Our Story

Fast forward 7 years and I can remember being shown pic after pic of the cutest pups of various colors but all had one thing in common. They all looked like little teddy bears. They all weren’t labradoodles mind you, but the process had begun for the type of dog we wanted. So one day while out to lunch Terry and I ran into Whitney Christensen who is the sister of Brandi Shurtz-Huffmaster, who both are the daughters of Craig and Shannon Shurtz whom we have known for 40 years. Terry and I just happened to be having a conversation about getting a puppy and what kind of puppy we wanted when Whitney sat next to us at lunch. As soon as Whitney heard what we were talking about she informed us that Brandi had a business, Sutter Buttes Labradoodles and sold Australian Labradoodle puppies. We had lots of questions and Whitney answered every one of them. At the time I really wanted another German Shepherd pup so I was trying in my questions to find a reason not to get a labradoodle pup. “Well, these dogs are pretty small and seem like they need to be indoor dogs and Terry is allergic to dogs.” Whitney explained that Labradoodles are hypoallergenic. “Ok, but by the looks of their coat they probably shed a lot?” Whitney explained that they don’t shed. Ouch! Two strikes against my argument. So then I asked the most important question, “How much do they cost?” Whitney told us Brandi was selling her pups at that time for $2500. I laughed, thinking that I paid $1500 for a pick of the litter male Shutzhund German Shepherd who’s father was the 1996 USA Sieger Champion. I just told Whitney I’d never pay $2500 for a labradoodle pup, and she said I didn’t have to, we could be a guardian family for a pup and then explained what the guardian program was — Strike 3 for me. That day I was on the phone with Brandi learning what we had to do to become a guardian family and telling her that we wanted to see the pup as soon a we could.