Our Philosophy

Every breeder will tell you they are working to improve the breed. We believe what makes that real, rather than rhetorical, is a single commitment: each generation has to be healthier than the one before it. Not just prettier. Not just more titled. Healthier.

That is the only definition of "better" we recognize. If a pairing produces a more beautiful dog but loses ground on health, structure, or longevity, that is not progress. We measure ourselves against this standard with every litter, every retained puppy, and every decision to retire a dog from breeding.

We are working with living animals, complex genetics, and the long timeline of an entire breed. There is no perfect dog. There never will be one. What there is, in the age of science we get to work in, is a real advantage — the ability to make better decisions than breeders even fifteen years ago could have made.

Embark testing. OFA certifications. Population genetics. Forensic pedigree analysis. Structural measurement and gait analysis. We use all of it. We built our own software, BreedGuru™, to integrate it. And we still do not get it right every time.

Sometimes a pairing we believed in produces a result we did not predict. Sometimes a health issue surfaces we have never seen in our lines. When that happens, we are the first to want to understand it. We do not hide it, we do not blame it on the other side of the pedigree, and we do not pretend it did not happen. We learn from it, we publish it, and we make better decisions next time.

A & A's is the work of two breeders, side by side. Tanya brings four decades of experience, the genealogist's training, and the long view that only comes from raising generations. Cass brings over ten years of mentored breeding, her own depth of knowledge, and the steady presence that families and dogs both rely on. This is an equal partnership. We make these decisions together, work with the same dogs, and walk every family through the same process.

The continuity of our program is not theoretical. It is the entire point. Two breeders, one philosophy, a shared commitment to the dogs we have spent careers building — and to the families who will carry them forward.

We do not breed teacup or micro Chihuahuas. Not because we object to small dogs — we breed Chihuahuas, the smallest AKC breed in the world — but because no breed anywhere has a teacup classification. No kennel club in the world recognizes "teacup," "micro," "pocket," or "tiny toy." Not the AKC. Not the Chihuahua Club of America. Not the UKC. Not the FCI. Not anyone.

The words exist for two reasons, and both of them hurt buyers. Real breeders use them to charge more for puppies who are unusually small, sometimes dangerously so. Fake breeders use them to steal. They take deposits for "teacup" or "micro" puppies that do not exist, deliver sick puppies that look nothing like what was advertised, or simply disappear with the money. The same scam runs across many breeds — teacup Yorkies, micro Frenchies, pocket Poodles — because the words sound special enough to bypass a buyer's caution.

A healthy adult Chihuahua weighs four to six pounds. Anything significantly under that often comes with chronic health problems — hypoglycemia, dental issues, fragile bones, hydrocephalus — and a shorter life. If you have been told a puppy will stay under three pounds as an adult, or you see the words "teacup" or "micro" anywhere in a listing, please be careful. We are happy to answer questions about size and what to expect, even if you are not buying from us.

For families who want to understand exactly what determines a Chihuahua's adult size — and why no honest breeder can guarantee a specific weight — we have written about the genetics behind it. Read: Does Size Matter, and Can It Be Predicted? →

When a puppy leaves our program, our responsibility for that dog does not end. We are the primary contact on the microchip, we are available for questions for the dog's lifetime, and we will always take a dog back — for any reason, with no judgment, no questions, no fees.

This is not a marketing promise. It is the most basic obligation we have to the dogs we breed. We have used it. We have driven hundreds of miles to retrieve a dog from a difficult situation. We have placed older dogs into new homes when life changed for their first family. We will keep doing it for as long as we breed and beyond.

We do not have a long list of rules. What we ask is simple: treat the dog like the family member they are. Tell us if something goes wrong — we would rather know early than not at all. Stay in touch when you want to. And if life ever changes in a way that means you cannot keep your dog, come to us first.

That is the whole agreement.