Opinions on breeder?

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#2
I ruled them out about half way through the first paragraph and this was after making myself get beyond the "Three Size Variations" header.
 

Fran101

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#3
CONS

As for the whole size thing.. personally I have seen some smaller than average/mini breeders that are decent, but NEVER any toy breeders. IMO to get an aussie that tiny, there is some mixing going on or CERTAINLY making choices based on SIZE over quality of the dog.

I don't like that puppies are picked in order of deposits received. IMO puppy placement should be more thorough than first come first serve.

and "This litter is registerable AKC as Miniature American Shepherd"... last I checked Mini aussies were NOT a breed under the AKC

No performance brags to speak of, which to me... is a deal breaker. I want to see more

Pimping of NutriVet vitamins. Pet peeve. AND nutrisource food.

In the contract.. SELLER does not guarantee the size of the puppy after reaching maturity. (er..so what's the point then?)

No info on individual dog temperaments. That's a deal breaker for me. No CGC, no descriptions etc..

Only one male.. and two litters from him (one current and another upcoming). Not really a "con" depending but I'd want to know why that stud was GREAT for both females and that it wasn't just..ease of the dog being there already.



PROS

They health test

Dogs seem loved and pups are raised indoors

All puppies are sold with a 26 month of age guarantee on hips and genetic defects as stated in Health Guarantee. (not the best health guarantee but it's pretty good to have one)

THey have a facebook page. That's nice to see..makes communication easier.


Not a breeder I would choose personally
 
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Maxy24

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#5
I don't see anything terribly wrong, they do health test and show (though I don't know where they can be registered and shown, so not sure how competitive those shows are). They have two litters this year (one already born, one coming up), so unless they are planning more that's not too bad. I suppose you'd have to talk to them to find out more about their breeding and raising philosophies. The only thing I noticed is one of their females looks a little wonky int he front end and they are breeding her. Maybe I'm just seeing things but she doesn't look like an outstanding specimen. Most Australian shepherd folks don't agree with the creation of mini aussies, or at least don't like that they are called by the same name as they are so different from the Aussie and there is really no way to know if other breeds were introduced to create them. I personally don't have a problem with them, but they are not my breed.

Are you looking to get yourself a Mini Aussie?
 

Fran101

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#7

stardogs

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#8
Their single male and one of their females do not have official hip ratings - the male doesn't have them listed at all, the female says she had prelims done, but she's 3yo and still doesn't have official OFA results - that throws up a HUGE red flag to me...
 

Babyblue5290

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#9
I ruled them out about half way through the first paragraph and this was after making myself get beyond the "Three Size Variations" header.
Why is that?

And the sizes I already brought up to her and she doesn't seem to care. So size issues with being "real" australian shepherds is not a con for this party.

CONS

As for the whole size thing.. personally I have seen some smaller than average/mini breeders that are decent, but NEVER any toy breeders. IMO to get an aussie that tiny, there is some mixing going on or CERTAINLY making choices based on SIZE over quality of the dog.

I don't like that puppies are picked in order of deposits received. IMO puppy placement should be more thorough than first come first serve.

and "This litter is registerable AKC as Miniature American Shepherd"... last I checked Mini aussies were NOT a breed under the AKC

No performance brags to speak of, which to me... is a deal breaker. I want to see more

Pimping of NutriVet vitamins. Pet peeve. AND nutrisource food.

In the contract.. SELLER does not guarantee the size of the puppy after reaching maturity. (er..so what's the point then?)

No info on individual dog temperaments. That's a deal breaker for me. No CGC, no descriptions etc..

Only one male.. and two litters from him (one current and another upcoming). Not really a "con" depending but I'd want to know why that stud was GREAT for both females and that it wasn't just..ease of the dog being there already.



PROS

They health test

Dogs seem loved and pups are raised indoors

All puppies are sold with a 26 month of age guarantee on hips and genetic defects as stated in Health Guarantee. (not the best health guarantee but it's pretty good to have one)

THey have a facebook page. That's nice to see..makes communication easier.


Not a breeder I would choose personally
Seems most of the negatives were covered in an email based conversation from both parties. (As far as I'm told at least). Only one that wasn't (again, as far as I'm aware) would be why that male was chosen for both females, I'll see if she can ask the breeder this question and see what happens!

Thanks!

I don't see anything terribly wrong, they do health test and show (though I don't know where they can be registered and shown, so not sure how competitive those shows are). They have two litters this year (one already born, one coming up), so unless they are planning more that's not too bad. I suppose you'd have to talk to them to find out more about their breeding and raising philosophies. The only thing I noticed is one of their females looks a little wonky int he front end and they are breeding her. Maybe I'm just seeing things but she doesn't look like an outstanding specimen. Most Australian shepherd folks don't agree with the creation of mini aussies, or at least don't like that they are called by the same name as they are so different from the Aussie and there is really no way to know if other breeds were introduced to create them. I personally don't have a problem with them, but they are not my breed.

Are you looking to get yourself a Mini Aussie?
No I'm not :)

I saw that female as well. Thanks for the opinion!

Normal is how those health tests should read, except OFA hips, which are fair and prelim good.

I wouldn't go to this breeder.
Does that mean you think she has lied about the testing? Is there anyway to get proof for the testing?
 

Babyblue5290

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#10
Their single male and one of their females do not have official hip ratings - the male doesn't have them listed at all, the female says she had prelims done, but she's 3yo and still doesn't have official OFA results - that throws up a HUGE red flag to me...
OOooOOo Good point! I'll toss that to her and see what happens.


OK, I might as well say my sister is looking for a mini Aussie and she is the one that wants the pup and is looking at this breeder. I'm a third party trying to help. :)

She wants me to go with her to meet the breeder probably next thursday or friday so I'm getting a bunch of things to bring up to the breeder and to my sister. :)

Thanks!!!
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#11
No, no, I don't think she lied. Honestly there is no good about lying when you have fair ratings. Fair is one step above you-have-bad-hips. The beauty of OFA is you can look up the dogs on the OFFA website.
 

Babyblue5290

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#12
No, no, I don't think she lied. Honestly there is no good about lying when you have fair ratings. Fair is one step above you-have-bad-hips. The beauty of OFA is you can look up the dogs on the OFFA website.
OH! Sorry, I thought you meant she said it was something completely different that a "good, fair, excellent, bad" type rating, like "1, 2 , 3 .." or something silly like that lol Sorry I misunderstood.

Now I see what you are saying and that again is a really good point. I'll let my sister know. I missed that when I read over it initially and i think she did as well.
 

Kilter

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#13
If you look as well, they did a father/daughter breeding to get the one female they're breeding. Really don't like that, though some don't mind, it's not a selling feature to me. That female is the one with the poor conformation too, not something I'd use for breeding. And having the three sizes but not really identifying or separating them.

I also don't like that the dogs that they must have had in the past are not mentioned in a 'past dogs' or 'retired' area on the website, does she still have them or were they sold when she didn't need them for breeding? Another personal 'not my liking' thing...

Not a rare breed, you can certainly look for other breeders.
 

Sekah

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#14
I know this thread is a little old, but I'm going to comment on the poor structure and conformation of all the dogs posted on the site. They're not particularly good looking dogs, to say the least.

You definitely could do much better.
 

Kilter

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#15
The odd thing is if you go to the brags page, the dogs there are much nicer. Not sure why they aren't used for breeding. Although many are still high in the rear they aren't as bad as the one female.
 

Keechak

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#16
They're claiming to breed a size variety of the Australian Shepherd, how much more of a red flag than that do you need?

If someone wants a small herding dog that looks like an Aussie but is more likely to be 20-30 pounds get a Mini American Shepherd or North American Shepherd don't support those breeders who claim something that is not true.
 

Babyblue5290

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#17
They're claiming to breed a size variety of the Australian Shepherd, how much more of a red flag than that do you need?

If someone wants a small herding dog that looks like an Aussie but is more likely to be 20-30 pounds get a Mini American Shepherd or North American Shepherd don't support those breeders who claim something that is not true.
I'm not defending that particular breeder, but the Mini American Shepherd and the Mini Australian Shepherd are pretty much the same dog. I don't understand condemning one and not the other, though I do understand not liking a breeder. ;)

*** AKC NEWS ***

The Miniature American Shepherd has been approved by AKC

to move into the Misc. class effective 6/27/2012!



The Miniature American Shepherd (formerly known as the

Miniature Australian Shepherd) was accepted into the

AKC Foundation Stock Service (FSS) May 2011

*Quoted from http://www.mcfinley.com/
 

OwnedByBCs

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#20
There is nothing particularly attractive about this breeder to me and I agree with the others, there are definitely some red flags. They don't seem to know much about structure or breed type- overall I am just "meh" on them. I don't really see any reason to go with them specifically.
 

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