Rustic Lane 

About Us

Our space on the web is an open love letter to the wonderful dogs who share our lives, to the breed that inspires us, and to the unbelievable owners who share the passion and devotion we feel for the dogs we have placed in their homes. 

Located in East Tennessee, We share our lives with both varieties of Manchester, Toy and Standard. Our dogs are bred and raised in our home. Each is considered a member of the family, and we have gone to great effort and expense to ensure that our dogs are healthy, well-adjusted, ambassadors for the breed. While we are busy professionals with careers outside the world of purebred dogs, we have tailored our lifestyle around our canine family. 

Born in 1998, our 'foundation' bitch, Percy, gave us 17 years a of pure joy.  Percy came to us as a 6 week old puppy, and she immediately stole our hearts.  Like many purebred dog fanciers, we started as "pet" owners. We retain that focus, and ensuring that our dogs are bred and raised in a healthy, family environment is our #1 priority. We have genuine affection for and rapport with our dogs, and competing/winning at dog shows is the least important part of our lives with dogs. 

Each year we produce one or two high-quality litters of puppies as part of our on-going breeding program. The focus of our efforts is to produce exceptional dogs who not only conform to the written "Standard of Perfection" for the breed, but who also live long, happy, healthy lives free of heritable disease. We have a strong interest in canine genetics, and we have taken various steps through our breeding program to help ensure genetic diversity and health in the dogs we breed, own, and exhibit.

We are very blessed to have an amazing mentor in the breed, Betty Hodges. Our continued success is in large part due to Betty's expert guidance. Betty was smart enough to let us make certain mistakes while preventing us from making others. We lived close together in California allowing us to witness many generations of "Rosewood" dogs while learning from a breeder with 25 years experience. Along with Betty, we have drawn on the expertise of fanciers and friends such as Peter Rank (Salutaire/Rosewood), Wendy and Amanda Kelly (Fwaggle), and Gary and Judy Anderson (Oasis). As educated professionals, we know the key to success at any venture is to listen to and learn from the best of the best. It's a lesson that has served us well in the dog fancy.

Our dogs are competitive at the highest levels of the sport of purebred dogs. We have produced multiple Best in Show (BIS), Best in Specialty Show (BISS), Group winning and placingdogs of both varieties, and dogs we have owned and/or bred have won BISS at US National Specialties,  BOV in both varieties at US National Specialties, and BOV at the AKC/Royal Canin National Championships.