Tim Zisa

Timothy Zisa focuses on giving his Labrador Retrievers a warm, loving home and providing a safe environment to breed puppies. Zisa’s dog breeding business is ethically run, which means that facilities in which these dogs and their puppies are bred puts the welfare of the animals first and foremost.

Tim works with a well-known veterinarian in the area that helps to ensure the adult Labrador Retrievers are in the best of shape before deciding to breed. He begins breeding his adult dogs after the female Labradors have experienced their first season of heat, which happens between 6 to 18 months.

Once his Labradors breed, he waits nearly 12 to 15 months before he decides it’s time to breed once again. Zisa and his family work with the adult dogs and puppies throughout the entire breeding process until the puppies leave for new homes. Tim has families lined up to take the puppies before they are even born, which makes the wait list extremely long.

Tim invites the families that are waiting to take a puppy home to his facility to choose the one they want. Once the family chooses a puppy, it decides on a name for it and picks a collar. Timothy Zisa's family then refers to that puppy by name until it’s ready to leave.

Because he treats his adult Labrador Retrievers as companions first, Zisa knows and understands what families are looking for. Families know that the puppies coming from this facility are well cared-for and loved due to the humane way they are treated.

Timothy Zisa operates under a certain code of ethics in order to provide the best love and care for his animals. He began his breeding business by believing that breeding puppies in a clean facility and offering love and care makes for healthy companions.

Timothy does not breed litters if the puppies will be unhealthy or unstable. He begins the breeding process early in his dogs’ lives. The adult dogs need to be well-maintained and cared for by taking necessary precautions such as regular visits to the veterinarian, screening for genetic deficiencies, pre-breeding tests, exercise, and excellent nutrition.

Zisa looks for less than desirable characteristics in his female dogs. If found, he changes his focus towards a more even-tempered dog. Regardless, he continues to love and nurture all his animals whether they are breeding or not.
The general health of the puppies is important to Timothy Zisa. He requires that his puppies stay with their mom for 10 to 12 weeks. These puppies are nursed for at least five to six weeks. He keeps the families together because it is important that the puppies spend time with their brothers and sisters for socialization purposes. These socialization skills help puppies function in homes with other animals and smaller children.
Zisa doesn’t sell his puppies to brokers and will always keep a puppy for as long as it needs a home, which means keeping it forever if necessary. He keeps in touch with the families who adopt and always makes himself available for questions and concerns.
Timothy ensures that his puppies go to homes that will always love and care for them. Because he puts so much care into his own Labradors and their pups, he puts a great deal of effort into making sure they go to the right home. He always asks a set amount of questions to make sure that the new owners know how hard it is to take care of a puppy and in the right environment.
Tim does not overbreed. In order to produce the healthiest puppies from his Labrador Retrievers, he does not breed before, during, or directly after her first season of heat, which is normally at 6 to 18 months. With timing and the health of the two adult dogs being everything, Zisa usually waits 12 to 15 months before he chooses to let his adult dogs breed again. He also strictly focuses on when the female dog decides she is no longer ready to reproduce anymore.
At the end of the day, Mr. Zisa raises and breeds pup because he genuinely loves it and is not in it for the money. He raises his dogs in an open environment, free of cages and runs. Similarly, he doesn’t trap them in tight places and allows them to explore the open land.
Timothy Zisa works hard every day to perfect his craft and provide opportunities for himself, his dogs and the families who purchase his pure bred puppies. He does this by continually educating himself and through membership at the American Kennel Club, Dakota Hunting Retriever Club, and the Rapid City Kennel Club.

The American Kennel Club was created in 1884 to promote the idea and wellbeing of pure bred dogs. The AKC promotes dogs as family companions and encourages owners to care about their canine’s health and wellbeing. The organization also helps protect the rights of dog owners and helps to promote responsible dog ownership.

Dakota Hunting Retriever Club formed in 2002 by retriever owners such as Tim who want to teach their Labradors and other retriever breeds to perform in actual hunting situations. The club works together to train each other’s dogs and sponsors multiple hunting dog events.

Rapid City Kennel Club started in 1961 provides dog owners in the western part of South Dakota with ways to facilitate positive opportunities by offering training, workshops, seminars and other dog related events. The RCKC developed a code of ethics by which all its members must abide by, which include considering the welfare of the dogs, maintain the best possible sanitation, health and general care for the dogs, and must comply with all American Kennel Club rules and regulations among others, which Timothy Zisa directly follows.

Timothy Zisa will continue to provide a safe and clean facility and environment for his Labrador Retrievers and their puppies. While his waiting list continues to grow, Zisa will abide by his values to not over breed and produce puppies on an unhealthy and constant cycle. He will let his adult dogs choose when they are ready to breed again or not breed again. This process needs to be a natural choice made by the dogs themselves.

Zisa plans to add more acres to his already substantial plot of land to give dogs more space to run and be free. With that, Zisa will be able to offer a lot more options to provide a well-rounded and stimulating environment for the animals. This includes more agility training and hunting scenario training to allow the dogs to thrive doing the work for which they are bred.

Tim also plans to offer obedience training, day care, and behavior classes to citizens in the area as well as specific classes for hunting and agility only. The obedience training will start with puppies, which will include the pups he breeds as well as those who are not from his facility. These classes will focus on socialization and basic training including simple commands like sit, stay and come. The classes will progress to Canine Good Citizen where dogs will learn to be used for therapeutic reasons.

Dogs can visit the Zisa facility to learn agility and hunting skills. Dogs will take part in 8-week courses that teach basic skills in order to complete specific tasks while hunting with their owners or competing in agility events. Timothy Zisa makes sure that the dogs will remain boarded throughout the entire process in order to constantly work on their newfound skills.