The main focus of our breeding program is to produce sport and performance dogs with an emphasis on health testing, mindful genetics, and temperament.
We have AKC/ASCA registered Aussies, AKC Miniature American Shepherds, and ASDR registered Miniature Australian Shepherds. We are active members of MASCUSA and ASCA and are a registered kennel with the American Stock Dog Registry. The history of these breeds and organizations, and especially their relationship to each other, is long and complex. Many consider the Aussie, MAS, and Mini Aussie to be one and the same. Indeed, if you look deeper into the pedigrees behind our dogs you will find many different registrations, but the important factor is that they all lead back to the same roots of Australian Shepherds. While at times we may produce litters that are registered with only one organization, our goal is to maintain lines in each registry, with dual registered puppies whenever possible. Doing so provides us with the greatest opportunity for maintaining genetic diversity within our program, while providing our puppy buyers with the opportunity to participate in the widest variety of dog sports and events possible.
Regardless of which registry one of our puppies comes from, you can rest assured the process for selecting each parent dog in our program is highly selective to ensure superior temperament, health, intelligence, trainability, and athleticism.
We breed first and foremost for soundness of body and mind, with the drive and athleticism to excel and play hard in any working event or sporting game you want to.
Our dogs are DNA and health tested. We use Embark health panels, Purdue University, GenSol Animal Diagnostics, and UC Davis laboratories, and every dog is OFA certified once old enough at 2 years of age prior to breeding, they have annual exams, are kept up to date on all routine vaccinations and veterinary care, and they are constantly evaluated and tested through sport training and competition. Our dogs are part of our family, and as such, they live with us and are exposed to daily family life as well as a variety of environments including but not limited to veterinary clinics, horse shows, working farms with a variety of stock (including goats, chickens, cattle and horses), dog friendly parks and restaurants, beaches, vacation homes, farmers markets, dog friendly stores and garden centers, dog training complexes, dog shows and competitions, and so much more.
Although my focus is on maintaining a high drive in our dogs, we not only use sports and competition to evaluate, train, and condition our dogs, but also to enrich their lives and enjoy time with them. Some of the activities we do are herding, nose work / scent work, disc / frisbee, dock diving, trick training, FastCat / lure coursing, and general fitness like under water treadmill and obstacle training for strength and balance.
You can find each dogs accomplishments and titles listed under their respective pages. We love talking about our dogs! Feel free to reach out with any questions.
We have AKC/ASCA registered Aussies, AKC Miniature American Shepherds, and ASDR registered Miniature Australian Shepherds. We are active members of MASCUSA and ASCA and are a registered kennel with the American Stock Dog Registry. The history of these breeds and organizations, and especially their relationship to each other, is long and complex. Many consider the Aussie, MAS, and Mini Aussie to be one and the same. Indeed, if you look deeper into the pedigrees behind our dogs you will find many different registrations, but the important factor is that they all lead back to the same roots of Australian Shepherds. While at times we may produce litters that are registered with only one organization, our goal is to maintain lines in each registry, with dual registered puppies whenever possible. Doing so provides us with the greatest opportunity for maintaining genetic diversity within our program, while providing our puppy buyers with the opportunity to participate in the widest variety of dog sports and events possible.
Regardless of which registry one of our puppies comes from, you can rest assured the process for selecting each parent dog in our program is highly selective to ensure superior temperament, health, intelligence, trainability, and athleticism.
We breed first and foremost for soundness of body and mind, with the drive and athleticism to excel and play hard in any working event or sporting game you want to.
Our dogs are DNA and health tested. We use Embark health panels, Purdue University, GenSol Animal Diagnostics, and UC Davis laboratories, and every dog is OFA certified once old enough at 2 years of age prior to breeding, they have annual exams, are kept up to date on all routine vaccinations and veterinary care, and they are constantly evaluated and tested through sport training and competition. Our dogs are part of our family, and as such, they live with us and are exposed to daily family life as well as a variety of environments including but not limited to veterinary clinics, horse shows, working farms with a variety of stock (including goats, chickens, cattle and horses), dog friendly parks and restaurants, beaches, vacation homes, farmers markets, dog friendly stores and garden centers, dog training complexes, dog shows and competitions, and so much more.
Although my focus is on maintaining a high drive in our dogs, we not only use sports and competition to evaluate, train, and condition our dogs, but also to enrich their lives and enjoy time with them. Some of the activities we do are herding, nose work / scent work, disc / frisbee, dock diving, trick training, FastCat / lure coursing, and general fitness like under water treadmill and obstacle training for strength and balance.
You can find each dogs accomplishments and titles listed under their respective pages. We love talking about our dogs! Feel free to reach out with any questions.
~ Additional topics of Discussion ~
If you ever want to have further discussion about any topics concerning our dogs, feel free to ask.
- Tails & Dew Claws -
All puppies produced here will have natural tails. There have been many studies done on how dogs use their tails and dew claws for performance during work, sports, and generally in life. The simple explanation is that dogs use their dew claws for gripping and for traction / movement, they use their tails for balance and for body language / communication. There are many tiny muscles and ligaments involved in the leg and paw that are effected by removing dew claws. Dogs will also use their dew claws to hold things like toys and chews. They use their tales for counter balance during jumps and turns. They use their tails during swimming. Leaving dew claws and tails intact give our dogs the full benefit of that additional dexterity and control over movement and balance. Dogs also communicate primarily through body language, and tail carriage is a major part of that language for them. This makes interaction with other dogs and with people more effective and easy for them. When done correctly by a licensed veterinarian, I believe they can be removed humanely. However, I do not think that cosmetic looks for breed type are worth the disadvantages the dogs have afterwards. The only exception I make to that is for any vestigial dew claws - dew claws that are not attached structurally and are loose - which provide significantly greater risk for injury. For all the above reasons, I also do not breed specifically for the natural bobtail gene that is present in the breed. I prefer dogs with full tails.
I also will not alter ear set for several reasons. The first being that ear set has absolutely no effect on the performance, health, or wellbeing of our dogs. Ear set is defined in the breed standard for one reason and one reason alone. Type. As a breeder, if your goal is to breed very typey dogs, then I feel altering ear set is counter productive to the goal of producing naturally correct dogs. There is also a stigma or bias in the breed against perfectly acceptable ear sets, as the current fad in the show ring prefers button ears (forward folded ears). However, rose ears or mismatched ear sets are also perfectly within standard. We do not and will never breed to meet current show ring fads.
- Payments / Deposits / Process for Puppy Picks -
Puppies will be sold on a spay/neuter contract and are priced depending on who the parents are of the litter. Prices range between $2,000 - $3,000. Prices are subject to change and will be updated on the website. All puppies in a litter will be priced the same regardless of color or gender.
We are open to discussion for co-ownership or full rights on breeding prospects, which will be decided on a case by case basis.
You can ask to be placed on our wait-list for future litters without placing a deposit. Once the litter is born, and discussions are had with everyone as the litter develops, I will start taking deposits. Deposits are $300 to secure your spot on our waitlist, and are nonrefundable. Your deposit is applied towards the total purchase price of your puppy (which means you will place a $300 deposit and then pay the remainder prior to pickup).
I prefer to meet in person to get to know prospective puppy buyers better, but am also open to phone calls and video chats.
Once the puppies are born and as they develop, we will upload everyone on the waitlist with photos & videos of the litter, and can schedule litter video chats or puppy meet ups around 6+ weeks when they begin to show personalities.
Puppies are typically evaluated between 6 and 8 weeks of age, after which we will present possible matches for you and your new puppy. The process for picking possible puppy matches is an active team effort between both myself, you, and your family concerning what goals/needs/wants you have for a puppy in comparison to the attributes I see in each puppy.
Once selections are made, we will schedule pick-up time and location. If you need transportation, please reach out to discuss options.
We offer the convenience of digital payment through Zelle and PayPal, or we accept cash for in-person payment.
Note: We reserves the right for first pick puppy from any of our litters to further our breeding program. We will not always hold a puppy back for ourselves but since we breed with intention for each litter, there is always a possibility. Sometimes we will co-own our keeper puppy with someone so that they are still part of the breeding program but are able to compete in various sports. Stud owners may or may not opt to have second pick of the litter depending on the stud contract of each stud owner. Therefore, the first two picks of any litter are always reserved until it is determined who is available or not.
