Steadfast

 

adjective

1. Firmly loyal or constant; unswerving. synonym: faithful.

2. Fixed or unchanging.

3. Fixed or unmovable.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

​

Hi! We are Joshua & Lauren Thurston, owners of Steadfast Chihuahua's; a small family run hobby breeder of smooth-coat and long-coat apple-head AKC Registered chihuahuas. Our dogs are family! We are not a kennel, our dogs live in our home with us and our Children. 

We only breed adults who pass Embark testing and a full health exam with our vet, that includes checking the heart, eyes, and patella's.  We do not breed any dogs that do not pass a health inspection by a licensed Veterinarian.

 

WHY DO WE DO THIS?

~

We believe that the best things in life are in small batches, like moonshine and jerky. What we mean by that is we don't always have puppies available. We truly are a small hobby breeder averaging between 0 - 3 litters a year! We will not plan a litter that doesn't have our undivided attention to socializing our puppies.  When you join our family you are sleeping soundly that the puppy in your home, is going to be around for a long life full of happy and fond memories. We believe that dogs are truly mans best and loyal friend and will only reach their full potential by being raised inside a home, alongside a family. 

A great deal of time and effort goes into socializing our puppies, and coupled with your continued effort as a owner, will go a long way towards creating chihuahuas that break the traditional stereotype of being yappy little ankle biters.

​

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

 

We do raise all litters born here with puppy culture protocol. Puppy Culture is a program developed by Jane Killion, a professional dog trainer and breeder. It is a program she wrote that gives breeders a weekly guided program to follow while raising their litters.

​

 The first 12 weeks of a puppy's life are extremely important to their development, Every breeder has the power to change the outcome of a puppy's life by how they are raised in those first weeks.

​

There are different periods of development.

1. Neonatal Period: 0 - 14 days

2. Transitional Period: 14 - 21days

3. Critical Socialization Period: 3 - 12 weeks

​

WHAT DO WE DO?

​

We work hard with all of our puppies to make sure they are given time and affection by us everyday. Puppies are given new toys and a change in environment daily as well as meeting new people, going on car rides, given baths and nail trims. They are being introduced to all the noises in a house. Emotional stability - the ability to recover from fear and stress. Pad training is also started really early, as dogs have a natural desire to keep their sleeping area clean. We make sure to take advantage of that and set their pens up to support pad training. 

 

Raising a litter is not easy, the puppy culture program has helped us make a lot of changes that have truly benefited us and all of the puppies we raise.

​

Striving for health, mellow temperaments and intelligence.

​