
07/21/2025
That little black fluff ball at the bottom is Kylo. Kylo is the reason I do what I do. My kennel is dedicated to him.
Kylo was the first German shepherd puppy I sought out and purchased. I was young and naive. I took the “breeders” word at face value when she told me they were vet checked and clear. I don’t know if they were just never vetted, or if she lied about them being clear, but Kylo was not healthy.
We took him for his first vet appointment a week after we got him. The vet discovered that he had a grade 6/6 heart murmur on both ventricles. You could feel it by just touching his chest. The cardiologist had a very long wait time, and it was going to be very expensive. The vet recommended I return him to the breeder, but I was extremely attached to this dog. He was active, eating well, using the bathroom like he should, and never tired or slowed down more than normal puppy behavior. He was so incredibly smart too.
The vet told me if I didn’t return him, he could still live a full life we just had to be careful not to let him get too aroused without seeing the cardiologist first to determine the underlying cause.
Kylo had another follow up two weeks later to get his next round of vaccines. His murmurs were graded 5/6 but she said they would most likely never go away. That following weekend, I woke up to my outside dog losing his mind. The neighbors dog was in my yard and was injured. While we were trying to get ahold of her owner by knocking on doors, Kylo heard us and was extremely wound up because he wanted to come out of his crate. After tracking her owner down, I went to let Kylo out and found him gone. His heart gave out because he got too excited. We went from learning his murmurs sounded less severe to losing him in a matter of days. I was devastated.
Now, almost 9 years later, I have my own program, and my main focus is to avoid putting families through what I went through with Kylo. I want to ensure that my dogs live long, healthy lives. All of my puppies are vet checked between 6 and 7 weeks old to check for any issues such as heart murmurs, umbilical hernias, mouth issues, etc. it’s why I offer a health guarantee. I stand behind my program because I know what it’s like to feel that heartbreak.