Breeding responsibly takes a tremendous amount time (way before a breeding even happens!), resources, knowledge, and energy. Breeding should never be taken lightly or done just because someone believes they have the sweetest, smartest, best dog ever. These are the careless breedings that often produce dogs that end up in shelters or rescue groups because no long term consideration was given to the end result of the breeding-- that the cute puppies would live 10+ years. Getting a dog is a major commitment and one that should not be made on a whim. Likewise, as a breeder selecting a home for one of their pups should be a very thoughtful decision involving an in-depth interview process and understanding that should the home no longer be able to keep the dog, it will be returned to the breeder.

Everything we learned after we bought our first Vizsla, Remus, is what inspired us to help others go about adding a Vizsla to their families the right way. Please see Remus' page for the full story but basically once we realized that we had not supported a responsible breeding program and why it's so important to, we wanted to do our part to educate others. Through education, we feel we will be able to help protect all of the wonderful things about this beautiful breed. Those who are drawn to Vizslas are often attracted to their sweet temperaments, high energy, athletic beauty, and overall good health. Getting a Vizsla from a responsible breeder ensures our breed's long term health.

Just as our field training knowledge came (and is still coming!) from a variety of sources, so has our knowledge about breeding responsibly. The most influential, however, has been our breeder mentor and good friend, Judy Hetkowski of Boulder Vizslas. Judy has given endless amounts of time and patience as we've learned about researching pedigrees, structure (conformation) and how it impacts movement, the importance of proving Vizslas and how to build a strong breeding program with long term goals of bettering the breed overall.

Although we've been involved with the breed for over eight years, we co-bred our first litter which was whelped in January 2008. One of our dreams is that someday, we'll breed our own Vizsla litter solo but know we still have much to learn and that we don't have the time to dedicate to whelping and raising a litter of pups the right way. The whelping of the "Sueppies" brought us one step closer to this dream as we welcomed a very special pup from that litter, CH Boulder's N Fusion's Power Trip SH. Trip is still a puppy and we're several years away from ever breeding her. If we ever do, we have a lot of work to do to get ready for that event. When she's old and mature enough to be competitive, we're looking forward to showing her in AKC conformation in order to get her championship title (CH). Her CH title is just one of many ways we'll prove she'll have positive things to contribute to the Vizsla gene pool. In addition to showing, we'll train her in the field to prove she can hunt as Vizslas were originally intended. We'll also do the various health tests on her (including a basic OFA when she's two years old), we believe should be done before breeding.

The "Sueppies" also brought us the incredible experience of co-breeding a litter with Judy. As co-owners of Suede, CH Boulder's Power of Persuasion RE CD MH VC, Judy asked if we would like to be co-breeders on the Suede X Cappy (3X BISS CH Sunnyside's Harbor Master JH) litter. Honored, we readily said "Yes!" and dove in head first, learning all Judy had to teach us about understanding pedigrees and conformation in order to chose the best stud dog, and all that goes into breeding responsibly.In the end, we were left with a much better understanding of all that should be involved when breeding responsibly. We're still very green to this process but are eager to continue learning. Check out our "Why Health Tests are Important" and "Understanding Pedigrees" pages. These are the product of the knowledge Judy (and other responsible breeders) have shared with us.

Because of our deep commitment to helping others understand why they should get a Vizsla from a responsible breeder, we helped form the Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club back in 2003 with a group of other Vizsla enthusiasts. An incredible amount of work has gone into developing the Rocky Mountain Vizsla Club's message to "To enjoy our Vizslas, educate the interested, and promote responsible ownership." Please go to the RMVC's website to learn if the Vizsla is the right breed for you and how to find a responsible breeder, www.rmvc.org.