my youngest child was three years old, the desire and passion for working more intimately with dogs became stronger than I could resist. I knew the only way for me to continue being the full time mother I wanted to be and work with dogs in a more focused and professional way was to set up a breeding program. I didn’t want to just breed though. I wanted to breed for a purpose! I wanted the dogs I worked with to contribute in real ways to making people’s lives better. And with that goal in mind, my future was forever changed.

After just a few short years of breeding, I was approached by the breeding manager of one of the main guide dog organizations and asked if I would work with them. The first puppy I donated for training breezed through it all and became a fully working guide dog. I was hooked! I donated more puppies to the guide dog organization, and I started working directly with families who had other issues and were in need of service or therapy dogs. Fast forward more than 20 years and I have dogs trained to serve in many different roles from wheelchair assistance, blood sugar alerting, guide dogs, seizure alert, court assistance with children, mobility assistance, emotional support, and the list goes on.

My breeding program quickly grew to be a large one, and I had many other breeders seeking me out to provide information and answer questions. I hosted breeding and reproductive seminars in my home. I wrote material for assisting in all aspects of organizing and running a program. I sat on the board of directors of two of our breed clubs. I spent countless hours on forums and in groups answering questions from pet owners and breeders. It was common to receive numerous emails a week from other breeders asking how to do things, or asking to use information or documents I’d created, and from pet owners needing help.

Breeder Wise became a vision and goal in 2021, when I realized the amount of time I was spending answering questions and sending off documents was taking many, many hours of every day and making it challenging to juggle home life, breeding, and supporting all those who asked for help. Creating Breeder Wise has solved the problem and allows me to help every breeder who wants to be organized, efficient, and professional, and every pet owner who wants to be prepared with information and resources.