A married gay couple, seven rescue dogs, and a 3D printer that got out of hand.
The 3D printer was supposed to be a fun project. It looked cool, we figured we'd make some little things, maybe a few gifts. Then the squirrels took over — articulated, segmented, ridiculous, and somehow exactly what people wanted. One squirrelly thought and a 3D printer turned into a print farm with twenty-plus machines running. That's how Oso3DPrints happened.
We're Jason and Chris. We met in 2009 singing in the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston. We got married at City Hall in New York in May 2013 and rushed straight to Carnegie Hall to perform — three hours between "I do" and the downbeat. We've lived in Hockley, Texas since January 2013. Still going strong. Still traveling whenever we can. Still printing.
"Oso" is Spanish for bear. In the gay community, we identify as Bears — so the name does double duty. It's also a tip of the hat to Osito ("little bear"), one of our dogs. Bear community, bear name, baby bear at our feet while we work.
We have seven rescues. None of them were supposed to stay.
Niko, a rat terrier mix, was the first. We came home from a night out and as Chris got out of the car, a dog ran up and bumped into his foot. We brought him inside — adult, no collar, no obvious owner. We found a rescue that would help us get him adopted. A few weeks in, we looked at each other and admitted what was already true: he was home.
Zelda, a lab mix, was walking down Aldine Mail Route, pregnant. The next day she had eight puppies in our living room. We got all eight homed and kept her — and we kept one of the babies, Osito, who's clearly part catahoula based on the silver-and-black coat. The little bear who gave us our name.
Yogi turned up on the street at 249 and 45 on Chris's birthday. He's definitely great dane mix, definitely too big for the couch, and definitely the birthday present we hadn't asked for and weren't giving back.
Xena, a great pyrenees, came through Great Pyrenees Rescue. We had her vetted and spayed and we were on our way to her adoption event when we turned the car around. She was home.
Duke, a shepherd mix, was the most complicated. He had a microchip, so we contacted the registered owner. She told us she'd reach out to her ex-boyfriend, the one who actually had Duke last, and get back to us. She ghosted us instead. So Duke was ours.
He has severe separation anxiety, especially in new places and on first days. We were upfront about it with every adopter. They all understood. They all promised. And then one would leave him alone in the house, or in the backyard, and he'd panic, and he'd come back to us traumatized. Three placements, three returns, three times we sat with him while he came back down. After the third, we stopped trying. Duke was home, and he had been the whole time.
And then there's Ruby. Ruby is a chihuahua. We rescued her and her sister Lily as a gift for Chris's mother, and somehow Ruby ended up back here, presiding over a herd of large dogs from whatever soft surface she's claimed that day. Content. Unbothered. Holds her own — nobody steps on her, nobody gets in her way. We lost Lily, but she's still here too. (More on that in a minute.)
Four foster failures, one mom we couldn't part with, one of her puppies, and a chihuahua who runs the place. They supervise the print farm, mostly by sleeping in front of it.
Chris's mom Rosa lives with us. She's part of the daily rhythm — helps with the dogs, keeps an eye on the household, and is family in every sense. The house wouldn't run the same without her.
Articulated miniatures, flowers, home decor, monkeys, dogs, fidgets, gifts, oddities. If it can be printed, sanded, and finished by hand, we'll probably try it. Custom orders are open — we say yes to a lot of things and we'll tell you straight if something isn't a fit.
Every 3D printer in the farm is named after a dog. Past or present, family or someone we love. They're with us while we work.
Osito prints alongside the dog he's named for. So do Ruby, Yogi, Zelda, Xena, and Duke — the pack at our feet has matching machines on the shelves.
The rest are memorial. Pepper and Porkchop were our first dachshunds — our first dogs together, our lives. Barnaby was their puppy, a chiweenie. Pitufo was our chihuahua, Chris's by paperwork but mine by choice — the personality of the biggest dog in the smallest body, a fierce cuddler who'd dart into our room, jump on the bed, and land on my chest to be loved on. We lost him before we moved into our house, and he runs the print line now.
Blondie was Jason's dog before we met. Bruiser was Chris's first. Minnie Pearl was Jason's. Sparky was a puppy Chris lost long before we knew each other. Trixie was Jason's first dog as a kid. Shelby was a dog Jason gave to his mother and loved on every chance he got. Lily was Ruby's sister.
And Skippy — Chris's first dog ever, the one who started the lineage — is our Wi-Fi network. He keeps the whole operation connected.
Every order leaves with a handwritten thank-you note. Not a printed card. An actual note. It takes longer. We do it anyway.
We only print designs we have the rights to. We're active Patreon supporters of the designers whose work we sell, and we buy commercial licenses through Thangs and MyMiniFactory. If we sell it, the designer gets paid. If you've seen a model somewhere and want us to print it, we'll check the license first and tell you straight if we can't.
We're openly LGBTQ+ and we don't make people guess. It's on the homepage, it's on our streams, it's part of who we are. Every customer is welcome here. Every customer is treated the same.
The streams are a place, not a sales channel. Chris sings along with whatever's playing, talks to everyone in the chat, makes it fun. If anyone shows up to make people uncomfortable — picking on viewers, slinging hate, any of it — they're blocked immediately. No warnings, no debate. The stream is supposed to feel safe, and we keep it that way on purpose.
Right now, we're just having fun — making prints, deciding which designs to print, picking colors and sizes. Every design is licensed; we choose which designers to support on Patreon, on tribes through MyMiniFactory, and on Thangs. Three of us under one roof, seven dogs, twenty-plus 3D printers, and a community that shows up. If that sounds like your kind of place, come hang out — on the stream, in the Discord, or in your inbox. We'll be the ones with the thank-you note.
Tell us what you're looking for — a custom color, a unique gift, a bulk order for an event. We review every request together and get back to you personally.
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