Kat Roll & Rhonda Croxton
Kat and Rhonda are lifelong best friends who met at the age of 10-11 when Kat moved in with her grandmother, who lived across the street from Rhonda in Tampa, FL. They found a kinship in their love of animals…cats, dogs, horses, snakes, lizards…you name it. Both are “only children” who found sisterhood in each other and have stayed close through all life’s twists and turns.
Kat
I have loved animals from early childhood and I have worked profesionally with pets from the time that I was old enough to work. I started out as a vet tech and soon found my true calling in grooming dogs, bringing my love for art and pets together. I also do training and behavior work, and I continue to study and learn as much as I can about canine behavior. I have worked with a variety of animals including dogs, cats, horses, wolfdogs and even lions, tigers and many types of exotic cats, but dogs are my absolute favorite to work with. It was through my work as a groomer that I met a Lowchen for the first time and fell in love with the breed. I have groomed several through the years and all of them had a special attitude and charisma that I have never consistently seen in any other breed. I knew back then that I would have to have one some day. I bought my first Lowchen from Donna Jones in 2009, Sawyer, and he was everything that I expected and more. I found the entire Lowchen community to be welcoming and friendly. We made friends and got grooming and showing tips from our competitors at every show that we went to with Sawyer. By the time that Sawyer earned his championship, the addiction to the breed was complete and now we have a house full of Lowchen.
Rhonda
Always a lover of animals, I grew up with several cats over the years and a Miniature Schnauzer named Buster, who was my constant companion through my teenage years. After high school, I spent many years in college earning my bachelor’s degree and then my PhD (gene regulation in tumors). The long hours of grad school led me to be more of a cat person during this time, and I had 2 wonderful cats that trotted across the country with me on two separate occasions as I moved for my career. When I landed in Pennsylvania, I knew I had found the place that I wanted to call home…beautiful rolling green hills, springtime flowering trees, breathtaking autumn foliage – although I must say that winters took some getting used to for this Florida girl!
When Kat got her first Löwchen from our mentor, Donna Jones, in 2009 (Sawyer), it was love at first sight for me. I’ve been learning everything I can about this wonderful breed ever since—working with Kat to raise, show, train, and breed healthy Löwchen. Löwchen have a *spark* in them that other dog breeds just don’t seem to have…they love life and bring a sense of humor to everything they do. I can’t imagine ever living without one (and you really can’t just have one – their little loving personalities are just completely addictive!). Even though Löwchen are considered a Non-Sporting breed as part of the AKC’s Non-Sporting Group, I consider this to be a misnomer…Löwchen are mentally and physically designed to think and be active. Our small breeding program is focused on retaining key breed type while ensuring structural soundness and mental drive to enhance success in performance events such as Agility, Obedience, Rally, Disc competition, and Flyball.