Rockin' Diamond T has been raising Australian Shepherds for over 15 years now and have produced puppies that owners are proud to call their own. I wanted to write this page for people that want to know what our breeding philosophy is and about the quality of life our dogs have. What makes us different than big show kennels or backyard breeders? Why a Rockin' Diamond T puppy? Read below and decide for yourself!
WHY WE CHOSE OUR AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS!
We have strived to buy great dogs from proven lines! We love the breed and want the very best for our dogs and puppies! Even if you just want a good companion dog, it's nice to know they come from good stock. My foundation male Wildwest Wizard of Fairoak aka "Oz" has 40 years of selective breeding behind his superior Fairoaks line. I love dogs that include working and agility pedigrees because they were bred to be athletic and smart - not just have traits that are the current trend in the show ring. We believe Australian Shepherds are incredibly smart and more easily trained to listen to commands than some other working breeds.
HOW OUR DOGS ARE TREATED!
When people first started asking me if I was kennel my initial response was "No!" because it conjured up visions of small narrow runs and caged dogs. Our smallest pen here is MUCH larger than the size of a typical dog run and has decks, shades and misters to keep them happy and comfortable. All of our dogs get daily time to run the fenced 4 1/2 acres that make up our yard. They are all active and incredibly HAPPY dogs!
All of our dogs are indoor/outdoor but to what extent depends on the dog's preference. Mozzy is outside most of the time where Freckles is inside 90% of the time! All of our dogs get daily love and attention from us and our extended family!
WE DO NOT DO merle to merle crosses. Merles should NOT be bred to another merle because when some of the puppies get the merle gene from both parents there are serious consequences such as blindness/deafness. It is unethical in my book to breed merle to merle on purpose. Experienced breeders cull the defective puppies but inexperienced breeders dump defective pups on buyers or shelters.
Knock on wood WE NEVER HAVE ANY FLEAS OR TICKS! One advantage of living with very few neighbors in a hot dust bowl. We do deworm and vaccinate our dogs on a regular basis.
HOW OUR PUPPIES ARE TREATED!
ALL of our puppies are whelped out in our family/great room. We use special whelping boxes with protection rails and heat source. They stay indoors until they can jump out of the box (right about 4 weeks). I hate to see pictures of fences around whelping pools because if they can get out they need more room - time to move them to somewhere bigger!
Our puppy room is an enclosed Arizona room with a door into the house so I can check on puppies. It has it's own air conditioner or we can set up safe heaters in the winter. There are doggie doors that go out into the puppy yard. The puppy yard has a an awesome big pine tree, gazebo, pergola and room enough to play without getting lost.
Our puppies are handled every day and by the time they are 4 weeks I know every one of them by the temporary names I give them. I don't call them "tri male 1" or such because I want to remember that every puppy is an individual and deserves love even though it can be a little sad when they leave. When people ask me how I do it I just smile because it's hard to describe the joy and satisfaction I get when excited families come to take them home. I know they are getting a healthy happy puppy of one of the best breeds I've ever owned. If someone chooses a name before they go home I start calling the pup by it's new name. I feed premium puppy foods and make sure the puppies have adequate nutrition. Tails, dew claws, worming and first shots are done on all of our puppies!
SORRY, BUT WE DO NOT SHIP PUPPIES. I want to meet the people who buy my puppies - not to grill you or put you through the ringer like some breeders but to make sure you get and understand all the information for that puppy.
WHY WE CHOSE WILDWEST WIZARD OF FAIROAK TO BE OUR FOUNDATION MALE!
Since "Oz" was the sire and now grandsire or great grandsire to most of our puppies his pedigree, disposition and health is of extreme importance to all the puppies we now raise. Oz comes from a line with extensive titles and abilities! His parents are part of Australian Shepherd breeding programs that are, without exaggeration, some of the best in the WORLD! Both Fairoaks and Imagineers are Hall of Fame Kennels! ASCA has bestowed the HOFX title on BOTH Fairoaks AND Imagineers as in HALL OF FAME EXCELLENT!! (Told you they were great). Oz's sire AND dam have produced titled dogs (OZ HIMSELF PRODUCED MANY TITLED DOGS INCLUDING SEVERAL AGILITY CHAMPIONS!). I also chose the Fairoaks line as my Aussie "Main Man" for it's healthy genetic pool especially for eyes! When Oz's hip x-rays came back OFA Excellent for conformation I was ecstatic. While Aussies do not have as many hip problems as large breeds they CAN have hip problems. I know of at least 3 unrelated Aussies locally that have been diagnosed with dysplasia. Those owners then came to me because Thorin and Trivi are OFA Excellent. ALL RDT BREEDING DOGS ARE GENETICALLY TESTED CLEAR for the HSF-4 hereditary cataracts gene - that means ALL ROCKIN' DIAMOND T PUPPIES WILL BE HSF-4 CLEAR BY PARENTAGE. All our breeding dogs have also been cleared for the CEA (collie eye anomoly) and PRA (progressive retinal atrophy) genes.
My first Aussie "Risky" as in Sir Risk It All Blues was purchased after I saw a blue merle at a horse auction and wanted one as a pet. We had owned Queensland Heelers and Border Collies but this was our first Aussie. Since I had fallen madly in love with the breed (they are so much more biddable and willing to please than our Queenslands or Border Collie had been) we purchased two females and that was the start of something that has grown over the last decade into a more serious undertaking.
With each dog we purchased I became more interested in bloodlines and started pursuing dogs that were out of state. Risky and Bella were having a few puppies in each litter with excessive white markings so I decided to buy a new male with limited white. I found a local puppy but found out that both parents were co-owned by an Illinois Hall of Fame Excellent kennel by the name of Fairoaks. After extensively researching the line I was very excited about the healthy eyes in that line and the generations of winning dogs not only in conformation but more importantly to me in agility and working! I also know the cases of epilepsy in Aussies is the most prevalent in lines emphasizing conformation show dogs. Since we were growing beyond raising the occasional litter it was of extreme ethical importance to me to buy dogs bred for intelligence, health and disposition. As someone who has raised horses for decades I understood the importance of good breeding. Since dogs can multiply so quickly I feel good putting quality animals out there even though luckily most will go to loving pet homes.
My puppies come with both sets of papers in their puppy folder unless there is a unexpected quirk. Their health records including vial labels, dates and worming schedule are also included in the file. In the folder is also a 30 day limited health guarantee, 26 month hip guarantee, a copy of the puppy's pedigree as well as some housebreaking tips and more. I am a CPA so paperwork is a strong suit of mine! I don't do contracts or extensive questionnaires because I don't believe they are effective. As someone who works with lawyers and the US Attorney's office I know they are largely unenforceable as well. When I've bought dogs out of state I've made it clear that I expect to get the papers with the dog. It took me 6 months to get my papers from a big kennel once. In the case of Freckles I never got her ASCA papers and had to pursue her breeder to another state to get a replacement puppy. I want my buyers to have a smooth positive experience and get MORE than what they pay for not less.
I price our puppies at what I feel is below market for the quality and level of care the puppies receive. I feed premium puppy foods and make sure the puppies have daily attention and handling. I ALMOST NEVER discount my puppies below what I already consider a good price for quality, double registered puppies.
I will also tell you that some of the best puppies I have ever raised are bi/tri males. They are by far the best deal and the most pup for your buck! On the flip side every single litter the high priced merles sell quicker than the lower priced tri males.
I will most likely get full price for all my pups but IF I have a last puppy that is approaching ten/eleven weeks then I will consider offers. If you contact me before the pup is 9 weeks I can guarantee the answer will be no.
I monitor local prices and you are getting an EXCELLENT deal for puppies that are by proven producers of titled dogs and full panel health tested AND OFA certified for hips/elbows. There are some limited local lines KNOWN to carry hereditary cataracts so be careful! It can also take YEARS for an HSF-4 positive dog to fail CERF/OFA yet the HSF-4 gene that causes over 70% of hereditary cataracts in Aussies can be tested for prior to breeding age. No one wants their 7 year old dog to be blind due to lack of a simple genetic test that is now available in the states and can be used to pull unhealthy dogs from breeding. Just because a dog is from Champion lines does NOT mean it is healthy as a matter of fact some of the biggest winning show lines have some serious health problems. Of course my personal preference would be a string of letters (titles) after their name than a "Ch" before unless that Ch is preceded by WT or AT (working trial or agility trial Champion)! Don't get me wrong I LOVE beautiful Aussies but to me the breed should be more about what they can DO! There are many ethical breeders out there who want their dogs not only to conform to the physical breed standard but also stay true to a healthy all around talented performance dog.
38326 N. 12th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85086
(602)292-1969
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