about us

ABOUT US

Hello!

Our names are Tom and Holly Jo Armstrong. We live in Rural El Paso, Illinois, on 10 acres of land. Tom and I were married in 1998 and have four children between us. Charles 26, Heather Jo 23, Holly Jo 22 and Matt 18. My son Charles married his longtime girlfriend Melissa on November 11, 2006. Melissa is an RN and works at one of the local hospitals on the Mother/Baby ward. Charles works at the local Bobcat Dealer as the Parts Manager. My daughter Heather Jo and her husband Brian are the proud parents of a the first Grandchild to this family, his name is Mason Daniel. Mason, would like to announce that he has a little sister that will be here after the first of the year. Heather is a stay at home mom, which I am sure most mothers would praise her for this, as it is one of the toughest jobs around. Brian works at his family business, doing repairs on industrial compactors. Holly works full time and is also in College taking art classes. Matt is the baby of the four and working full time and is going to pursue a career in Law Enforcement. Tom and I both work full time jobs outside of the home, along with working the full-time job of raising the dogs.

We have been breeding dogs since 1996 and have enjoyed every bit of it. There has been trial and errors, with each of the first litters and every time that you think you have something figured out or worked out, something new pops up. My heart has always been with the Golden Retrievers, as they are such wonderful dogs and like any animal, they have their own personality. I have chose to go with the Miniature Dachshunds because my sister loved them and now I have a soft spot for those little comedians on short legs with the long ears and the body to match. After getting a Standard Poodle and seeing how wonderful this breed is and how they protect their home and family and are still such loyal and loving companions, I choose to go with this breed also, not to mention that I have fallen in love with them. It is hard to decide which ones I want to continue to breed, so I have chosen to continue with all of them as they each hold a very special place in my heart.

We are very concerned breeders and constantly worry about the welfare of our dogs, both physically and mentally. We love all of our dogs, as they are our 4 legged family members and pets. This is true for all them, as there will never be a dog here that is NOT considered a pet and a family member. Each dog has its special time with us and are played with daily, as this is a must here at our household. When something just seems not right with one of the kids (dogs), they go to the vet! In the past, I have put off getting veterinary help and of course it was the wrong decision. I think I have to have the largest vet bill around! We are like old mother hens and worry about the littlest things.

We have a wonderful veterinarian that has helped us out tremendously and we have all the confidence in the world in him. He helps us out when we have needed the help and if we are unsure of what to do, he will tell us what to do and will explain everything to a "T". If anyone from the Bloomington-Normal, IL area reads this, his name is Dr. Ron Geockner with Town and Country Animal Hospital, their phone number is 1-309-452-1717. We couldn't have asked for a better man to be responsible for our four legged babies health. Dr. Geockner will be up front about things and there is no beating around the bush with him, for us, we love this due to we are the same way and want to know everything upfront, no hiding things to protect ourselves. There are several veterinarians at Town -n- Country, so you don't have to have just him. We have used several of them and they are all great!! So, again if you want a wonderful veterinarian that will be open and honest with you and give you wonderful service, his name is Dr. Geockner with Town & Country Animal Hospital in Normal, IL or you can use one of the other wonderful vets there.

We hope that this site will be enjoyable for you, as well as informative. We are always available to answer questions or concerns. As time allows, I will update the site continually with other information and or pictures. I am constantly, reading and learning new things all of the time and I try very hard to either get the information on our website. If there is anything that you would like to see on this site, please just email us and we will do everything that we can to get information out there for you.

Thank you for visiting our site. Since we no longer have a guestbook on our site, please feel free to email us if you are looking for a new puppy to add to your family or if you have any suggestions or comments. We love to have updates on our puppies that leave here and I really appreciate all the suggestions or comments from those that send information to me.

God Bless

Holly Jo Armstrong