~*~*REFERENCES*~*~

I heard about Shedd's Shih Tzus from a friend of mine that got her shih tzu from Joann. I was not familiar with the breed so I did some research and found that they didn't shed. Which was important to me because I hate dog hair and I'm allergic. My fiancé and I went to visit her and the few puppies she had at the time. We were very impressed with how she had everything set up. The dogs were obviously very well taken care of and very happy. My fiancé and I were still in school and were unable to get a dog at that time but I knew we would return to get one from her. Once we were on our own I saw on her website that she had a few puppies left. I scheduled a visit. We live in Hendersonville so it was a bit of a journey. I went down there with the intention of agreeing on which one we would choose but my fiancé thought we were just visiting. :) we had been doing some research about how to choose a puppy and we took a little brown one aside to get a feel of his temperament and how he would be without his family. He was so cute and we both immediately fell in love with him. We couldn't take him yet but we sent a deposit. When it was time for us to get him she was kind enough to meet us half way so we didn't have to drive the whole way. We decided to name him Wicket because he looked like an ewok from star wars. He is such a funny dog. He doesn't like getting his hair brushed but other then that he is very well tempered and behaved. He almost never has accidents in the apartment anymore. After a few months we decided he needed a friend because the cat we got was about to leave. He got along great with the cat. But we just didn't get along with the cat. I wanted a little girl so I contacted Joann and she said that she had some litters expected. Once they were born we picked out the one we wanted. We named her Juno. She is by far one of the best tempered and cutest dogs I've ever seen. She's almost a year old now. She hasn't quite gotten the house training thing down yet but it's getting better as she gets older. They are the light of our lives. We absolutely adore them. One thing that I was very impressed with was how reasonably priced the dogs were. I has contacted some other breeders and they wants twice sometimes three times the amount of what we paid for our dogs. Some of them weren't akc approved like Joann is. I tell people all the time how good of an experience and how impressed we are with Shedd's Shih Tzus. I would recommend her every time. Thanks! Paige Cl

I found Shedd's Shih Tzu's last November (2011) while searching online for someone local who bred Shih Tzus. I've been a Shih Tzu owner for 8 years with my female Gretchen who is part of the family and seems like one of my children rather than a mere dog. I began to want another Shih Tzu about a year before I seriously started looking for a puppy. I noticed that Shedd's Shih Tzu's were fairly close to where I live and I was also impressed with the excellent references from former customers so when I found that Joann just happened to have two male puppies left from a litter, my daughter and I drove to her house to see them. Upon walking in I was really impressed by how spotless her house is and also how good it smelled (like cinnamon or apple pie). You would never know that there was one dog, let alone multiple dogs living in her house! She took me to a back room that was set up just for the Momma dogs and puppies and everything was neat and orderly and clean. I got to see a few of her adult Shih Tzu's on the way out and they all looked spoiled rotten. The pup I got was the smaller of the two males and it turned out that he had what is called 'pinched nostrils' that some Shih Tzus have when they are born. Most of them grow out of it but it turned out that he needed to have the minor surgery done to open his nose since he was snorting a lot and struggling for air. I notified Joann and after she determined that he really did have a bit of a breathing problem, she met me half way and took him to the vet the very same day and they did a beautiful job on him. No more pinched nostrils and no more breathing problems after that. So Joann does take care of her puppies even after you've paid for him/her and to him home. A lot of breeders would just say "tough luck" but she took care of the problem and he's doing great now. I can't wait to get him fully house broken so he can be let loose in the house all day like Gretchen, my female. I'm crate training him right now and I guess it just takes longer for male Shih Tzus to "get it". Anyway, I can honestly recommend Joann and Shedd's Shih Tzu's. Her prices are fairly reasonable compared to many breeders and her animals are probably a lot more healthy and better taken care of than a lot of those that want $1500 for a pup! ~Lynn Dl