FAQ - The Shih Tzu Nursery

What is the best way to reach you?

Please call or text us at (949) 410-6040; or by email at theshihtzunursery@gmail.com. It helps us if a Puppy Application is filled out prior to our initial call so we have the questions that we find to be most important answered about you, your lifestyle, and your household. This also helps us get an idea of the type of puppy that would be a good fit for you to ensure that a good match is made where the puppy’s needs are met & your needs as a pet parent are met too.

How do I get the process started to get my baby?

Fill out our “Puppy Application” and then we can contact you to begin the interview (get to know you) process. If we do not have any current babies you are interested in, you are welcome to be added to our waiting list to be offered puppies from our future litters first. To be added to our waiting list, we do require a $300 pre-reservation fee.

Are your puppies Vet checked?

All of our puppies are vet checked. We have wonderful relationships with 2 different veterinary clinics & we take every single one of our puppies for a full head to toe veterinary check prior to any rehoming. We usually aim to have the pups checked as close to their go-home date as permitted by ours & our vets schedule.

Do you offer a Health Guarantee?

All puppies come with a 2 year Congenital and Genetic Health Guarantee that covers untreatable, life-threatening illnesses only. In all our years of breeding, no one has had to exercise this.

How do I get my puppy if I live out of state?

We are located in Southern California. If you are local, you can pick up your puppy or we can drop off your puppy for a small fee. If you are not local, the options would be: 1; fly into our local airport & we will meet you at the airport, 2; fly into our local airport & find your way to us, 3; we can put you in contact with a pet nanny service where your puppy gets flown to you on someone’s lap – we facilitate this entirely but this is a 3rd party company or 4; have a pet nanny drive to you within a 300 mile radius for a fee.

How much do your puppies cost?

Each puppy is priced by the time they are 8 weeks old. Our starting price for a Shih Tzu puppy bred & raised by us is $3,500.

Are your prices negotiable?

No, our prices are set based on the quality of our program, the health of the parents, the testing we do for every dog that we breed or potentially breed. If you are wanting a puppy from us but are looking to spend less, please consider one of our retired moms or dads, or if we have any available, an older puppy or young adult.

Do you do any health testing on the parents?

Yes! This has been at the core of our program for many, many years. We do complete genetic testing panels using Embark & then run breed relevant + additional diseases tests with Paw Print for an added layer of transparency. We also run complete blood panels on all our breeding moms & dads prior to first breeding & annually thereafter.

Will my puppy be up to date on vaccines?

Yes, we vaccinate according to the vaccine protocols created by Dr. Jean Dodds & Dr. Judy Morgan. We are not anti-vaccines, rather, we are opposed to “over-vaccinating” our dogs. Puppies are given immunity by their mom that protects them for a certain duration of time. Since all our breeding moms are up-to-date with their vaccines, our puppies are covered & we do not need to vaccinate when the puppy is too young. We vaccinate the puppies once the immunity they received from their mom begins to taper off. How many vaccines your puppy has will be determined by when they receive their first dose & when they go home. They receive subsequent boosters 4 weeks after initial vaccine while they are in our care.

Do you remove dewclaws?

Yes, we have our licensed veterinarian remove dewclaws of all of the puppies born in our care, unless uncontrollable circumstances involving the neonates health prevent the puppy or puppies from going to the vet at 5 days old.

Do you allow in home visits?

We actually do! It’s rare now-a-days but we allow people to come meet the puppies & choose their future baby in person! Some people, mainly other breeders, consider us crazy but we have safety protocols in place. If you plan to visit our home, you must be on our waitlist & you must share identification of any adult planning to visit our home. There are no exceptions! We need to protect our home, ourselves, & our puppies.

Do you have a waitlist for your puppies?

Yes, we do have a waitlist option for future litters born & raised in our breeding program. This requires a deposit and a waitlist agreement. People on the waitlist will be given priority to any new puppy we are raising, but we will not accept a holding fee on a specific puppy until it reaches specific benchmarks.

Do you offer Breeding Rights?

Our focus is to place our puppies in pet homes on a strict spay & neuter contract. All pets purchased from The Shih Tzu Nursery will need to be spayed or neutered by 1 year of age.

If you are a breeder – we are not opposed to offer breeding rights to established breeders with the expectation that we would buy from your lines as well.

If you plan to breed – we are not able to offer breeding rights to new breeders or inexperienced breeders simply because we do not have the time to mentor others, & offering breeding rights to others would require us to do so. Our contract stipulates strict fines for puppies purchased as pets & bred “accidentally” or intentionally. We keep DNA on all our pets & therefore you should not buy from us with the intention to break your pet contract.

Do you offer AKC paperwork AND Pedigree?

We do offer AKC limited registration with each one of our puppies purchased. We will register, order a 4-generation pedigree, & hold paperwork until spay/neuter has been received by us. The cost for this is $100 which is what AKC charges us & this is paid at the time your puppy is paid for.

Will I get updated photos of my puppy?

Yes! We regularly post to Instagram & Facebook so you can watch the puppies growing & in action! Once you have selected your puppy, we will keep you updated with weekly (sometimes daily) photos of your new baby.

Can you keep my puppy past the pickup date of the puppy?

We would never say no, however, this should be discussed prior to committing to a certain puppy. When you commit to a puppy, you are privy to when that puppy is of age to be rehomed. If the puppy’s timeline doesn’t align with yours, perhaps you should wait for a future litter. However, we understand that life happens. If something has complicated your schedule when your puppy is due to be available to you, please let us know at your first opportunity. Unfortunately, in the past when we have extended the date of pickup, the person has ended up backing out last minute and tacked weeks onto the puppies life. If you need to extend pickup, we can do so by 2 weeks if an additional non-refundable deposit is paid on the puppy. If longer than 2 weeks, you will also be charged an additional $50 per day starting on the next calendar day of expected pickup date, for boarding your puppy. Balance of puppy purchase price + boarding fee will need to be paid prior to your puppy leaving our home.

Will you board or take care of previous puppies that came from your breeding program?

Absolutely! We open our doors to our past puppies often! There is a $50 per 24-hour boarding fee but we will happily greet them with open arms, provided we can with our schedule.

What forms of payment do you take?

We take cash, Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, and credit card. We do not accept checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders, there are zero exceptions to this. If you are paying by Zelle, there will be a sales tax applied to any amount paid over Zelle (7.75%); if you are paying by PayPal, Venmo, or credit, there will be sales tax + 4% processing fee added to the processed amount.

Frequently Asked Questions