Hi Shawn,

First, I would buy a thousand dogs from Patty.  The loving, hand-held care the puppies receive from Patty from the time of their birth makes all the difference in the puppies disposition.  Everyone I am close to remarks what a gem my Devon is.  She does not have an angry bone in her bone.  Everyone loves her and she runs to greet everyone she sees.  If I had the time, I would train her to be a therapy dog.  She is the most gentle spirit I know.

I will admit, I have no children, and spent a great deal of time the first summer with her in our yard.  The vet recommended I take her out every forty-five minutes to learn good house habits.  From the time she was four months old, she has never had an accident in the house.  She has only had three accidents in the house in her lifetime.

She has never been hit and responds to a sharp "no".  As a puppy, I had to watch what she put in her mouth.  Teething puppies try to eat anything, but that should be an easy problem for you since your house is already childproof.  Making it puppy proof amounts to about the same thing.  They are like babies, you have to watch them.  At about six months, they kind of know what not to put in their mouth, but not always.

Her parents were Jessie and Rikki.  My Devon has the gentleness of an angel and has become a good watchdog.  I would always buy my pets ONLY from Patty.  My concerns for you would be that animals require a lot of care, and their gentleness is a direct result of the way they are treated.  I love my Devon and she brings great joy to our lives.  They are no health problems at all.  Devon gets a bath every two weeks because she loves water, and plays in our creek.  I keep her fur short to cut down mats and tangles, and to keep her cool.  We had her shave down to one inch in length of her coat when she was a year old.  She actually had a bounce in her walk from happiness after the hair cut.  She goes to the groomer once a month.

All dogs have to be watched when it comes to the safety of a child.  Children have to be watched not to pull the dog's fur or accidentally hurt them.  As puppies and dogs, a bad experience can leave a scar on a dog, and they have to be treated kindly and protected because they cannot speak to tell you they are hurting.

My husband and I have had the joy of another dog in the past which was a Lhasa , it was a rescue dog with a lot of baggage and we had problems.  Seeing the remarkable difference a loving breeder makes in the care of a puppy, makes me believe the only way to get a dog is when it is a puppy.  You can mold the gentleness of the dog and pick up where Patty leaves off.

I could write for hours the comparison of our first dog to Devon , and I strongly believe it was because of Patty's care and that Devon comes from good stock.  Patty is careful with breeding the dogs and their lives are first in Patty's book of life as it should be.

Best wishes for a delightful journey with your new pet.

Regards,
Diane
Patty,

I sent this to Shawn and the other email address.  I think it was bancan.