Placing Puppies....

Nick with 7 week old puppy

What makes a dog worthy of being bred?

It is our opinion and practice that a dog's worth is not measured by its show wins, titles, or accomplishments.  Though these things can be an indication of a dog's mental and physical abilities, they are not enough to base a breeding decision on.  Dogs worthy of being bred are those dogs that meet the ASCA breed standard as closely as possible.  Dogs that possess the attributes of the standard, including a natural working instinct, a moderate physical conformation, a correct temperament and the right mental characteristics would be a basic foundation for any Aussie being considered for breeding.  Of course, the health issues that plague our breed should be checked in each dog as well prior to breeding (hips & eyes at a bare minimum, thyroid function, autoimmune and longevity are other things that may be tested or considered in making a decision to breed). In addition, a dog's bloodlines and genetic health must be considered as indications of a dog's potential to produce genetic health problems as well as the dog's prepotency for passing on various traits.  It's helpful to know what each bloodline typically produces or is known for.  These are but a few of the considerations someone might think about in making a decision about breeding their Aussie.  As you might imagine, it takes a great deal of knowledge (through research, individual effort and experience within the breed) to learn about the various bloodlines and dogs that have impacted the breed over the years.  A responsible breeder will have a basic knowledge of the foundational bloodlines behind the Aussie and those with years of experience in the breed will have a good working knowledge of these foundations.  

Show/Breeding quality vs Pet quality...

In deciding if a dog is of "breeding quality" or not, as you might imagine after my descriptions above, the characteristics involved are ones which may not show up in a dog until the dog has mentally and physically matured.  Hips can not be certified until the dog is 2 years old, thyroid function, working instinct, temperament and drive may not be apparent in a puppy at 8 weeks of age.  How then can a puppy be sold as a "breeding quality" or "breeding prospect" and why do they cost more than a "pet quality" dog?  As breeders, we've struggled with this question ourselves over the years.  Most breeders who sell "show quality" puppies believe that that puppy is of "potential breeding quality".  We just feel this is inaccurate.  Since we do not believe that "show quality" automatically equals breeding quality and we do not pick breeding quality dogs  based strictly on their physical appearance, we can not deem one puppy breeding quality and one pet quality  at 8 weeks of age unless there is some glaring issue present.   

For this reason, all of our dogs are sold for the same price.  We will sell all of our dogs on a spay/neuter contract only  or on a co-own if someone is interested in breeding.  The only exception to this will be for those reputable breeders who are already established in the breed or good friends whom we personally know and trust.

Rachel Randoja with her new Roanoak puppy

What Guarantees do we make on our puppies/dogs?

We guarantee satisfaction.  We feel comfortable doing this because we place our dogs so carefully.  We have 3 things we consider in deciding to place a puppy with someone...their experience and capabilities with a working type Aussie, their needs/desires in a dog and whether our dogs will fit that need (if our dogs will be happy in their home, environment and lifestyle) and their relationship with us.  With these three considerations, our dogs generally end up in ideal homes.  With that we can guarantee satisfaction.  Our dogs' well being and health are our first concern  and if someone is not happy with their dog for whatever reason, then there is no way the dog can be happy and this is something we do not want to happen to any of our dogs, which is why we have a money back or replacement satisfaction guarantee.  We know that problems will crop up if someone stays with a breed long enough, the question then becomes what will the breeder do about that problem?  We have a basic guarantee on hips (OFA Fair to Excellent) and eyes (Juvenile cataracts & CEA) and customize the rest of our contracts to meet the needs of our puppy buyers, depending on their desires for their dogs.   We guarantee a replacement dog or puppy if the owner chooses, or they can choose a partial to full (depending on the problem) refund, it's their choice and we put no pressure on the owners to pick one or the other.  We work closely with each owner and dealing with any problems that come up.  A good deal of our work is based on mutual trust and respect and it has worked out very well for us.

Jeff Acker with baby Mia

Placing our puppies...

We work hard to match our dogs temperaments, drives and intelligence with that of each and every owner.  We do not select your puppy, we do not name your puppy, we think that is part of the magic of getting a new puppy.  We will pick 2 or 3 puppies in our litter that we feel will best meet your needs and let you know which ones those are but the ultimate choice is yours.  However, we would like  our puppy buyers to respect our time and experience in the breed, our thought and efforts that went into selecting dogs and doing the breeding, as well as our intimate working knowledge of each of our individual puppies when we make recommendations.  

We do not like doing "picks" for our puppies, but find that, after our screening process, it is a necessary evil.  We have found  that there is rarely an instance where every puppy owner has the same desires for their dogs and those who do generally have different interpretations of what that means to them

Roanoak Gambler's Choice at 9 weeks

We have a strong preference that anyone purchasing a dog or puppy from us put in the money, time and effort to visit with us by picking up their dog/puppy in person.  We do not like shipping our dogs and have had wonderful experiences with people picking up their puppies in person.  We feel it is just another way to make sure the match is well suited and that each new family feels that they know us and can contact us for any reason after they get home with their new puppy.  

What our Puppies receive....

Our puppies will have their eyes cleared just prior to 7 weeks of age in which they will be screened for CEA.  In addition our puppies will be microchipped, DNA'd and have a health certificate if necessary.  

Guinness with baby Ellie

We practice minimal vaccinations and feed a whole, raw, species appropriate diet to our Aussies.  Our puppies receive 1 set of shots for Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvo only (between 6 and 7  weeks), prior to leaving.  We will work with each individual owner if they do not want their puppies on a strictly raw diet and can mix in a little high quality kibbled food at their request to make the transition easier for the puppies going to new homes which do not feed a raw diet.

Our puppies are raised in the country.  While our puppies spend a good deal of time in the house with us, getting used to sounds, sights and smells, it is our belief after years of watching young dogs grow that those puppies that are reared in an active, natural outdoor environment tend to be more physically advanced and sharper minded by 8 weeks than those who have only their home environments.  For that reason, our puppies will spend increasing amounts of time outside, from 4 weeks on,  to give them additional experiences and physical challenges that they would not get in the house.  

Joy playing frisbee

Our puppies are well socialized.  Our son Nick loves the puppies and spends a lot of time sitting with them and handling them.  The pups can also be found around his feet and racing around outside while Nick plays on his jungle gym, etc.  We think this is an ideal situation for getting puppies used to kids.  When Nick grows up, we will still make sure our pups are well socialized and exposed to children as we just feel it's an important aspect of their puppy hood.  

We take our puppies to safe new locations around 7 to 8 weeks to expose them to car rides, new people, new sights and sounds.  These trips generally entail visiting an agility class that runs in conjunction to one of my own classes or other types of "closed" environments where I know the dogs and people and know the area is safe for the babies.

We test our puppies on ducks at 6, 7 and 8 weeks (in case of any fear periods, we will retest the puppies at various stages) when possible and watch for those very brief moments of brilliance that we've seen in all of our best working puppies from our crosses.  

baby Brooke giving Monica a puppy smooch!

Our Experiences...

My experience in working with a variety of breeds of dogs in a variety of venues has given me a strong foundation and working knowledge of dogs.  I understand the various drives a canine possesses and how these drives might manifest themselves in puppies.  My experiences in the various venues gives me the background to understand what is needed in a pup to make it a good prospect for one venue or another.  I have been active in agility, obedience, flyball, herding, conformation, tracking and search and rescue.  In addition, I have worked extremely high drive, Schutzhund bred dogs, low key dogs who need  built up and everything in between.  As the lead canine handler for our FEMA search and rescue team, it's my job to assess and select incoming canines for the team, based on their various drive levels and potential as a disaster search and rescue dog.  I keep track of the various training levels of each dog on our team, help their handlers to develop an effective training program that meets each individual dogs needs and decide which teams are capable and ready should we have a deployment.   I've traveled all over the country, working dogs of every possible breed, of every possible temperament and capability.  I have a sound and solid working knowledge of a dog's drive, intensity, biddability (partnership), trainability, athleticism and structure for performing a job.  This background helps me in making criteria selections for breeding and selecting puppies for various jobs as well as matching puppies to owners...meeting both the needs of the dog and the desires and needs of the owners.  Its one of the reasons we work mostly with performance geared homes. 

Roanoaks Irish Creme with her girl Melissa!