WELCOME TO OUR
TINY TEDDY BEAR ZUCHON'S HOME PAGE.
Thanks for visiting our family of Tiny Teddy Bear Zuchon's,
(also called Shichon's, Shih-Tzu / Bichon, Teddy Bear's, Teddy Bear Shichon, Hybrid Dog). We are the original Tiny Teddies of Vancouver Island, located in Cowichan Valley, B.C. Canada.
A true Teddy Bear puppy is a Shih-Tzu and Bichon cross. Integrating both breeds together weeds out all the imperfections pure breeds
are plagued with and creates a superior hybrid. See our "Zuchon Breed Info" page for more exciting details on the Zuchon.
We are a small in home, family oriented hobby breeder of Tiny Teddy's. We Occasionally and responsibly breed our
Teddy Bear Zuchon's (and only Zuchon's), with temperament, health and beauty in mind.
Our Zuchon's adults and parents are our beloved, healthy and happy companions, being Zuchon's themselves they are of excellent health
and temperament (and are NEVER for sale). They are our furry kids and go on all vacations with us, enjoy days filled with snuggles, treats,
play, toys and napping. They have free reign inside and out of our house, allowed on our beds and couches, they even have their own leather couch.
When I am busy working they quietly wait just out side my salon door, sometimes peaking in for a visit in between. We never plan vacation's or getaways to places that the dogs cant come with us. We love going places together where we can enjoy each other,
and have lots of laughs. We are very dedicated to our dogs, and a very close family, we all go or no go.
To Share your life with a Zuchon is a true blessing, They give us much more than we can ever give them back, they are a charming and rewarding breed to fall in Love with.
The Zuchon is super playful, very loving, cuddly, and very easy to train. They get along with and enjoy kids of all ages and other pets.
The Zuchon always aim's to please, even as puppy's. Making eye contact starting at only a few weeks old, interacting and responding instantly to
a variety of new, tastes, toys, experiences, and lessons. Zuchon's excel in puppy classes often being the star and used to help train others even at very young ages, and receive a lot of praise
by the professionals they come across, vet's, groomer's, instructors, etc. (see References pages 1 & 2).
They always have a happy attitude, and love to interact. They enjoy a very large variety of toys and games,
starting at only a few weeks old they start to carry around and make up games involving many different toys and toy types.
They can easily entertain themselves and everyone else. They can even teach themselves to throw toys up on our lap to toss for them, LOL.
Zuchon's are more than happy one on one, so they are great in situations for companionship, and would bask in the sole attention they receive.
They can also just as easily, keep up with a large family, and thrive on the activity that one can provide. The Zuchon being so very versatile, fits in everywhere they go. Thanks to the litter box training that you can call upon at any time you need in their adulthood, they can easily travel in boats, stay in hotels, fly with you on vacations the options are limitless.
Have a look around our web site, we have shared loads pictures of our Zuchon dogs & puppies (aka Shichon or Shih-Tzu/Bichon), pictures of past litters, pictures and references sent to us from their new families, Info about dog care, up coming litters, breed info, how to care for your new puppy and much much more.
Our Hybrid Pups come from proven health, beauty & temperament lines. Pups arrive & keep a variety of colors, from solid coat, parti colour, brown tri colour, brown bi-colour, white tri-colour, white bi-color, black & white, white and apricot and even the rare Cream, Apricot, Reds and the very rare chocolate colouring(both fur & skin) and solid black. Their coats range from soft curly coat to smooth silky coat. Their coats are hypo allergenic and non-shed so if you have allergies and have previously been unable to enjoy a dog for a pet, then our puppies are the perfect choice for you.
All pups come litter box trained, socialized, pre snuggled, groomed, vet checked, shots, genetic guarantee and so much more, starting even long before they were planned and conceived. We provide loads of pictures & video to watch your puppy grow. Keeping you part for your pups life from the beginning.
Pups are raised in the heart of our home as part of our family, and are the centre of attention 24/7. As is our Zuchon dogs(parents), with the entire house and property catered just to them. They even have their own leather couch in the living room. They are fun to treat royally and yet it never goes to their heads. They are extremely balanced dogs,very easy to train and love to do everything from tricks, jumps, flips, fetching, catching, camping, cuddling, condos, yard even your purse.They are the truly charming, go anywhere do anything dog & companion. They get along well with everyone, adults, kids other dogs even cats, making it hard to have just one.
Our pups are part of our beloved family, and are intended for companion purposes only, and not for breeding.
It takes a great deal of experience, time, energy and finances to raise a puppy right. Once we decide a year in advance to breed one of our dogs we start to prepare. Starting months before conception we start to prepare for each litter in numerous ways. Just one great example (out of many), is we start a yummy pre-natal food routine that we prepare daily in addition to their regular food. We use a variety of specially selected meats, fruits and vegetables, for both pre-natal care(months before breeding), and during pregnancy, ensuring they absorb naturally, and well in advance all the nutrients the puppy's will thrive on. Same as you would for a human baby. This is only 1 example of the measures we take well before hand on a daily basis in preparation for the arrival of a litter.
Once the puppy's arrive we dedicate all of our time to the pups often pushing back work if we must, to fit our constantly active approach in to the day.
For the grand arrival of each litter my husband and myself take 2 weeks off work, and sleep in opposite 4hr shifts to dedicate 24 hr loving care to our mum and pups. We miss each other terribly(we are very close couple and been together close to 20 years) but a couple reasons why we do this(out of many) is to ensure the pups are kept at the perfect temperature(critical), evenly nursing, remain clear of mum accidentally laying on one, mum is dried off after "going" outside before touching the puppy's again if its raining or snowing. Properly fed and hydrated as they will ignore their own needs for those of their new puppy's, and won't leave their pups, to get water or food for them selves.
They often wont even leave the new pups to go to the bathroom unless one of us stands over their new precious babies.
(These are just a few reasons out of many.)
Our litters are always hand whelped by my husband and myself in our living room, mum never delivers alone. We cut each umbilical cord, preventing the umbilical hernia, a very common occurrence when the mum delivers alone. My husband and myself help the entire delivery and record each pups details.
Having a complete birth record of each pup ensures all pups are growing at the expected rate and more. There are so many benefits to the pups and mum having this kind of attention and extreme care, and we have only lightly touched on all the on going precautions that we take.
The pups are raised in the heart of our home, and are an active and important part of our daily lives. They are our beloved family members just like the parents are. Our pups are always the center of our home, and the very center of our lives, taking priority over all else. They can see, hear and be a part of everything that goes on, in our home on a day to day basis. Mum(and the others adults) comes and goes to them as she wishes.
Our pups truly are nurtured, loved and cared for months before their very first breath. We invest a great deal into our puppy's. It would be devastating to us if anything ever happened to our pups. For this reason we choose not to show the puppy's until they are protected by (at least)their first set of shots, at 8 weeks time.
From 0 to 7 weeks they are in what's called their "first socilaziation period" where they are learning to socialize with other animals. Our dogs socialize with the puppy's all day long and are a very important part of the puppy's up bringing. We also have a specific routine of socializing each puppyone on one with our adult dogs. With all of our dogs being involved the puppy learns and plays in a different way with each personality. Each of our amazing Zuchons has something to offer the pups. Each in their unique way. During the 0 to 7 week mark the puppy's are very tiny and vulnerable still. Their weights from week 0 to 7 range from 5oz average birth weight, to 12/13oz by week 7. Right on target for their breed but still so tiny and very squirmy to hold and not a great time yet for kids to hold them.
From 7 to 12 weeks they are in what's called their "second socialization period" were they start learning to socialize with humans. During which time puppy's would start to benefit from visits and being shown to familys. Human socialization is very important when it becomes time, at 7 to 12 weeks give or take a week depending on the puppy's. Most of that remaining period will be in the new family's/owners hands. We recommend puppy kindergarden and/or puppy classes to get started.
Depending on the litter size there are 4 to 8 puppys on average, x 3 to 5 members on average per family, per visit, plus all the family's on our huge non deposit wait list. So to show them before its safe, and have that many visits and visitors, we would actually be risking each puppy every time the familys come. Even when people go puppy looking over the weekend going from home to home all weekend touching and passing along anything they may have picked up along the way, from a less clean environment. Potentially be bringing in a large amount of different illnesses, and viruses into our pristine environment. Not a great idea for the puppy's without shots started. If we felt at all that it benefited the puppy we would make it manditory, puppy first always.
For this reason we our selves refraine from taking our own dogs to all public dog places, any where a dog or dog fecies could be while we have puppy's. So that we ourselves also do not risk bringing in such viruses like parvo and other diseases that can live in soil, on clothes, surfaces, shoes etc for years, some of these viruses alcohol doesn't even kill off.
We feel that both the puppy's and family's will both benefit from these views in the long term. The Zuchon lives a very long time. Research comments, that the Zuchon lives longer than both the Shih-Tzu and the Bichon. This view keeps each puppy safe, and 100% healthy. Ready for his or her new family. Although not everyone does this and it may seem extreme, we are very serious about our puppy's. We follow no one. We make decisions based on knowledge, experience and know how. We consult with our vet about all major decisions if needed.
Please come in and look around. We have loads of pictures(now in HD) of our own Zuchon dogs and their puppies (aka Shichon or Shih-Tzu / Bichon) , pictures of past litters, pictures and references sent to us from their new families, see Zuchon References Part 1 and Zuchon References Part 2 (2 full pages complete with photo from home and updated comments over time). Info about dog care, up coming litters, breed info, how to care for your new puppy and more.
We are very dedicated and involved with our dogs & pups. Our adult dogs are our companions and will never be for sale, they are our family members.
As our puppy's life time guardians, If any of our fur parents cannot keep our puppy/dog at anytime for any reason we require you return our dog to us.
Ensuring our puppy's will never be in a shelter or kennel. We will take our dogs back into our home and family and re adopt when appropriate to an approved family.
We personally write/design our own web site, so the info on this site is accurate and from us personally. Our purpose in sharing 15 pages of info, past pup pictures, current pup pictures, our dogs pictures, mum & dad pictures, videos, details, breed info, health info, 2 pages of references & updates, and much more here online, is to offer up every bit of info possible and share it with you. Before even taking the next steps of meeting us, our pups (when safe to do so), the pups parents, (and of course who ever else decides to pull themselves away from their toys and come visit as well, lol). That way you can really get to know all of us, with the help of our web site in a way that simply isn't possible without the wonderful web. So please enjoy, browse through at your leisure, read and re read any detail you want. Always making an informed decision for you, your family and possibly our pup.
