My Shih Tzu History
Our journey with Shih Tzu began in 1997, with Poppy (NZ Ch Nzinga Southern Belle) Her breeder Pam felt she had great show potential, and didnt want her to end up in a pet home. So Poppy duly arrived to us as a young puppy, she jumped out of her travel cage, and just 'took the stage' so to speak lol... I got completely hooked on this gorgeous breed!
Poppy was born to be a show girl, she and I still have a wonderful partnership, she is my constant companion.
Being completely new to this Breed, I now had the job of learning the finer points of the grooming techniques, learning to create a topknot, etc etc.... the only 'topknots' I had done up until now, were Old English Sheepdogs and Lhasa Apso maintenance ponytails, so this was quite daunting to say the least... But Poppy was the perfect model, as a youngster she would sit there so patiently while I tackled the art of creating a 'topknot' ..... I learnt a lot about the coat care and trimming, thanks to my wonderful friend and Mentor, Judy, whom we had got our gorgeous Lhasa Dougal from. But the 'topknots' I had to learn on my own.... by trial and error.... mostly error at first lol.
I now also make my own topknot bows, which is a lot of fun!
I am constantly learning about this breed, studying pedigrees, genetics, talking to breeders, looking at pictures etc. With a lot of thought, and study, we are very happy with the way our breeding programme is heading, and have many exciting new plans in the pipeline. We have been lucky enough to have bred many BEST IN SHOW winning dogs, of which we are very proud !
The most rewarding thing about showing, is in the knowledge that to have bred, own, love, prepare, and campaign our dogs is what successful breeding is all about. And to win at "ALLBREED BEST IN SHOW " level is certainly the icing on the cake! Not all Breeders have the privilege of campaigning their own Homebred dogs, so we are very proud to campaign dogs carrying our 'Paddington' kennel name.
We also own, and have shown dogs from other Breeders, and combining the different lines into our breeding programme is such a rewarding challenge!
We are so proud to support the dedicated owners who have our 'Paddington' bred dogs. As their Breeders, our encouragement to them is very important, and we help out wherever we can. We get a lot of enjoyment from watching them all, sharing photos, and being involved in their lives. And when they are successful in the showring, we see their wins as our wins as well!
We look forward to sharing many wonderful years ahead with this beautiful breed!