Welcome to Steel Valley Bouviers. My name is Lisa Waldron. Im a retired LPN of 30 years and I worked in a skilled long term care facility. I have always loved animals and Ive had everything from horses,sheep,ducks,turtles, gerbels,and of course dogs and cats.I currently have 9 dogs, a Cocker Spaniel that is 15, a crazy Vizsla, 4 Bouviers , all females, a mix breed rescue, and 2 French Bulldogs.
My husband Kenny and I became interested in Bouviers after Kenny listened to a book on cd on his 1 hour long commute to his work every day. This story line had a bouvier named max, which intriqued my husband. He came home that night and said we need to check out this breed of dog. I started researching the breed and breeders and fell in love with fawn colored Bouviers, and in a couple months we adopted our first Bouvier, a male we named Remy.
We purchased Remy from a breeder that had been breeding Bouviers for 35 years at the time, and became my mentor of learning about the breed including grooming, health issues, pedigrees,confirmation, etc. Since I’ve retired from my nursing career Ive decided to try my hand at breeding. Since then I've parted ways with this breeder.
We then acquired a female Bouvier puppy from another breeder that was recommended to us which we named Chyna. Chyna is now a Grand Champion and is retired from the ring and breeding. Her and Remy gave us 5 beautiful healthy litters and she gave us 1 litter from a stud named Tally in Ireland.
After Chyna we adopted a beautiful dark brindle girl we named London. London gave us 4 beautiful litters but unfortunately with the last litter she was DX with an extreme case of mastitis which almost killed her. She spent a week in the ICU at a vet in North Ridgeville near Cleveland. After weeks of caring for her wound and multiple antibiotics, she is now spayed and also retired from the ring and being a mom.
This past August we lost our boy Remy. He turned 12 on August 5th and that night had a blood clot let loose in his spinal column which left him paralyzed. I had to help him cross the rainbow bridge the next day with the help of a wonderful vet that makes house calls. He will forever be in my heart and there is not a day tgat goes by that I don't think about him.
In 2023 in March London had her last litter. We kept a fawn female from that litter named Zurie. She will have her first litter this year with any luck. She will be bred to another fawn male so this litter will be all fawns. Chynas last litter was born November 2023 and we kept a dark brindle girl from that litter named Dublynn. Both girls have already passed all their health testing. Dublynn is well on her way to her AKC Championship at just 16 months old and already has all 3 CGC titles and ATT title behind her.
Health is a major concern with me, and I will only breed with the cleanest healthiest lines and pedigrees. I have learned the hard way about breeders not caring if they’re breeding healthy dogs.My Cocker Spaniel was diagnosed with intervertabral disc disease shortly after her 2nd birthday. She was almost paralyzed and went for several consults,lasor treatments, xrays, medications, and finally crate rest for several weeks. She is fine now but is limited in her physical endeovors like jumping on and off a bed and cannot tolerate any strenuous activities. She was later diagnosed with hypothyroidism and will be on medication for the rest of her life.
Our next dog ,our vizsla, was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism at age 5, and he will also be on thyroid meds for his lifetime. Not to mention that his breeder never provided us with his registration papers for him, even though that was part of the purchase agreement. His breeder would not contact me back about the missing paperwork.
I had to ask myself, have I just had bad luck or is this the "norm" for breeders. Well, I was not done yet with my bad luck of unhealthy puppies. We purchased a female French Bulldog and she was diagnosed with severe bilateral hip dysplasia with osteoarthritis at 18 months of age. It is heartbreaking to find out your beloved pets have these health issues , especially at such young ages, but its also extremely expensive! This is why i feel so strongly about performing health tests on my dogs prior to breeding,keeping my lines as healthy as possible with researching pedigrees before i would consider purchasing a puppy for my breeding program or bringing in an outside stud to use in my line. I hope to spare anyone purchasing a Hitchcock Bouvier puppy the health issues I have had to deal with with when bringing a new puppy into your home.
I hope this gives you a little information about me and my background and hope you enjoy browsing through my website.
Update May 26,2018. Sadly my bad luck with health issues with my fur babies has left me heartbroken. My best buddy, Robi my Vizsla, was Dx with a large mass in his abdomen about 3 weeks ago. In a short period of 2 weeks he went from a strong muscled vizsla of 7 yrs old to bones protruding, vomiting bile, with his belly distended from filling up with fluid. The hardest decision I’ve ever had to make was deciding once he couldn’t eat anymore, I would have to say goodbye to my best friend. My husband and I said goodbye to our redhead fur baby on May 18,2018. We miss you and you will remain in our hearts forever and ever.