My Philosophy
4 Paws - My GOAL
To have a breeding program that produces mini Aussie's that are true in temperament, workability and structure to the standard Aussie. I have had the pleasure to own and understand the standard Aussie over 30 years and the only thing that my mini Aussie's will differ from them is the size. If you watch my site, you will see dogs come and go as I test new dogs for their true Aussie temperament, workability and lastly structure. If they have the looks and structure but not the true Aussie personality, they do not stay in my program. I am a strong believer in maintaining the true Aussie personality, first and foremost. I do not believe in breeding to dogs because of size, color or heritage value when they do not have the true Aussie personality traits. Likewise on the reverse side if they do not meet my criteria for soundness and structure they will not stay in my program. Dogs that you see on my site that are kept for breeding, I consider the whole package and are a good representation of the Australian Shepherd. I rate my dogs, "Aussie" personalities on a scale of A, B & C. The scale and meanings are listed below. I developed this scale from my 38 years experience with Australian Shepherds.
A +
A take anywhere Aussie. Nothing rattles their nature. Thinks every ride in the car is an adventure and has the tongue out the window happy face for every ride. They are your shadow and tripping stone. You trip on them because they are so underfoot. They are attentive to your emotions. Are obedient with or without training. Easy to have off leash because their desire is to be with you. No socialization is needed, they already have that trait and it flows freely. Easily trains and enjoys it. (+) adds to the nature defined as A. For example A+ would be a dog with the the nature described as A with added ball drive or herding drive. )
B + or -
An Aussie, that you can take anywhere, but might get stressed by new surroundings. They may show signs of some nervousness or hesitation, but easily shakes it off and settles down. Socialization may be needed to get past the hesitation of new surroundings. Very happy to be obedient. Another off leash personality but may need training to ground them. Likes to go for car rides even though they are unsure of the destination. Easily trains. May not be underfoot, but doesn't let you get to far away without coming to look for you. (+) adds to the nature defined as B. For example B+ would be a dog with the nature described as B with added ball drive or herding drive. (-) would take away from the nature described as B if they can not shake off a nervousness/hesitation from a new surrounding. )
C
An Aussie with moderate shy tendencies in new surroundings. Doesn't like to go with you in a vehicle. Would rather stay home. But and there is a big but - once they get out, seem to fair well. They let people come up and pet them and actually shows a willingness to seek petting. They seem to shake off most of the anxiety of the ride. They may also have shy tendencies at home. They are mindful but are worried by any pressure you put on them. They are still obedient but have a more subdued tendency. I consider this trait on the boarder line of Aussie personality. I don't want many of these personalities in my program and will not breed two C personalities together. I find there is no + or - to this personality.
Note :
A protective nature which is found in alot of Aussie personalities and should not be determined a bad trait, unless it is vicous. Aussies can be very protective of their owner in many ways and levels. But acting like a german shepherd is not one of those.
Sometimes an Aussie will be one personality type as a puppy and mature into another. It will not be
a drastic change but they may go from a C to a B- or a B+ could mature to an A personality. If I see they are a C personality or lower, I try to give the puppies time to mature to see if the personality is going to improve. Usually what you see as a puppy is what you get. Maturing and training sometimes develops the ability to shake off things but it will not be far from the initial personality trait seen.
I use the term "Shake off" which means when a dog to comes into a situation that scares them or makes them nervous or unsure, they have the personality and thought pattern to see and figure out that they are ok and get past the nervousness.
Puppies:
All of our puppies are raised in our home and handled from birth. The following information describes how our puppies are started.
HANDLED: The puppies are handled daily, so they are used to being picked up, carried, moved around and inspected. They are walked around daily so they are used to the overhead presence. As they get older, they learn to walk around with us. They learn to take food from our hand. I think this is an important exchange with a dog that builds trust so we start it from a very young age. The puppies are also handled by the other dogs daily. This helps them adapt to a variety of dog personalities.
LIVING AREA: We help maintain the natural instincts taught by the mother to keep living areas clean. When it comes to a dogs living area, they are clean from the teachings of their mother. Our puppies begin learning housebreaking while at our home and will learn to use a doggie door before they leave. This way they start learning to keep their area clean early and are easier to house break for the new owners.
The puppies are moved from a whelping box around 4 wks old to a small outside yard during the day if weather permits and the puppies are up to it. This is the time that their mom can teach them to go the bathroom away from where they sleep and eat. They have an inside room to come into with bedding (blankets and sheets) their water, food and toys. I don't like using shavings or any other material in the room that will easily hold any mistakes. That increases the temptation for mistakes within their sleeping area. Blankets and bedding can be easily removed and washed. The floor of the inside room has a rubber matting, so that mistakes can be easily cleaned and smells removed. A doggie door separates the inside from the outside. When the puppies are young, the door is propped open. As they grow bigger, the door is slowly lowered so that by the time they are weaned and leave here, they understand how the doggie door works. When the puppies are weaned they go out each day to this same yard with free food. Each night they come inside and go into an ex pen enclosure.
FOOD: I start introducing water and a food mash at the age of 4 weeks. Each week as the puppies learn to chew their food, I make the mash dryer till they get to dry kibble. I free feed the puppies till they leave for their new home. I feed ProPlan puppy.
Vaccinations & Worming's
All 4 Paws puppies will be vaccinated starting at 5 weeks of age. New owners will need to get puppy boosters at 9 and 12 weeks of age or as otherwise recommended by your veterinarian.
All 4 Paws puppies will be dewormed every 2 weeks starting near 4 weeks of age. New owners should follow a routine deworming schedule as recommended by your veterinarian.
All puppies being shipped to new owners will come with a health certificate from a veterinarian.
4 Paws guarantees all puppies to be free of contagious diseases when the buyer takes ownership of the puppy.
SOCIALIZATION: I socialize them with people as much as I can, and with all ages of dogs. I try to have them travel in the vehicle several times before they leave here. They will see a vet several times. My vet, his technicians and office staff always make sure it is a good visit to the vet office.
TEMPERAMENT Evaluation: I temperament test my pups at 8 weeks. This enables me to help define the puppy's personality so that he/she is fitted to the right home. It also gets added into the structural evaluation to determine if the puppy will be breed quality.
STRUCTURAL Evaluation: I do a structural evaluation called a puppy puzzle at 8 weeks. Evaluating the Structural Quality of Puppies helps me determine if the puppies will be breed, show or pet quality. This also helps provide me with accurate information to place the puppy in the proper home. The puppy puzzle looks at 6 parts of the body for structure that is in the Aussie standard.
OVERALL: I determine the puppies' overall quality by using the results from the puppy puzzle and the temperament evaluation. I evaluate whether I want these qualities in my breeding program. Not all puppies evaluated as breed quality will be sold as breed puppies. I may choose to sell a breed quality puppy as a pet based on temperament, or structure.
Please Note: We DO NOT guarantee the matured height of the purchased puppy. We breed as close as we can to the standard Aussie to preserve those genetics. Our adult mini's range from 14 inches tall to 17 inches, and most of the puppies will be within that range.
Breeding Adults:
Our Breeding adult dogs are not kennel dogs but our companion dogs that come into our home and travel with us.
Prior to breeding: I evaluate our breeding adults for true Aussie temperament. If they do not appear to have an Aussie temperament, then I do not use them as breeding dogs.
All our breeding dogs are shown in a variety of shows to achieve championships to the extent that time allows. We may start showing them as puppies or young adults through their adult hood. Showing provides an experts opinion of our dogs compared to the standard. On occasion, If a breeding dog is purchased as an adult, and it has not been shown, I probably will not show it.
We like our breeding females to stop breeding around the age of 6. This way we can spay her early in her years to avoid the possibility of cervical cancer. We usually place her for a nominal adoption fee.
All of our breeding males and females have an OFA rating of good or excellent. I do not breed any dogs with a "fair" rating in my breeding program. As indicated on the index page, we spayed a favorite female that did not pass her OFA's. Their CERF (eye exam) rating is clear/normal. We are beginning our PRA testing on all of our dogs. Results will be posted. Please see out Polices page for more information on Health testing.
Breeding our Males to outside females: All females will be approved prior to breeding. Due to the safety of our males and our facility, All breeding to outside females will be done using Artificial Insemination (AI) methods. Please contact me for more information on AI methods.
Approved females will have to have the following completed tests and results prior to breeding, based on the male:
Jack
OFA - good or better
CERF - Current year - Clear
PRCD - clear or carrier
MRD1 - normal/normal only
Thank you for your interest in a 4Paws puppy.
More information coming on obedience & training.
