Next litter expected in 2025
My name is Kimberly and my love for dogs has no beginning and knows no end. This is an image of me, 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.
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 pairs of German Shepherd and Rough Collie dogs.
While my deep love for dogs, existed inside of me, I did not grow up with many pet dogs. The one in the photo to the right, 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 I began creating litters of my own. Where I could positively influence the development of the puppy then support and guide the new owners to help them all reach their full potential.
After marriage and becoming a military spouse, for the next 25 years, we had German Shepherds, mutts, children and even a Shiba Inu.
We successfully made every military move without having to give up any of our beloved pets. 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.
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. We also began hiking and camping where the dogs also carried packs. **Which does require some knowledge and proper fitting to do so safely.**
While my children were surrounded by many dogs only one shares the love of dogs that I have had. Actually, her love of all animals knows no bounds. Jessica found every opportunity to turn schoolwork into some kind of animal related project. Jessica grew her skillset by volunteering at vet clinics, sled dog races, working for a big show dog breeder and in the pet industry.
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.
As our lives progressed, I found myself 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, 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, not even at dog shows we visited. Research brought us to Old Time Scotch Collies and Scottish Collies. I realized they were producing the type of Collie I fell in love with as a child, and they met the criteria we were looking for.
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.
As a mother/daughter stay-at-home effort we are able to fully devote ourselves to supporting our shared dog related goals.
While Jessica is in front of the camera, I love being behind it.
We each have strengths and weaknesses and we do a great job compensating for and with each other so that every need is met. That we have always enjoyed doing things together is just an added bonus.
~ Kimberly Schoolcraft
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