Our decision to add a new member to our family was thoughtfully considered for almost two years for many reasons. Although my husband grew up with the experience of having a pet I never did and that thought alone intimidated me. My husband reassured me that after three kids how bad could I be? so the seed was planted for me who had always loved animals but especially dogs. Our next dilemma was whether our children were too young to make this transition and whether we would find a breed that would not bother my husband who is allergic to certain breeds. We decided to begin this journey by researching breeds. Schnauzers came up as one of the breeds that were hypo allergic and since we were interested in a medium sized dog my curiosity for the standard was peeked. The more I read the more admiration I grew for it, so I read and read and one day I decided to look for a breeder of black standards. Of all the breeders I found Top Shelf immediately caught my eye. I realized that this was breeder who didn't take her puppies and the homes they went to lightly, and all the information available on the website from her daughter showing promise as a handler, to her info regarding the breed and to every testimonial I read urged me to save it to my favorites. For the next year I checked the sight regularly, I read any new testimonials and checked up on the litters and their pictures and any show placements.

All our friends own dogs. One day they asked why didn't we have one? They said, "You have great kids, you obviously love dogs, we think your missing out". We thought well our children are all at good ages maybe we can start looking. I knew I wanted a puppy from the breeder on my favorites list, but never owning a dog , I was too intimidated on even filling out the questionnaire thinking, I will not even get a response.So we began to look locally in our home state of Florida. My husband finally said, why don't you fill out the questionnaire from Top Shelf? It's what you want , just be yourself, so after much hesitation I decided to do it.
I never in a million years thought I would be writing my own testimonial!!!...whatever Tami read in my questionnaire prompted her to respond and the rest as they say is history. Duke arrived to us at 15 weeks of age and I was so nervous of failing, ...I kept thinking my puppy is from Top Shelf!....he was so noble and so full of spirit....we have him for almost 4 weeks now and in such little time so much as changed. It feels like having a baby all over again!!! There is no time for extra sleep, we have been on a schedule since, but we have all fallen for our "dukester or Duke Monster!" has we jokingly refer to him. Duke is true example of his breed, he is all of what I read to expect and then some. He is very smart, we quickly began reading the clicker book Tami suggested and began his training with the methods suggested and it was unbelievable how quickly he learned what was needed of him for a treat. Now as soon as the bag of beef log treats comes to his sight Duke would go to sit and then down command without waiting for me to say it. I find it admirable to think that he beat me to the punch as if to say " let me do what you want, now give me my treat". We began puppy training last Friday and Duke has an ego that almost didn't fit through the door. His "Alpha Dog" attitude is evident every time we meet other dogs. Duke definitely knows he is a Top Dog and wants everyone to know it. He has also displayed signs of his guard dog mentality. He can see the smallest of insects jumping during our evening walks and just recently we have discovered that our neighbor had an armadillo in his yard all because Duke barked insistently as we stopped to say hello to him. Sure enough he bothered it enough that the creature crawled out of my neighbors beautifully landscaped island, our neighbor Joe (which we call Duke's Godfather since he baby-sits him during the day) was impressed he had sensed this at such a young age. We can only imagine what's to come as he gets older. He has also gotten his 1st grooming this Saturday and the transformation was unbelievable....he looked so regal I was so proud to walk him on a leash...he won over the lady who groomed him, his coat his so deep and so shiny that people stopped and stared at him just like I had read in the other testimonials!

We plan to continue our commitment to Duke as we are aware that his breed is one that needs this dedication but more importantly because Duke is part of the family and we plan to our best ability raise him to be the best Schnauzer he can be. 

All of this would of not happened without Tami's intuition as soon as she read my questionnaire. I thank you for seeing what I didn't see of myself, that it is all about your willingness to commit to this responsibility regardless of whether you have owned a pet or not. I have bombarded Tami with questions and she is has always been a willing advisor. It's so nice to feel that she is there should you need it and it's surprising how many times you do need to ask something. It's a comfort knowing that Top Shelf's commitment goes beyond a transaction, and it's a comfort to know that I will be able to share Duke's journey with not his breeder but my friend.

With our warmest thanks,
The Padilla Clan (John, Sandra, Samantha, Aydan, Alexa & Top Shelf's Grand Cayman Duke born February 12, 2007)
Port Saint Lucie, Florida