Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long have you been breeding dogs?
A: Raised around animals her entire life, Linda received her first Cocker Spaniel as a birthday gift at
the age of 16. Once that female reached breeding age her first litter was born. It was destiny and
Linda has been breeding ever since. Krystin being Linda's daughter was of course raised around the
rearing of puppies. Together they have over 30 years experience breeding dogs.
Q: How long have you been breeding Boston Terriers?
A: After raising Australian Cattle Dogs, Basset Hounds, and Miniature Pinschers for nearly 20 years,
Linda was beginning to look for another breed to venture into while retiring from the others. Linda
always had a love for Boston Terriers. It was not until Krystin picked up a Doctor Foster's and Smith
Catalog and noticed the chocolate Bostons in the advertisements, brought it to Linda's attention, and
their love for Boston Terriers of Color were born. It wasn't two months later that their first chocolate
Boston Terrier was added to the family, and the love for this amazing breed was born. It has been
almost 8 years that we have owned Boston Terriers and going on 6 years that we have been
breeding them. We had strongly considered retirement from the breeding of Boston Terriers over the
2010/2011 year as lives were changing quite a bit. Over this time a lot of thinking was done and we
found that there are far to many poor breeders of Boston Terriers, but a greater percentage of poor
Boston Terrier breeders who focus on color alone with no concern for health, temperament, or
quality. For this reason we have decided that as breeders of quality Boston Terriers with priorities in
health, temperament, quality, and overall betterment of the breed to include color, there is no way we
would be doing right by the breed as a whole to have worked so incredibly hard in all that we have
and namely improving our bloodlines and our Boston Terriers with each breeding that retiring or
"quitting" now was clearly no option.
Q: What are some health problems that can be found in the Boston
Terrier and what steps has Cypress Farm taken to minimalize those
defects in your program?
A: Some of the health problems that can be found in the Boston Terrier breed are, but not limited to:
Cataracts (juvenile in abundance), Deafness, Luxating Patella, Hemivertebra, Stenotic Nares (pinched
nostrils), and elongated soft palette. It is understood that some of these problems are inherent of the
bracycephalic/bulldog breeds and others are congenital. At Cypress Farm we have always taken every
necessary step to ensure that our puppies are of the highest quality, temperament, and health. One
way we minimalize the occurrence of health problems in our program is to health test. We health test
for deafness (BAER), the juvenile cataract gene (JHC), and patella luxation with all of our Boston
Terriers. Certificate verification is available at request. Any sire or dam that we are considering using
in our program must go through a rigorous process of health testing and evaluation that can
sometimes take up to 2 years to be sure they have fully developed and meet our lengthy list of criteria
before we will even incorporate them into our program. We have a solid reputation for providing
healthy puppies to our families for over 20 years. We will not cut corners in any aspect of our program.
Please see the HEALTH page of our website for more information and links on possible health
problems in Boston Terriers.
Q: Where are your puppies born and raised?
A: Our puppies are born and raised in our home. Depending on where mom feels most comfortable,
sometimes they are whelped in our bedrooms right in our beds, living room right on the couch, or
bathrooms in the bath tub with towels surrounding them. We do keep mommy and babies in a crate
that has a plastic bottom, with newspaper, a whelping box, plenty of fresh food/water and treats and
chewies.  Once weaned puppies are still kept in our home, but are moved from a crate to a large
swimming pool with an X pen around it, filled with shredded paper, pet bed, plenty of fresh food/water
and lots of toys as teething has typically begun by that age and gnawing on our toes just won't cut it
any longer. Puppies have sharp teeth!

In fact, please watch this short video of where our puppies are kept and where they are raised:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slxzjuMh38U&feature=related
Q: May we come to your home to meet the puppies and the parents?
A: Unfortunately we do not allow anyone at our home when we have puppies that have not been fully
vaccinated. Why you ask? This is a safety issue. We are very cautious about anyone that comes on
our property at any time, whether it is a family friend or the mail man. Pathogens and bacteria can be
on your person or even on the bottom of your shoes and you may never know it. We are not willing to
sacrifice the safety of our puppies so you can visit. It is a gamble we are not willing to take. We have
never had any incidences of disease or parvo at our home and we will not take a chance. If we do not
have puppies at our home and you are looking at adopting a puppy from us from a future litter and
would like to come out and visit you are more than welcome, but never while we have puppies that are
not fully vaccinated.
Q: What if we want to see the puppies before placing a deposit?
A: We certainly understand and appreciate that you may want to visit with the puppies before
selecting your new addition and placing a deposit, but again safety for our puppies is our utmost
concern. If you would like to visit with the puppies, this option is available with stipulations and on a
case to case basis. Typically we will allow visitors to see the puppies 10 days after their first 5-in-1
vaccination. We will not allow visitors to our home when we have puppies that are not fully vaccinated.
We will meet you at a designated location and bring the puppies/parents with us for your visit. We will
bring hand sanitizer and you will be asked to use this before playing with the puppies. We also ask
that you do not visit any other puppies within 48 hours of visiting with our puppies. Some may feel this
is being overprotective and we can agree to disagree. Our puppies health and safety is of our utmost
concern and if we have to take extra steps to ensure that they remain as healthy as possible, we will
take them.
Q: What shots and wormings do your puppies receive before
going to their new home(s)?
A: At 5 weeks old our puppies are given 1 dose of NEOPAR which is a single way Parvo vaccination
and is the best of the best. At 6 weeks old our puppies are given their first combo puppy shot. We use
Galaxy/Nobivac (NEVER FORT DODGE) 5-in-1. We never use any shots that contain LEPTO as
Boston Terriers can have extreme allergic reactions to this vaccine. At 10 weeks of age your puppy
will be due for their second combo puppy shot which will be administered by your veterinarian, or by
ourselves if your puppy is still at our home. Our puppies are wormed for heartworm preventative once
a month with liquid Ivomectin. We also worm with Drontal to get any other worms or parasites that may
be present in their bloodstream as a just in case preventative. Each puppy will go to their new homes
with a health/shot/worming record that outlines all of this for their new family and new veterinarian.
Linda at 13 months old with her first puppies.
Q: What kind of food do you feed your puppies?
A: We have experimented with different foods over the years mapping out each foods strengths and
weaknesses for our dogs. Over the years we have determined that Nutro Max Puppy covers all of our
requirements nicely and also provides exactly what our puppies need to be the best they can be.
Puppies start on puppy mush at 4 weeks old. Puppy mush is a mixture of dry food that has been
moistened with filtered water in the microwave. Once the food is nice and moist we blend it to make it
into a nice mush for the puppies to easily eat. They get their puppy mush in the morning and in the
evening. We also keep dry kibble in a bowl in their pen along with fresh water through the day. At 8
o'clock PM the kibble and water is picked up to aid in them not going potty through the night, which
makes potty training easier. At 5 weeks they are slowly weaned from mom, and by 6 weeks of age are
completely off of mom and starting on their regular puppy food, which is still moistened just not
blended. You will receive a small bag of Nutro puppy food when you pick up your puppy.
Q: What guarantees do you provide?
A: We offer a one year health guarantee that covers any congenital life threatening defects. For more
information and a copy of our health guarantee please contact us at info@cypressfarmkennel.com
Q: We read a complaint online that stated you sold a puppy sick with
Parvo to a family. Is there any truth to that?
A: The answer to this question will be lengthy. Until now we have never addressed this publicly for
legal reasons. What you are reading below is the account of the events from the side of Cypress
Farm Kennel and the contents below can be verified for validity. If this is needed, please contact us
and we can supply the evidence.

On the day of January 11, 2011, 4 puppies were shipped to their new homes via Continental Airlines.
This was a task we have been completing for the past 13 years without incident. The puppies all flew
on the same flight to Houston, where their first layover took place, and then were separated and
transferred to their respective flights sending them on their way to their new homes. One puppy flew
to California, one went to New Hampshire, and 2 went to the same home in Florida. Per contract we
require that within 48 hours of the new owner's possession of their puppies that they be seen by their
veterinarian for their first checkup with their new owners. If this is not completed all contracts are null
and void. The puppy in California passed it's check up without issue. The puppy that flew to New
Hampshire  passed it's checkup without issue. The new owner was sure to tell me on their update post
on our Facebook page that the vet had remarked "the puppy was in great health" and he appeared to
have come from a good breeder.   The two puppies in Florida were never taken for their contractual
48 hour checkup, thus making our contractual obligation to them null.  

The night of the third day of ownership we were notified that one of the puppies in Florida was ill and
had been taken to the emergency veterinarian. I, Krystin Johansen, was told she had been tested for
Parvo and resulted positive. In an initial panic I did state that the puppies must have been exposed to
the virus while at the veterinarian only days prior to them leaving on their flight where they had
received their clean bill of health from the veterinarian for flight. I had taken 6 puppies to this
checkup, 1 was still at home with the other puppies that had not left yet. Had all of the puppies been
exposed?  Parvo is incredibly contagious, like the common cold or flu in humans. If they had been,
what on Earth were we going to do?

First thing first, I contacted the owners of the puppies that had gone to their new homes immediately
after the initial phone call about the positive Parvo test result, regardless of the late hour, asking that
they take their puppies to the vet first thing in the morning to get a checkup. We then called
Continental Airlines to notify them of what was going on. We also placed a 2 week quarantine hold on
all puppies still at our residence in case they had been exposed to the virus as we did not want to
take the chance of any of the other puppies going to their new homes exposed or worse, ill. We
posted a notice about the positive Parvo puppy on our Facebook page and notified all of the owners
of the quarantined puppies personally so that they were fully aware of everything going on. We had
every intention of keeping everyone up to date on what was happening with the sick puppy and their
puppies at our home. We kept a time stamped daily photo and video log of all of the puppies in
quarantine for the 2 weeks of the virus incubation period. We posted these to our Facebook profile
page daily so that the owners of their puppies who were concerned knew that all was well with their
babies and no occurrence of Parvo was taking place at our home and kennel.

The day after being notified of the Florida puppy testing positive for Parvo we kept in contact with the
new owners speaking with them hourly for updates on the puppies current status as well as the status
of the second puppy living in the same home the sick puppy was being treated in. He was not
exhibiting any symptoms at all, but unfortunately was not kept away from his sick sister making it ever
more easy for the virus to be spread. The owners chose to treat the puppy at home as best they
could. During the day we also tried to contact the New Hampshire owner to receive an update on her
puppy. We had received one text message about him at 9:01AM asking "Not that we do, but what if we
wanted to send him back?" I replied with the stipulations of the contract she signed and also asked for
an update on the status of her puppy. No response was returned. We called, left messages, text, and
emailed the New Hampshire owner countless times to no avail.  We received word from the California
puppy owner, and from another owner of a puppy that had been picked up and gone to it's new home
on the 7th of January, that their puppies checked out fine at their vet appointments with no symptoms
of Parvo to be seen.  Thankfully, that evening we did receive word from the New Hampshire owner via
our Facebook page that her puppy had tested positive for Parvo and was in the emergency room.
Little did we realize that was to be the one and only update we would receive on his condition or the
last time the owner would even be returning any contact for the duration of her puppies treatment for
Parvo, never bothering to return our countless tries to contact her for an update. We were left in the
dark on his status fearing the worst. It wasn't until January 18th that we received a lengthy email from
the New Hampshire owner explaining their puppy was out of the ER and was recovering at home
happily. The email also stated why they had been silent through the duration of their puppies
treatment: they were upset with us. Also that they were not asking for reimbursement for their puppy
and the expenses for treatment were handled.

We were able to keep in touch with the Florida family on the status of their girl and boy during the
duration of the sick girls treatment. After a couple of days of treatment the sick girl was beginning to
get better and the boy had not exhibited any symptoms at all. Things were certainly looking up.
However the family was incurring quite an expense trying to treat their sick puppy and although we
were not contractually or legally obligated to reimburse any monetary funds, even after they failed to
have their puppies 48 hour check up completed when they first received the puppies voiding their
health guarantee and contract altogether, we told the family we wanted to help.  We wanted to do
what was right and we wanted to aid any way that we could. We left it up to the family to decide what
they wanted us to do. They told us they wanted us to reimburse them the purchase price of the sick
puppy via Paypal. We sent an email outlining the stipulations of this reimbursement which were to be
that the purchase price of the sick puppy would be reimbursed minus the shipping costs and once
paid Cypress Farm would no longer be obligated to pay forth any other monetary amounts for both
puppies. The owners of the sick Florida puppy agreed. Even though there was no proof that the
puppy became ill while at our home, once we obtained documentation from their veterinarian that the
puppy did in fact test positive for Parvo, on the morning of January 16th we gladly obliged and
reimbursed them the money as they requested via Paypal with the stipulations in the memo of the
receipt. We text notice of the payment sent and were returned confirmation that the payment was
received. That was the last contact we had with the Florida owners. We phoned for updates to no
avail. We also text and emailed and received no return response. It was as if they had disappeared
and we were quite perplexed as we had been in constant contact with the family since well before they
had ever received their puppies.

At 10:30PM I received a text from the Florida owners telling me to check my email and a response was
required within an hour. This was extremely odd. I also had a message on Facebook stating the
same. I came to find a lengthy email in my inbox stating the second puppy was now exhibiting Parvo
like symptoms, requesting full reimbursement for him, all shipping costs, and that if the puppy did in
fact test positive for Parvo he would be put to sleep immediately and "the death of this puppy will be
due to your negligence, irresponsibility, and lack of professionalism or morality".  What was the result
to be if we did not do all that they asked? Nothing short of extortion. We were given multiple
ultimatums that were barring on threats with the conclusion of "I expect a written reply to these
requests stating exactly how you choose to proceed from here within the hour (1:30 am EST), so that
I may act accordingly tonight. If you do not respond I will take the necessary course of action to
protect others from your disregard and deceit."

I was in shock and disbelief. How was I to respond to this? Certainly there must be some mistake?
Why would they be treating us with such distaste after we have done everything they have been
asking of us? Why were we being met with such anger when we had gone above and beyond what we
were obligated to do contractually as we wanted to help? When we had last conversed earlier in the
day all was well with the second puppy and the sick puppy was on the mend. My mother was sleeping
so I could not converse with her about my return response and this email being written in the tone of
such discontent I felt with the flood of emotions I had rushing through my mind that it was much better
not to respond and approach this in the morning. Again by the tone of the email, I felt our lawyer
needed to examine the email further and give us counsel on the best way to approach this email.
Unfortunately we were not afforded the opportunity to respond. The events that unfolded at 1:30AM
to present day have been nothing short of mind boggling.

The Florida owners, the New Hampshire owner, and an instigating third party owner who had received
their puppy on the 7th of January (the puppy being 100% healthy and never was ill from Parvo)
began an all out assault on our yet untarnished reputation as breeders. We were slandered and
defamed in a way I feel best appropriate not to outline in the context of this dialogue as the things that
were said are entirely inappropriate, personal, and not even about the puppies. The things stated
were not only about our kennel, myself, and my mother, but they attacked other breeders, our
personal and business friends, and other person's who own puppies from us. They even went as far
as to contact one of our friend's churches and it's congregation.  Our personal contact information
was posted on the Facebook pages of the Humane Society, PETA, AKC, Boston Terrier Facebook
fan pages, and countless other arenas causing a chain reaction of emails, and telephone messages
from the supporters of these organizations who were pawns of their slander.  These people left
outrageously disgusting voicemails and texts on our cell phones sending death threats and quite
vulgar threats of torturous harm to myself and my mother. The third party person, who had a healthy
puppy, called Animal Control in our area and filed a complaint that "I read on Facebook that puppies
were becoming ill with Parvo that came from this kennel." Animal Control came to our home and was
welcomed with open arms. We graciously showed them through our home and property in which we
received positive reviews. There were no infractions found and we passed the inspection. I then
asked that Animal Control please make one more trip, unannounced and some time later so that they
can be sure we remain up to par. This has since taken place and again, no infractions were made.
This is all in our record with the San Patricio County Animal Control Office.  While all of this was going
on we received word through the grapevine that the second puppy of the Florida owners passed
away. We were never contacted by the Florida owners to notify us, nor were we ever supplied proof of
this.  We don't know if the owner put the puppy to sleep as they said they would or if he passed from
Parvo. We have been asked if we believe the puppy actually passed. Honestly we do not know. We
do know that through ALL of this, we stayed silent, not giving into their bullying. We did ask that all of
our friends try their best to ignore them and never to defend us. This was something that was
supposed to be handled between puppy owners and breeder, not involve the entire online community.

The puppies that were being held through the incubation period of the virus never fell ill. There was
never an instance of stool that was not firm. All was well with our puppies at home. We brought all of
the puppies into the vet at the end of the 2 week incubation period for their final checkups, including a
fecal exam. All of the puppies were, for lack of a better word, perfect. They were all cleared by our vet
and with that, one by one they were off to their new homes. All was well and we could not be more
happy. This was until we received word that the people that had just gotten their puppies were now
being harassed online. They were receiving emails from the parties above claiming they were liars,
that their puppies had been sick, and they were protecting us. Many of the families had to block these
people from contacting them as it was incredibly disgusting that they would be going to such extremes.

Because of the Parvovirus' extremely contagious nature, if in fact the sick puppies had become
exposed at our veterinarians or at our home, it is nearly impossible that not one of the puppies that
we had at our home in quarantine would not have fallen ill with Parvo. My initial fears that the sick
puppies had been exposed at our veterinarians during their final checkups before leaving us had
been nullified. We have concluded, along with our veterinarians, that the puppies must have fallen ill
after leaving our hands, while in transport, on the first leg of their trip when they all flew together.  
Paired with the stress of the flight causing their immune systems to be compromised, they fell ill with
Parvo days after getting to their new homes. This would help to explain why the New Hampshire puppy
had passed his new owners puppy examination perfectly with no signs of illness only to fall ill later.
Are we without a doubt correct in concluding this? No. There is no way to know for certain when a
puppy contracted Parvovirus and no veterinarian would state in writing that they know when the
puppy contracted the virus. It is impossible to ever know for certain when or where it was contracted.
We do know it was incredibly fortunate that the puppy that flew to California alongside the puppies
that fell ill, was never infected with the virus.

Over the last 10 months we have seen a lot from these people. We are aware of all of the online
complaint boards that they have posted within defaming our character and slandering our reputation.
We have never rebutted or gave into their bullying. We have seen their stories change from posting
to posting. Each time more outrageous than the next and changed in their favor ever more slightly to
make us look less and less capable. Over the last 10 months it has become almost comical to see the
lengths they have tried to go to tarnish our reputation. One thing that is not comical is that it seems
that the reason for the outburst, the puppies, had been lost along the way and turned personal.

We have read the reasoning of the outbursts towards us that have taken place over the last 10
months by the sick puppy owners and third party owner were done to notify the public of what
happened, to make the public aware that we are terrible, awful, horrible, uncaring breeders and
people in general. Now reading both sides, you are free to draw your own conclusion. If you don't
trust in us fully, then we wouldn't want you owning one of our puppies anyway. A relationship is forged
when a breeder grants ownership of one of their puppies to a family. It is bond that is supposed to be
strong. If you don't trust us, it can not take place. That is why we want everyone to understand what
has happened and how we have handled it.

Could this all have been gone about differently? Absolutely. We are not denying any of this ever took
place but are confirming what happened and confidently speaking about the events that took place
from the point of view of Cypress Farm Kennel. Overall we feel that we went above and beyond what
we were contractually and legally obligated to do to help the families as any breeder of integrity would
have done. We never meant for any of this illness to take place, and after over 20 years of a solid
reputation of providing happy, healthy puppies to families all over the world, we still stand strong in
knowing that we did everything we could for this very unfortunate situation. Had the puppies fallen ill
before leaving our hands, they would have never left. But reality is, that is not what happened. We
have been asked if we hate these people for what they have done to us and what they have said
about us, but honestly, no we do not. We do not hate anyone. We understand to an extent the
passion behind what they have done. After all, they love their puppies. They love the puppies that we
raised here with unconditional love until they left us for their new homes at 8 weeks old, healthy. The
very same puppies we love and continue to love. Could it have been handled differently by all parties
had the circumstance been a bit different? Most definitely. Can we change the events that took
place? No. But we can send our blessings to the families involved and wish them the best in
everything that they do. We have not been friends with the families of the sick puppies as we have
with our extended Cypress Family (what we call our puppies owners) thus we have not received any
pictures or updates as the puppies have grown into adults. We have missed out on their lives.
Q: Why don't you place your puppies with full registration for
breeding?
A: We are approached often by people to buy our puppies with full registration, 99% of the time we
decline sale with full registration for several reasons. Breeding is a long term commitment, especially
with Boston Terriers. They are not a consistent breed and are incredibly hard to breed from both a
whelping stand point and a type stand point. It is very hard to maintain the integrity and quality of a
bloodline if you do not know the science of how the bloodline works. Boston Terriers are not for hobby
breeders or "I think I will just want to have one litter" breeders. If you have ONE litter or TWENTY
litters, you are a breeder. Another reason we will not allow full rights on our puppies, Boston Terrier
puppies change so much from newborns to fully matured adults, sometimes looking like entirely
different Bostons. We have worked incredibly hard to maintain a reputable name. Not every puppy
that is born is a show/breeding quality Boston Terrier, some are pets. We refuse to place all of our
puppies with full registration, namely a pet quality puppy, that will be used in a program for nothing
more than color purposes alone. That is not our long term goal for our program. Any Boston that
leaves our home with full registration will carry the "Cypress" name in their registration name. We are
proud of our dogs! If we wouldn't used a puppy in our program because they didn't meet our stringent
criteria, then we would not want any one else to either. If we do grant full registration rights, it is
typically a puppy that we have kept for several months to evaluate so we are confident that it will be a
good prospect for a program addition. We will not grant full registration to someone we do not know.
We must know you, your program, your short term goals, your long term goals, and you must be
active in the Boston Terrier community whether that be within a breed club, conformation showing,
agility showing, etc. We do not want our Bostons sitting in your back yard or home doing nothing but
breeding. That is not a good existence. Bostons love to have a purpose and love to make their
owners happy, being active helps them thrive.
Q: Why do you require that your "pet only" puppies are
spayed/neutered by the age of 6 months?
A: Honestly, we try to believe that every person means well and that they would never lie to us.
Unfortunately, that is not reality. Countless times we have been told a family is only looking for a pet
only to find out further in our conversations that they are actually looking to breed, whether that is
one litter "down the road" or they are wanting to begin a kennel. A majority of our puppies go to pet
only homes, a smaller percentage meet our criteria to be placed with full registration. This does not
mean we offer full registration with these select puppies to any home that comes along that wants
breeding rights. We do not grant breeding rights to people we do not know. We must have built a
relationship with you and know the goals of your program, whether it be with a pair of Bostons or a
kennel. We entrust owners with our puppies. We expect people to be honest with us about their plans
for our puppies. We do not condone lying nor will we accept it. If at anytime we are lied to we will
terminate all contact with that liar. We have the right to refuse service to anyone that we so choose. If
we have a deposit from this person, we will retain the deposit and no refund will be given.
Because of the amount of people that have tried to swindle their way into getting one of our puppies
for breeding through deception we are now requiring that our puppies must be spayed/neutered by
the age of 6 months if not spayed/neutered before leaving Cypress Farm. The health guarantee and
puppy purchase agreement will stipulate that the owner is responsible for spay/neuter at 6 months
from the date of birth or a fine of no less than $10,000 and court costs will be imposed as we will seek
legal retribution to the fullest extent of the law for Intent of Fraud amongst other charges. This is a
new policy from Cypress Farm that everyone needs to be aware of. What is the reason for this new
policy? Please see Phoe's story linked HERE.
Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page of our website. We receive many inquires a day on our puppies or from those
e-mailing to ask questions about Boston Terriers in general as we are open to assisting everyone not just those that adopt puppies from
us. We love being able to help anyone who may need it and invite any and all questions you may have. We have taken a tip from some of
our fellow breeders and created a FAQ page to alleviate the more common questions in our e-mail inbox not only to save time but also to
better serve you. Below you will find questions and answers that we are asked often and also some things are discussed below that we
want to be sure everyone is aware of before getting a puppy from us. We will always be nothing but truthful in the way we handle our
kennel and any questions pertaining to it. As always if the answer you are looking for isn't here please contact us at
info@cypressfarmkennel.com If we don't know the answer, we know someone who will.