Australian Shepherd Breed of the Month for September
We recently visited with Emily Mabey from Green Valley Australian Shepherds, located just outside Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dog ID Collar: “Emily, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with Australian Shepherds. Let’s start with, why the Aussie breed?”
Emily: “I was six or seven years old when I had my first Australian Shepherd. I loved that dog so much! She had health issues that we didn’t know about, and she passed when I was nine, so I only had a few years with her, but I fell in love with the breed. I was completely devastated, and my parents reached out to everyone they knew to find me another Aussie.“
“We were living in Texas at the time, and my Dad found an Aussie in Utah. I had shown so much interest in the breed that the lady we bought the dog from mentored me about everything related to the Aussie. She helped me understand everything there was to know about breeding, whelping, socializing, training and caring for this breed. She was extremely instrumental in my education and when I started our business, Green Valley Australian Shepherds. It’s really important to me that no one feels the devastation I felt by losing their dog too early. So, I learned everything I could to raise healthy, long-lasting dogs.”
Dog ID Collar: “So, you knew at an early age that this was what you wanted to do. How did your experience shape the way you wanted to go about breeding Australian Shepherds?”
Emily: “Our goal is to be a reputable breeder, breeding sensibly, and always doing the right thing when it comes to breeding to standards. Which means health checks on the adults, and panels on all the pups. We always check for any joint, hip, elbow issues. Our goal is to breed the absolute best Aussie we can.”
“Aussies are known as a herding breed, which means they can be very hyper because they’re so athletic. Our lineage is conformationally bred, meaning they’re more calm, which is great for showing the dogs. This calmer breed also makes our Aussies ideal for families, regardless if they live in the city or in the country.”
Dog ID Collar: “Wow! So, there’s a lot that goes into your dogs.”
Emily: “I’m really proud of the program we’ve created. We don’t just breed pups and send them out. We are always in contact with our clients, even if it’s quarterly. We have an amazing group of clients, they’re all over the country from New York to California. Most of our clients are repeat parents, they’ll come to pick up their new family member from our location and bring their first Aussie they bought from us, so it’s like a family reunion. It’s really amazing how large our Aussie community has become. Social media has allowed us to stay close with our clients and support them much easier. It’s really neat to see people connecting with each other online because of their dogs' relationships with each other.”
Dog ID Collar: “For those of us who don’t have an Aussie, what’s it like to have an Aussie in the family?”
Emily: “Our dogs are a major part of our family. My husband, Jeff’s parents, live next door, and my parents are less than an hour away, so our family is involved with the dogs too. You wouldn’t believe it, but all of our dogs are swimmers. My parents have water on their ranch, and the dogs love it when we visit so they can play in the water. We absolutely love our family time together, we take the dogs with us everywhere, whether we’re camping, hiking, riding bikes, or riding horse trails. Jeff has done such a great job training, that when we’re on our excursions, the dogs come with us and they get to explore without us having to leash them or constantly be on the lookout for them, they stay close to the family.”
Dog ID Collar: “How many Aussies are in your family?”
Emily: “Well, there’s Dusty, Sophie, Alexa, Paris, Chloe, and Charlotte.”
Dog ID Collar: “Would you mind sharing about them?”
Emily: “Absolutely! Dusty is Jeff’s dog! We got Dusty one week after we were married. Jeff’s such a great guy because he embraced my dreams of breeding the best Aussie possible. We bought Dusty before we got married, then one week later I flew to Tennessee and drove Dusty back home to Utah.”
“Dusty is an all-around dog. He’s great at scent hunting, which isn’t common for Aussies. He has such a great vibe about him, he does anything that’s asked of him. He really seems to go out of his way to make sure we’re happy. He’s a great example of an Aussie. Dusty has sired 80 to 90% of our puppies so far, so when our client’s place their orders, they say they want a “Dusty Dog.” He’s got a great reputation in the Aussie community.”
“We currently have five female Aussies: Sophie, Alexa, Paris, Chloe, and Charlotte. They’re wonderful girls! A lot of people will ask if there’s any aggression between the females, but there isn’t. I think it’s because we’re all such a tight-knit family that they know they're loved. All of our Aussies go out of their way to make us feel loved. It’s such a neat thing about the breed, they go out of their way to make sure you’re happy.”
“Sophie is a red merle, she’s our Velcro dog. She always wants to be in your lap or in your face, until she’s satisfied you feel good. “
“Alexa is a blue merle, and she just makes you feel so good about yourself. She’s been a part of our family for about 8 months now. She came to us as an adult, but you would think she’s been with us since she was a pup. She sort of talks to you when she sees you. Her whole body wiggles from head to tail, it makes you feel so good and important to her.”
“Paris, a red merle, is considered my dog, well unless she’s around my Dad. She’s been great for him. When we visit my parents, Paris and my Dad go for long walks. My Dad definitely has an affinity towards Paris. When you first see her, you think ‘oh wow, she looks unapproachable,’ but you would be completely wrong, she’s probably the most loving of all the girls.”
“Chloe, a blue merle, is a fun dog! It was quite the process when we first got her. We actually brought her over from Russia. She’s extremely smart and doesn’t require a lot of training. She observes the other dogs and picks up what they’re doing very quickly.”
“Charlotte is a red merle. We held her back from a litter by Dusty and Sophie. We’re confident she’s Dawson’s dog.”
Dog ID Collar: “And Dawson is your son?”
Emily: “Yes, he’s our three-year-old. All of our pups have been socialized with young children. Our son Dawson is around the pups all the time, so much he might think he’s a dog. He is at their pen as much as he can be, talking to them, and caring for them. He calls the puppies his “friends.”
“When we brought our 2-month baby girl, Aubrey, home, Dawson brought each pup to her individually, so she could meet each one. We have a video of Dawson dressed as a puppy, holding one of the puppies, all while watching a dog cartoon called Paw Patrol. Dawson just loves all animals so much!”
Dog ID Collar: “What an awesome opportunity for Dawson, to be surrounded by puppies all the time!”
Emily: “He absolutely loves them. We love to share videos and pictures of the Dawson playing with the puppies and dogs on our social media. You get such a great sense of how much love and happiness our dogs bring into our lives. I think the videos just make everyone feel good when they watch them too.”
Dog ID Collar: “Emily, thank you so much for sharing about Australian Shepherds with us today! This has been a lot of fun learning about you and your family.”
Emily: “Thank you! This has been a lot of fun!”
Check them out on Instagram @greenvalleyaussies or https://instagram.com/greeenvalleyaussies
