Sassy and Wrangler Christmas Puppies

All of our Christmas puppies have found amazing homes!!! 

Upcoming Litters: 

Shania & Wrangler (due end of January) 

Reba & Fievel (due February)      

12/21/15:   ALL OF THE PUPPIES HAVE FOUND AMAZING HOMES!! 

12/12/15: Update with 6 week old pictures, weight and estimated final sizes. 

Blitzen & Comet- 5 weeks 

Sassy blessed us with 7 beautiful puppies: 6 boys and 1 girl that were born on October 31, 2015!! These little ones will be perfect Christmas puppies!! 

1- Blue Merle Female

3-Blue Merle Males

3-Black Tri Males

We have very uniquely marked harlequin and tweed Merles, and minimal white Tris.

These pups will probably be small to medium Minnie Aussies around 13-16 inches tall 20-30 lbs.

They will ready for new homes on December 19!

But if you would like to wait to pick them up until closer to Christmas, I am sure we at Santa's workshop can work that out. 

We have decided to name them after Santa's Reindeer!! 

Deposits are half of the puppies asking price and they are non-refundable. Deposits and final payments are acceptable in the form of cash only. 

The prices below are for pet only homes, please contact me if you would like to inquire about breeding rights. 

All of these puppies will have received their first shots with 3 sets of wormer before they leave and have also had their dewclaws and tails removed. 

I also recommend that new owners use Sentinel or any other non-Ivermectin heart worm preventative when their pup is 6 months of age. * See my note at the bottom of the page for more information on Mdr1 sensativity. 

My ultimate goal is to find these puppies amazing loving homes, where they will become part of the family just as my dogs are. 

Health Testing

• Degenerative Myelopathy (DM): Normal (clear through parentage)
  
• Hereditary Cataracts (HC): Normal (clear through parentage)
  
• Progressive Retinal Atrophy/ Progressive Rod-Cone Degeneration (PRA/PRCD): Potential Carriers (Sire is a carrier, therefore theoretically 50% will be carriers and 50% will be normal/clear). Carrier dogs to not display or suffer from this condition. 
  
• Multidrug resistance 1 (MDR1): Potential Carriers and Positives (Sire and Dam are carriers, therefore 50% will be carriers, 25% will be positive and 25% will be normal(clear). This condition is very common in Aussies (1 in 2 will either be carriers or positive) and is easily omitted by avoiding Ivermectin, like I always encourage for Australian Shepherds. 
• Please give me a shout if you have any questions, these results can be confusing if you are not familiar with the testing. I also have more information regarding these tests and the meaning of the results at the bottom of my Adult Mini Aussie page. 

If you have any questions at all please don't hesitate to call or email me. (817) 996-9343 tianabond@yahoo.com

To open the gallery for each puppy click on one of the tiled pictures below their description. This will open up a gallery of all the pictures I have taken of that particular puppy on your phone or PC. If you are on a phone all you have to do is tap the picture to see the next one and the gallery will close automatically once you have seen them all. If you are on a PC then you can either navigate through the pictures with the arrow keys or your mouse by clicking on the "PREV" Or "NEXT" icons that will appear on the picture once you scroll over it. Then to close the gallery click the "CLOSE" icon at the bottom right corner of the picture.  If you have any problems viewing the pictures please give me a call. 

Older Videos! 

Post Breakfast Playtime!!! 4 weeks old!! 

 Typical Prices: 

Typically my Black Tri/ Bi Males range from ($500-$800)

Black Tri/Bi Females range from ($600-$900)

Blue Eyed Tris (Black/Copper/White and Red/Copper/White) males and females are very rare and because of that they are more expensive. If you want to ever breed your dogs and register the puppies you can't go wrong with a BET  ($1,000-$2500).

Blue or Red  Merle Males range from ($700-$1700)

Blue or Red  Merle Females range from ($800-$1900) 

Color Information 

(The information below is what I have come to understand and believe. The subject of Harlequins and Tweeds seems to cause much debate among Aussie people)

Harlequin VS Tweed

HARLEQUIN MERLES

For most of us, genetics can seem downright confusing; even when researching fairly simple combinations such as the genes influencing coat and eye color.  In Lisa McDonald's A FIELD GUIDE TO COLORATION OF AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS, she provides information and photographs on nearly every known variation of Australian Shepherd color, as well as the genes believed to create each pattern.  Better yet, she has managed to genetics!  

On the topic of Harlequin Merles, she states the gene creating this pattern is a "dominant modifier of the merle pattern".  In other words, a "Harlequin Merle" is simply a beautiful and unusual variation of the more common Merle color pattern. 

When a Merle Aussie possesses the Harlequin gene, the already uniquely beautiful Merle coat pattern becomes even more "exciting".  For instance, a typical Blue Merle would have a base coat of "blue" with black patches scattered throughout, while a typical Red Merle would have a pretty "sugar and spice" base coat with darker red patches.  In the case of a Harlequin Merle, the base coat color is muted; the depigmented areas appearing very pale, possibly even white.  In both the Blue and Red Merles, the darker Merle patches are also affected; a Blue Harlequin Merle may have Merle patches ranging from the typical black, to charcoal gray, to lighter grays, to silver - some with warm reddish tones.  A Red Harlequin Merle may have several distinct variations of red, ranging from dark liver to medium red, to a lighter red, to a pale buff. 

Though knowledgeable fanciers recognize the Harlequin Merle as a legitimate color variation, and a true Australian Shepherd, this pattern is not an "accepted" color variation in most show venues. As Lisa McDonald discusses, a controversy arises when we study the breed standard, which states: "...all colors strong, clear and rich...", she  continues with "In harlequins the different colors are quite distinct and do not muddy each other. The fuel for the controversy is that a very few harlequins have small lacy white areas on the body where the patch is depigmented completely. Some interpret this as a white body splash, a disqualifying fault in the Aussie. Others recognize that this is neither a piebald body splash nor the body splash indicative of a homozygous merle, but a byproduct of this type of modification of the merling action. In some harlequins the light areas fill in with pigment as the puppy matures, and in some they remain constant." 

TWEED MERLES

Another interesting coat pattern, seemingly related to the Harlequin gene, is called "Tweed".  It is very similar to that a Harlequin Merle in the way it affects the Merle coloration, but test breedings would be needed to know for sure if this is just a variation of the same gene or a different one altogether. The pattern itself seems to be more "evenly distributed" in a distinct pattern and there are very minimal if any areas on the body that appear white.   For a more complete understanding of the Harlequin, please review Lisa McDonald's Coloration guide.

Either way, there is no doubt that the Harlequin or Tweed Merle is a beautiful animal who will turn heads everywhere he or she goes... 

Heart Worm Information  

Aussies like many other herding breeds are prone to the MDR1 gene (multi drug resistance gene). This gene causes them to have Ivermectin Sensitivity. Some Australian Shepherds and Mini Aussies are highly sensitive to Ivermectin, available both as a single worming treatment and in a lower dosage as a heartworm preventive under the brand name Heartguard. Ivermectin affects the central nervous system in individuals to which it is toxic. Symptoms of vermectin toxicity include depression, excitability, seizures, loss of muscle control, drooling, coma or even death.

I have been told to never prescribe Ivermectin to Mini Aussies, because they are more prone to the gene. Supposedly 50 % of Mini's will have it. 

Interceptor is a non-Ivermectin based heartworm treatment safer for most Mini Aussies. Sentinel combines Interceptor and Program (flea preventative) into one pill.
All of our dogs are on Sentinel. 

If your vet prefers to use Heartguard then I strongly suggest that you get your puppy MDR1 tested. Here is a link with further information about the gene.http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/depts-vcpl/

We are currently in the process of testing all of our age appropriate adults for many health screenings. We strive to produce not only beautiful but healthy Mini Aussies!!!