My husband and I had moved to South Carolina from Guam and were looking for the perfect puppy to join us in our home. I looked at many ads in the newspaper and finally found one for a Shih Tzu male. I had always loved the breed, but when we had children at home, I knew I would not have the time to devote to the grooming needs. Now that our children were grown and on their own, we decided to get a lovely little Shih Tzu.

We drove for about two hours to this place out in the country. A woman showed us two pitiful little puppies that were covered with fleas. This was our first introduction to a puppy mill. Oh, how I wished we had the money to get them both, but we could only bring one of those babies home with us. We immediately stopped at a store to purchase supplies to rid him of his flea infestation and made a vet appointment for him. This little bundle was Gizmo.

Our Vet helped us with worming and getting him on a heathy start to life. He has been a joy to us ever since.

We returned to Guam about a year and a half later, to finish our teaching commitment there. Gizmo had to spend four months in quarantine, but we visited with him daily. Before he was released, we decided that he would need a little companion while we were at work. That is when we found Mogwai. She was a tiny little thing and her face just stole our hearts.

Unfortunately, we discovered six months later that Mogwai had a severe birth defect. She only had one kidney and the other was very small and diseased. We were told then that she may not live to even be two years old.

When she was just short of two years, we returned to South Carolina to retire. Knowing that Mogwai was very ill and would probably soon leave us, we looked for another companion for Gizmo. That is when we found Wicket.

What a bundle of joy he was. Just full of energy and love. Mogwai continued to fight her illness, and we learned more and more about the breed. We decided, when Wicket was a year old, to find a little female we could use to start a breeding program.

Along came Shodu. A feisty little one from the start, she fit right in with the others and became a constant companion for Wicket.

When Mogwai was in her last days, Shodu and Wicket mated. Soon after Mogwai crossed the Rainbow Bridge, Shodu presented us with four beautiful male puppies.

Just before the last of the puppies found homes, we had the opportunity to adopt Savannah from another breeder. We had never seen a blue Shih Tzu and were anxious to see what her and Wicket's babies would look like.

About a year later, Shodu and Vannah both became pregnant and had puppies within a day of each other. Oh, were they beautiful.

The same breeder that we adopted Vannah from had also just had a litter of puppies. A beautiful little red female was offered to us. Along came little Si-Si.

Just when Si-Si was about ready to start breeding, we were lucky enough to be offered a beautiful black male to be her mate. His owner did not want to breed black anymore and we were pleased to accept him into our home.

This made six beautiful Shih Tzu that allow us to share their home and give us so much joy.