Our Story
Hello and welcome to Featherburry. We are Kimberly and Jessica Schoolcraft.
What began as a mother/daughter endeavor, in 2019, has been shifting to Jessica taking more of the lead while I do more work as her support so I can garden on the side. We continue to work together towards our shared dog related goals.
We each have strengths and weaknesses and we do a great job compensating for and with each other so that every need is met, concerning raising each litter. Jessica takes the lead in overseeing the Featherburry Facebook page and managing all matters concerning breeding and finding their forever homes. While I focus on maintaining this webpage, Instagram and manage emails.
That we have always enjoyed doing things together is just an added bonus.
Here is how our story began. This is an image of me, Kimberly, at near two years old, with one of the puppies from a litter my family accidently had. I have clear memories of the happy feelings I had while being with these puppies. I never interacted with another litter of puppies until I had a litter of my own over 48 years later. But the happy feelings I felt when around any dog, has continued throughout my life.
Heavily influenced by Rin Tin Tin, any movie with a German Shepherd in it and Lassie, I would often dream about the future litters I would produce from my imaginary pairs of German Shepherd and Rough Collie dogs.
While my deep love for dogs has always existed inside of me, I did not grow up with many pet dogs. The one in the photo, named Peaches for taking several bites from a box of Peaches, was the single dog I had the most exposure to. Sadly, she only lived to be 9 months old. Gotten at an animal shelter, by an older sibling, she happened to kill some chickens she was housed next to and my father deemed that accident unforgiveable. Needless to say, at only 9 months old, her time with me was short but profound. She was beautiful, charming, intelligent and my very best friend.
This event in my life impressioned me to do everything in my power to ensure that any puppy I had any influence over was given every opportunity to succeed. That desire would come full circle when we began creating litters of our own. Where we could positively influence the development of the puppy then support and guide the new owners to help them all reach their full potential. To help a dog thrive, in its new home and family, brings us the greatest sense of satisfaction and joy.
Here is Jessica at 6 yrs old with her first dog. A Shiba Inu named Kendra, from a wonderful breeder we still keep in contact with. Kendra fulfilled a dream, I later had, of owning a Shiba, and just as hoped also filled Jessica's life with companionship, years of great memories and even protection, when needed.
Bonds made with childhood dogs are powerful and long lasting. Jessica and I both reflect on our childhood dogs with such deep love and admiration. It has formed our expectations of all future dogs.
We are delighted to provide such stellar family dogs to so many first-time dog owners and families with young children. Knowing how powerfully this will impression them throughout their lives, we offer as much support as we can to make it the best experience possible.
After marriage and becoming a military spouse, for the next 25 years, we had German Shepherds, a few mutts, and two children.
We successfully made every military move without having to give up any of our beloved pets. Not a goal every military family can achieve, considering their ever-changing circumstances.
At our first duty station, upon the adoption of our first purebred German Shepherd, I gained my first mentor. Pre-internet, and books hard to find, she made a huge impact on my puppy raising by teaching me how to use a crate in a positive manner. As a stay-at-home mom I was able to use it, as a tool, to prevent creating common unwanted puppy behaviors. In turn, we spent much less time correcting learned mistakes and more time shaping our puppies into well behaved adults.
Once we settled back in our home state of Washington we started a small hobby farm. We began with rabbit breeding and showing, which is where the name Featherburry was first used, as a name for our rabbitry.
We later found ourselves being a rescue before rescues became so prevalent. Our neighborhood was a dumping ground for unwanted puppies. We would meet their needs and find their forever homes without ever asking for payment. We only asked for a loving, long term home.
We also began hiking and camping where the dogs also carried packs.
**Which does require some knowledge and proper fitting to do so safely. Also, training dogs properly when young and quite moldable cannot be overstated. It is by those early choices in shaping their behavior a person can move five dogs down a trail and maintain voice control of them at the same time.
Let us help you get started with some helpful links.
.jpeg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:944,cg:true)
As our lives progressed, we found ourselves wanting a softer dog who would adore children and monitor, yet never compromise, the safety of the animals on our hobby farm.
One day, reminiscing with Jessica about my childhood dreams, we began to question why Collies had not been a part of our lives. To this point, I had only met one Collie in my entire life. Our immediate research brought us to Old Time Scotch Collies and Scottish Collies. I realized they were producing the type and temperament of Collie I had fallen in love with as a child. They met the criteria we were looking for in a family and farm dog.
While raising a litter was a life goal of mine it was Jessica who insisted that we prioritize health, temperament and structure before taking the leap to become breeders. This was and still remains the foundation of all our breeding choices.
Jessica often states that she takes a lot of pride in breeding dogs that in fifty years she will still want to own. With a goal of making each generation healthier than the one before, we hope to be major contributors to the future of this breed.
My children were surrounded by many dogs but only one shared the deep love of dogs that I have always had. Actually, her love of all animals knows no bounds. Jessica found every opportunity to turn schoolwork into some kind of animal related project. She has enjoyed raising and caring for, miniature horses, cows, pigs, goats, chickens, pigeons, rats, ducks, geese, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, shrimp, hermit crabs, peafowl, parrots, guinea fowl, pheasant, turkeys, quail, doves, cats and dogs on our very small farm.
Jessica grew her skillset by volunteering at vet clinics, sled dog races, working for a big show dog breeder and in the pet industry. She is often called upon for medical advice due to her education and experiences with animals.
Then at 29 Jessica had a life-changing event occur. She had an autonomic nervous system disorder surface suddenly. This health challenge limits the physical activities she is capable of doing and limiting what activities we can do together as a family.
In March of 2020 Jessica made a five day trip to Minnesota to pick up two puppies who would help set the foundation of the dogs we breed. In this photo you will see Holiday, one of the puppies we picked up that day.
As for my son, he now shares a great love for Scottish Collies too. While he states he was never tempted by any of our previous litters, or any dog for that matter, he did find one single puppy that he felt he couldn't live without. Known, now Chaffee, from our Affirmation Litter in 2024, is the dog he decided he couldn't like without. Chaffee is now his best friend and he can't imagine life without him!
While Bryan isn't hands on in our puppy raising, he is a huge support. He makes sure we have food to eat on whelping days and if we need help with anything, he is there for us.
Fall of 2024 a decision was made to turn my long-time love of flowers and gardening into something more. Into something I could share with other flower lovers. Our fresh cut flowers are available during the growing seasons. Typically running from March through October.
We look forward to meeting you!
~ Kimberly and Jessica Schoolcraft