I started in the early 90’s, my dad constantly talking with a double Merle Aussie pup given to us by a neighbor. Pup was both blind and deaf so I got to experience the hardships of what it is like to own a dog with this severe handicap, from extreme stranger aggression to memorizing the layout of the house. At the time I just wanted a normal Aussie pup to play with, the double Merle “Blindy” bonded with my father and lives to be about 13 yrs old.
I begged and pleaded for a normal Aussie of my own foe so long, a few years after Blindy was given to us, my father bought me a $150 Aussie that had so much excessive white I now think back he may also have been a double Merle. But I loved him, Deja was his name, he could see and hear and went everywhere with me when I went trail riding. I attempted to work the goats that we raised with him but neither of us knew what we were doing and so it never led to much especially when I could just rattle a bucket and catch the goats.
Unfortunately my parents didn’t spay or neuter either dog, we tried to keep them apart during heat cycles, apparently not hard enough as Blindy ended up with a litter of double merles when Deja was old enough to breed. ALL except one was completely white with a spot or two. She was a good mom but neither could hear or see so most died. 3 lived, 2 could hear and see. We kept 2 and gave the one to a friend that understood they were getting a double Merle. When the pups were around 5 months old, Deja (the sire), developed sores all over his body. He eventually went blind and deaf. The vet told us in Aussies “it Happens”, looking back I think there were so many double merles the vets just attributed to that and didn’t look further. He was only 2 when he died.
I mourned Deja, I had gotten what I thought was a normal Aussie and he was dead at 2. At the same time my parents got divorced and I chose to live with my father. I had made a horse trail to his house and one of Dejas 6-8 month old pups followed me when I left and moved in with my father. I returned him my moms where he had grown up and he just followed me back refusing to leave me. I did not want this pup. I had just lost Deja, my best friend and I didn’t want to get attached to another dog. Taboo which I later named him refused to leave and growled at any stranger that came around me. How was I to turn away a dog that so obviously loved me at a young age. I was 18 at the time.
For many years Taboo was the dog I had been looking for. He kept me safe from questionable people and was the first Aussie that “chose me”. He was unregistered and even had a tail. He was hard headed but the perfect companion dog in my opinion.
During these years my father ended up getting another Aussie for me, her name was Bear. She was super tiny and sweet. Registered National Stock Dog. I’m not sure we ever entertained the idea of breeding at that time we just loved having them with us due to their intelligence and versatility. A few months later I also found a black Tri female from Mill Creek bloodlines, Not that I even knew what that was at the time, but I had to travel for her. She was my first introduction into the show bred Aussies. She was a happy little dog never met a stranger I think she would’ve left with just about anyone. Unfortunately we lived very close to a back road that people love to drive fast on so she only live to be about three years old.
During all of this time taboo and bear were still alive. Bear was not receptive to any breeding so we never had any pups with her during that time. At later date Taboo was neutered as I didn’t want any unregistered pups.
A couple of years passed, I ended up getting married, and my father bought me another, a solid black Australian Shepherd female her name was Siana and I decided to try to find a male That was also registered to try and raise a litter of pups. At that time national stockdog was the only registry that I could could find close in the area and I didn’t really like the happy go lucky AKC Aussie I had previously.
The registry was open for national stockdog to become AKC as it was the beginning of recognizing the Australian Shepherd and ASCA still had their registrations open, so I figured any dog that I found I could later hardship into the registry.
I found not far from me a litter of pups and the only one that was left available was a minimal merle minimal white Australian Shepherd that I later named Devu. He was everything that I had remembered an Australian Shepherd being smart good looks super talented. He loved playing frisbee and would do tricks. He was an extremely loyal, smart, and lived to be 13. I loved him so much that I bought his full sister Ryja a year after I got him.
During this timeframe Devu and Seanna ended up having pups, I began to cultivate my knowledge of whelping and raising pups. They had a lot of nicely colored litters over the next couple of years, mostly minimal colors and my fondness for minimal coloring grew.
I never sent in for their AKC or ASCA because I began to notice the dogs that were AKC were not at all intelligent like the NSDR dogs I had were and I was not planning to compete so thought it pointless.
I was working at the time at Kentucky Down Under and part of my job there was to do Stockdog demonstrations with trained border collies. I was in awe at how talented they were and was certain that Aussies could be as talented. I obtained my first sheep, bottle babies, but my dogs were useless when working them
I begged and pleaded for a normal Aussie of my own foe so long, a few years after Blindy was given to us, my father bought me a $150 Aussie that had so much excessive white I now think back he may also have been a double Merle. But I loved him, Deja was his name, he could see and hear and went everywhere with me when I went trail riding. I attempted to work the goats that we raised with him but neither of us knew what we were doing and so it never led to much especially when I could just rattle a bucket and catch the goats.
Unfortunately my parents didn’t spay or neuter either dog, we tried to keep them apart during heat cycles, apparently not hard enough as Blindy ended up with a litter of double merles when Deja was old enough to breed. ALL except one was completely white with a spot or two. She was a good mom but neither could hear or see so most died. 3 lived, 2 could hear and see. We kept 2 and gave the one to a friend that understood they were getting a double Merle. When the pups were around 5 months old, Deja (the sire), developed sores all over his body. He eventually went blind and deaf. The vet told us in Aussies “it Happens”, looking back I think there were so many double merles the vets just attributed to that and didn’t look further. He was only 2 when he died.
I mourned Deja, I had gotten what I thought was a normal Aussie and he was dead at 2. At the same time my parents got divorced and I chose to live with my father. I had made a horse trail to his house and one of Dejas 6-8 month old pups followed me when I left and moved in with my father. I returned him my moms where he had grown up and he just followed me back refusing to leave me. I did not want this pup. I had just lost Deja, my best friend and I didn’t want to get attached to another dog. Taboo which I later named him refused to leave and growled at any stranger that came around me. How was I to turn away a dog that so obviously loved me at a young age. I was 18 at the time.
For many years Taboo was the dog I had been looking for. He kept me safe from questionable people and was the first Aussie that “chose me”. He was unregistered and even had a tail. He was hard headed but the perfect companion dog in my opinion.
During these years my father ended up getting another Aussie for me, her name was Bear. She was super tiny and sweet. Registered National Stock Dog. I’m not sure we ever entertained the idea of breeding at that time we just loved having them with us due to their intelligence and versatility. A few months later I also found a black Tri female from Mill Creek bloodlines, Not that I even knew what that was at the time, but I had to travel for her. She was my first introduction into the show bred Aussies. She was a happy little dog never met a stranger I think she would’ve left with just about anyone. Unfortunately we lived very close to a back road that people love to drive fast on so she only live to be about three years old.
During all of this time taboo and bear were still alive. Bear was not receptive to any breeding so we never had any pups with her during that time. At later date Taboo was neutered as I didn’t want any unregistered pups.
A couple of years passed, I ended up getting married, and my father bought me another, a solid black Australian Shepherd female her name was Siana and I decided to try to find a male That was also registered to try and raise a litter of pups. At that time national stockdog was the only registry that I could could find close in the area and I didn’t really like the happy go lucky AKC Aussie I had previously.
The registry was open for national stockdog to become AKC as it was the beginning of recognizing the Australian Shepherd and ASCA still had their registrations open, so I figured any dog that I found I could later hardship into the registry.
I found not far from me a litter of pups and the only one that was left available was a minimal merle minimal white Australian Shepherd that I later named Devu. He was everything that I had remembered an Australian Shepherd being smart good looks super talented. He loved playing frisbee and would do tricks. He was an extremely loyal, smart, and lived to be 13. I loved him so much that I bought his full sister Ryja a year after I got him.
During this timeframe Devu and Seanna ended up having pups, I began to cultivate my knowledge of whelping and raising pups. They had a lot of nicely colored litters over the next couple of years, mostly minimal colors and my fondness for minimal coloring grew.
I never sent in for their AKC or ASCA because I began to notice the dogs that were AKC were not at all intelligent like the NSDR dogs I had were and I was not planning to compete so thought it pointless.
I was working at the time at Kentucky Down Under and part of my job there was to do Stockdog demonstrations with trained border collies. I was in awe at how talented they were and was certain that Aussies could be as talented. I obtained my first sheep, bottle babies, but my dogs were useless when working them