Developing a Thinking Dog… A homesteader / farmer / small rancher came with his Aussie the other day. The dog was nice and talented. We talked about his goals and…
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The 2024 Working Aussie Futurity is in the books! The event went out without much of a hitch. Ten amazing trainers and dogs met up in Frost, Texas to share…
There is no such thing as perfect, that’s for sure. Several people have recently asked me about my set up. So it forced me to create some content. I like…
Terry Martin, home of HOF Slash V Aussies. KH: Can you tell me about your foundation dogs? Who do you consider had the most influence on your program? TM: My…
Author Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor had a little package waiting for me after a particularly tough day . . . I opened it up and was super pleased to see something…
[Originally printed in the 2010 ASCA Nationals catalog, it is reprinted here with permission of the author in honor of the passing of Roger and Audrey Klarer.] With Far More…
Susan Boyd is a Working Aussie Souce member with amazing photos and a recent video clip that led to this article. WAS:Can you tell us about your operation? My husband…
Ed note: I asked Joe some questions because of late he has been doing an amazing job of educating not only the Aussie folk, but the stockdog folk in general…
Sarah Martin, of G-S Ranch, runs purebred red Angus with her husband and his family in northern Alberta, Canada. She is available for clinics. WAS: How did you get…
This time the Stockdog Corner is going to be written for the pet owner, the breeder, large and small, the competitor in conformation or agility or any other doggy event….
STOCKDOG CORNER By Terry Martin in the Aussie Times (date unknown) After I found out on a phone call that my dear old friend Shiree Christiansen (Brushwood Aussies) had kept some…
STOCKDOG CORNER By Terry Martin in the Aussie Times (date unknown) In my last column I told you about some very interesting historical material I had received regarding the beginning of…
STOCKDOG CORNER by Terry Martin in the Aussie Times (date unknown) I had an interesting discussion the other day with someone in another working breed. Like myself, she had been in…
STOCKDOG CORNER By Terry Martin as published in the Aussie Times (date unknown) I badly missed my deadline with company here and got a reprieve so decided to do something I…
STOCKDOG CORNER By Terry Martin, as published in the Aussie Times (date unknown) I thought I would write about the past this time. If no one does that, it becomes…
You may see listings here and on breeders’ sites with a lot of alphabet soup. A number of genetic tests have been developed to better predict inherited health problems in…
THE VIEW FROM EUROPE: AN INTERVIEW WITH SANDRA ZILCH (S BAR L, Germany) interview by Kay Spencer How long have you been breeding Aussies? What is your history with the…
THE WORKING DESCRIPTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD Adopted by the Stockdog Committee of the Australian Shepherd Club of America on March 12, 2006 Introduction The Australian Shepherd was developed in…
HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD by Phillip C. Wildhagen, ASCA Historian (Working Aussie Source editor’s note: this article, published in the 1977 ASCA Yearbook, is a summary of what was…
WORKING STYLE: AUSSIES VS BORDER COLLIES by Jeanne Weaver I have been asked to explain the difference in working style between the Aussie and the Border Collie. I will attempt…
THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD’S ORIGIN AND HISTORY: Photo Gallery, Part One of Four by Gwen Stevenson Working Aussie Source editor’s note: Gwen Stevenson was a founding member of ASCA, who lived…
THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD’S ORIGIN AND HISTORY by Gwen Stevenson (Working Aussie Source editor’s note: Gwen Stevenson was a founding member of ASCA, who lived in Oak Run, California. This is…
REAL WORLD WORKING AUSSIES by Kay Spencer Almost any homestead, farm, or ranch can use a good dog. Used to be, every farm had an Old Shep who brought in…
FIRST SUPREME VERSATILITY CHAMPION: NICK DAVIS AND APACHE TRAILS interview by Kay Spencer Nick Davis is a person who should need no introduction to Australian Shepherd lovers, but whose name…
INHERITED PROBLEMS IN AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS Aussies are generally a healthy breed, but any dog, whether purebred, “designer dog”, or mutt, can have genetic problems. In most breeds, certain kinds of…
SHEEPWAGON DOGS These photos are of dogs used to herd sheep in the Western US from the 19th century onward to the present. Most are from Wyoming and Montana. It…
SLEEPING DRAGONS: HERIDITARY DISEASE AND BREEDER ETHICS by C.A.Sharp The world of purebred dogs rests on the shoulders of two sleeping dragons. The stockman in his pasture, the exhibitor in…
THE RISING STORM: What Breeders Need to Know about the Immune System Winner of 2002 AKC/CHF Golden Paw Award by C.A. Sharp A complex and threatening storm is gathering on…
THE PRICE OF POPULARITY: POPULAR SIRES AND POPULATION GENETICS by C.A. Sharp Consider the hypothetical case of Old Blue, Malthound extraordinaire. Blue was perfect: Sound, healthy and smart. On week…
CAN YOU SEE? Inherited Eye Disease in Aussies by C.A. Sharp (ed. note: C.A.Sharp is the president of the Australian Shepherd Genetics Institute, an organization ‘dedicated to the increase and…
SPEAKING HERESY: A DISPASSIONATE VIEW OF CROSS-BREEDING by C.A. Sharp Several years ago the working Australian Shepherd community was rocked by a scandal. One breeder was alleged to have produced…
BINGO! Understanding Polygenetic Inheritance by C.A.Sharp Everyone knows this old game: You place beans or other markers on numbered squares arranged in a grid as someone announces numbers pulled at…
INHERITED EPILEPSY AND WORKING AUSSIES: MYTHS, FACTS, AND QUESTIONS An interview with C.A. Sharp by Kay Spencer C.A.Sharp is the president of the Australian Shepherd Genetics Institute, an organization ‘dedicated…
JAY SISLER, THE MAN BEHIND THOSE FAMOUS BLUE DOGS An interview with his wife Joy and daughter Maggie by Andrea Scott Anyone who is acquainted with Australian Shepherds knows the…
NO TURNERS FOR ME, PLEASE by Tony Rohne I leased a pasture on the condition that I would run the landlord’s Holstein milk cow with the Herefords I was buying….
A VIEW OF AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD HISTORY by Linda Rorem Little can be known for certain about the origin of many breeds. With regard to the Australian Shepherd, various theories have…
MUTT THE RANCH HAND DOG by Tony Rohne I have looked for good ranch hand dogs for about 12 years now. A good hand in cow country is hard to…
A STUDY IN BREEDING WORKING DOGS: LAS ROCOSA AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS by Peggy Potter Ask ranch dog trainers what the most important thing is in a working dog and 99% of…
CEE HAMBO: A TRADITION OF WORKING DOGS by Peggy Potter Three generations ago, the area of California around San Francisco was much different than it is today. Basque shepherds moved…
INTERVIEW WITH SHERRY BAKER, THIRD GENERATION STOCKDOG HANDLER by Peggy Potter Many of us have the fantasy of being born and raised on a ranch with horses to ride, cattle…
IS IT OLD SHEP OR OLD AUSSIE OR ARE THEY THE SAME? by Red Oliver This very short excerpt of a much longer dissertation on the Origin of the Aussie,…
MEMORIES OF WORKING AUSSIES OF YESTERYEAR A pastiche of several discussions which have taken place on the internet board Aussie-Herders. Because of the nature of yahoo boards, there has been…
EVERYDAY HEROES by Mari Taggart Morrison Every once in awhile something will happen that makes you sort of stop and take notice of how remarkable our working stockdogs are. Those…
FOR LOVE OF CODY by Mari Taggart Morrison When I got the call about an Aussie that needed rescuing I really didn’t want to pay attention. I’d recently purchased a…
MY BUDDY BUZZ by Roger Moore This is a story that has been shared with others, but I always enjoy the opportunity to “talk dogs”. I hope RDT readers will…
THE WORKING AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD: What To Expect by Terry Martin What kind of a working dog is an Australian Shepherd? What should we expect of a good one? The Australian…
SO YOU THINK YOU MIGHT WANT A STOCK DOG by Terry Martin So you think you might want a stock dog? In today’s world of high wages, liabilities involved with…
JONES’ REDDY TEDDY by Terry Martin Since time is short, I decided to do a piece on a controversial dog from the 1970’s. This dog is CH Jones’ Reddy Teddy…
THE AUSSIE STYLE AND OUTRUN by Terry Martin I have said the ideal Australian Shepherd is one who will grip both the head and the heels. Every ranch or farm…
“THAT’S HOW IT’S DONE” by Dana Mackenzie A friend of mine, Kaye Harris of Crown Point Australian Shepherds, related this story to me some time ago. Names have been changed…
ROWE’S COMMANCHE WARRIOR an interview with Jerry Rowe by Terry Martin One of the early successful trial dogs in A.S.C.A.’s trial history was Jerry Rowe’s Commanche. Jerry and his dog…
SLIP AND RED by Dana Mackenzie Sometimes we are lucky enough to be witness to an age-old ballet played out in perfect harmony between man and animal. It leaves us…
THE MEASURE OF A PUPPY’S HEART by Dana Mackenzie Betty Williams, an attractive ranch-bred-and-raised woman from Central Montana, told me the following story: In 1986, my husband fractured his ankle…
SOME COMMON MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN TRAINING THE LOOSE-EYED DOG by Dana MacKenzie The term “Loose-eyed” refers to dogs which do not work with the intense eye or concentration of…
HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD by Maryland Little (editor’s note: Maryland Little was an early breeder of Australian Shepherds in Riverside, California. A paragraph about her was included in the…
WINTER WORK by Joan Holmes I have to say I was very pleased with my little blue dog tonight! In southern Alberta, February evenings are pretty cold. This night it…
THREE STORIES ABOUT RORY by Mark Hodges WTCH Bear’s Aurora of Windsor RTDcs JS-E RS-O GS-N DNA-VP Urban Cowdog: I was always hearing that trialing dogs that belong to “hobby…
WILD BISON: THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor Bison management problems had developed during the late 1970’s and 80’s in various national parks throughout the western United States. Part…
VANISHED TRAILS AND FADED MEMORIES of Australian Shepherd History by Ernest Hartnagle and Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor Some historians propose Basques and their sheepdogs from the Pyrenees played an insignificant role…
THE WALT LAMAR STORY One of ASCA’s Heaviest Heavyweights by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor and Ernie Hartnagle If you mention Walt Lamar’s name to a team roper or a steer wrestler,…
CARRYING ON THE TRADITION — THE TAYLOR FAMILIES OF LIVESTOCK story and photos by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor On a high mountain range in Utah, Joe Taylor grinned at me and…
LOIS GEORGE, COPPER CANYON, AND A DOG NAMED RED by Ernie Hartnagle and Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor Lois and Norm George developed their love for the breed in 1956. They were…
ROBERT CARRILLO AND CASA DE CARRILLO: A Long Established Name by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor and Ernest Hartnagle After Bob Carrillo passed away in 2007, we were asked to write an…
THE COW FROM HELL by Rhonda Falk Falkland Aussies Star Rt. A, Box 736-A Atmore, AL 36502 My first Aussies were Falk’s Falkland Banjo and Sheba. Banjo (Joe) is a…
LENDING A PAW IN INDIANA by Michelle Durkin I live in a semi-rural area of south central Indiana, where small hobby farms and livestock operations are mixed into the ever-pressing…
THE OLD WELSH BOB TAIL CONNECTION by Ann DeChant Working Aussie Source editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a travelogue about a visit to England and Wales in September…
IS THE AUSSIE REALLY A SCOTCH SHEPHERD? by Linda DeHaven a letter published in the Aussie Times Magazine in 1973 Aussie Times editor’s note: This letter was written to Linda…
THE EARLY AUSSIE BREEDERS articles by Jan Haddle Davis and by Phillip Wildhagen Editor’s note: these ten short articles were first published in the ASCA 1977 Yearbook, which included a…
THE STORY OF DAN, AN AMAZING AUSSIE by Ann B. DeChant I have been meaning to write this one for a long time. We lost Dan three years ago, to…
by Mrs. Roy E. Cotton Working Aussie Source editor’s note: Elsie Cotton was the 4th president of ASCA, and her dog Cotton’s Blue Bobby and his son Mays Adobe Rebel,…
JACK, THE HANDIEST DOG I EVER TRAINED by Cyn-Dee Cooper This year I had the honor of training a really good Australian Shepherd named Jack for sixty days. Jack was…
OLD DOGS NEVER DIE YOUNG by Dr. Leroy Boyd (editor’s note: although this data was elicited from Border Collies, Aussies might very possibly come up with similar responses.) We have…
THE CROOKED H RANCH by Charlie Berthout Working Aussie Source editor’s note: this is a letter sent to Terry Martin, which appeared in her Aussie Times column, ‘Stockdog Corner’. Crooked…
SIT, STAY, HEAL : DIANA DECKER interview by Jen Barol It is Diana Decker’s hard-working bond with Gus and Shine and the other herding dogs she trains that keeps her…
POPULATION GENETICS AND BREEDING by John Armstrong Editors note: This article was originally published on The Canine Diversity Project website, which contains a wealth of material on the same subject….
DOG TALES FROM A CATTLEMAN by Norm Andrews Working Aussie Source editor’s note: this photo essay originally appeared in Terry Martin’s Stockdog Corner column in The Aussie Times, with the…
THE STORY OF ALLEN’S EBONY JOE by Lilian Allen I first became interested in Australian Shepherds in the early 1970’s, watching them help with show cattle at the livestock shows….
