FAQ's

I want an Aussie, what are they like?

Aussies are a working breed. They've been bred to herd livestock. This means they're very smart and a very hardworking breed.

They have a lot of endurance and energy. So if you like to hike, jog, or go on long walks, your aussie will love you.

We challenge our aussies intelligence by giving them toys that require some thinking and creativity (available online or at most pet stores)

They generally get along with dogs, other animals, and love children.

They don't go out of their way to get dirty, but the weather does not bother them. In thunderstorms, snow, mud, they just go about their business.

With a rough undercoat, they rarely need baths. If they get covered in mud/dirt, let them dry off, and if needed, just give them a quick brush. Puppies will need baths since their rough coat hasn't grown in yet.

Are your puppies AKC registered?

Yes, all of our puppies come with Full AKC Registration! This means that you have all rights on your dog, and you have the option to show, breed, do agility, etc. We will give you the AKC paperwork at the time that you pick up your puppy. You can register the dog under any name you wish, we don't say that you have to include our Kennel name in your dog's AKC registered name.

There are even Champions and Grand Champions in our dogs' pedigree.

AKC is basically a service that is supposed to allow you to see the puppies lineage (parents/grandparents/great grand parents, etc). AKC does not guarantee health, which is why we DNA test the parents of our puppies through Embark.

What is limited registration?

AKC offers "limited" or "full" registration. Limited registration means that if your limited registered AKC dog has puppies, the puppies cannot be registered with AKC. There are also other limits to "Limited" registration

We do not offer limited registration. When you get a puppy from us, you get the full registration. It's your dog, not ours, and we don't believe in limited registration for our pups.

Are the tails naturally short, or cut?

Aussie usually have short tails for 2 reasons: the breeder cuts "docks" the tail, or it's naturally short to start with.

Our female dogs do carry the bobtail/stubby tail gene, but most of our puppies end up with a tail, so we get them docked.

Why dock the tails? That's mean!

I know, it sucks! But keep in mind, the Aussie is a working breed, and plenty of them are working on farms with livestock. It would be very, very bad if a cow or horse ended up stepping on an aussie's tail. We get the docking done in the first 24-48 hours by a licensed, local vet.

Do you want an Aussie with a full tail? Sure, but you'd have to pay in full within the first 24 hours of birth. Just let us know so we can be in contact with you.

Why do the puppies cost so much?

A few points here:

First, it's not cheap to raise and breed dogs. There's the whelping box, a property big enough for the dogs to roam/play, licenses, dog toys, DNA testing, vet bills, marketing, AKC paperwork, lots of paper towels, etc. Even the food can get pricey, as we supplement our pregnant dogs diet with higher quality food, such as chicken/beef that you buy at the supermarket.

Second, the price is actually variable, based on age, color, and gender. We set the prices at birth. As time passes and the puppy gets older, we drop the prices. Some colors are in low demand, so those puppies are cheaper. In terms of quality and health, the color makes no difference. Buy for the personality, not the color!

Third, we research what other breeders in the area cost, and set our prices lower. We're far, far cheaper than many other breeders. Prices will be posted next to each puppy for sale.

*EDIT - with our last litter, we spent over $1,000 in vet bills, 3 cases of paper towels (~20 rolls per case), 1 case of bleach wipes, 3 bottles of spray cleaners, over 160 pounds of puppy food, over $200 in various meats to supplement the mom, ~$160 on advertising, ~$80 in new hardware for the puppy box, $18 in new feeding bowls, $39 in "Chewnola" snacks, $32 in Red Barn hooves, $114 of dogs toys to send home when a puppy is sold, ~$90 in toys while the puppies grow up, $118 on heavy paper for the box....there's more, but it's late....

Why don't you breed more puppies?

That would be awesome, but it's already a ton of work.

We only have a couple/few litters a year, we're a low volume breeder. We invest a lot of time into each litter, and get to know the personality of each and every puppy.

Puppies have no idea what to do. They have no manners, no idea of what's right or wrong, no idea how to live as your companion.

When you come to visit us, there's a good chance you'll see the puppies running around our house, not just locked in a pen like other breeders. It's because our puppies need to see how us humans live. They'll hear the television, hear humans talking, interact with the cats, hear the doorbell, follow mom to the food bowl when it's dinner time, feel rain and grass, learn they can't chew on shoes, play with dog toys and not whatever they find (like the power cord of my laptop!)

Each puppy has a unique personality. We spend a lot of time with our puppies, and we'll let you know how each puppy acts. Do you want a smart one? What about a lazy one? Or one that likes to cuddle? How about a super hyper one that loves to play?

Anyway, yes, we could get more dogs and breed them and have lots of puppies, but then we'd just be a puppy mill, and you'd end up with a misbehaving, happy little monster.

*EDIT - we socialize the heck out of litters, which is a ton of work. So we did a count for this last litter: each puppy met almost 40 people before going to it's new home. There's simply no way to do that if we had a litter every other month.

How much do your puppies cost?

Usually between $900 and $1800, some merle's being at the near the top

The cost varies based on our costs; If the cost of food goes up, so do our prices. The same for vet bills, dog toys, website fees, advertising, etc.

We do everything we can to keep our costs low, and we try to keep our prices far below other breeders.

Are you a kennel? Can I adopt one of your older dogs?

Sorry, we're not a kennel, although we do own several aussies. Not all are breeding dogs. If one of our dogs can't be bred (poor genes, poor temperament, etc) then it still lives with us and our other aussies, all spoiled, of course!

If someone needs to return a puppy to us, we may keep it, but we may list it for re-homing.