Faithwalk Small Aussies and Miniature American Shepherds
Quality AKC Mini American and small Australian Shepherds are bred for sound minds and bodies
(19)
06/24/2024
đADVICE ON COOLING THAT COULD KILL YOUR DOG!!!đ
Every year its the same. Some misinfromed person with no qualifications or expertise or knowledge shares this stupid and inaccurate post (or a version of it) about how to treat a dog with heatstroke, which will ironically INCREASE ITS RISK OF DYING FROM HEATSTROKE.
đPLEASE PLEASE PLEASE....
đDO NOT RE-SHARE THESE POSTS
đPLEASE REPORT TO FACEBOOK
đHEATSTROKE IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY WHICH IF NOT TREATED IMMEDIATELY WILL LIKELY BE FATAL!đ
đHere is accurate and uptodate advice that will reduce the risk of an over-heated dog dying from heatsroke. https://drdavidmarlin.com/managing-dogs-in-hot-weather/
đPLEASE SHARE THIS INSTEAD! SHARING THIS COULD SAVE A DOG FROM DYING FROM BAD ADVICE!
WHY DO I SELECT FOR STABLE TEMPERAMENT FIRST AND FOREMOST?
This is a sister post to my health testing one. I do that because I care. I want puppies I produce to have temperaments that people can live with. It is good for the dogs and it is good for the owners. People wants pets, not projects. I don't throw health, structure/type/movement to the wind, but without a stable temperament, that stuff doesn't really matter. This doesn't mean every puppy will have a cookie cutter personality, but it means every generation, every litter, every dog I pay attention to what is produced and I adjust my future plans accordingly. It's not an easy path, but nothing worth doing is well is easy. I CARE about what I put out there because I know what a good dog can bring to an owner, and I know the heartbreak a dog with a difficult temperament can bring, both for dog and owner. Beyond selecting for dogs that are confident, biddable, resilient, intelligent, have good social attraction and drive with an off button, I raise them well. I have studied years so I have the knowledge to use methods that will help them reach their full potential, then I do my best to mentor their new owners to help them help their puppies to reach that potential, and to strengthen their relationships. I do all this because I truly, deeply care. -Jill Porter/Faithwalk Mini American Shepherds, June 2018 -
This handsome boy would love to complete your family. He'll be around 20-25 lbs, parents are OFA hips/elbows, CAER eyes normal, DNA panel clear including IVDD and NAD. We are in southern Michigan.
Great tips for properly socializing your puppy. As Jane Killion (of Puppy Culture) says, "socialization is a cultural understanding, not a cocktail party."
Dogs do NOT need to meet every dog they see either. Many dogs don't want to "make friends" and many lack appropriate social skills. If you do arrange a dog to dog meeting, make sure you are picking a dog with good social skills and an owner you know and can work with. Don't do it with random strangers on the street.
I teach my dogs to ignore strange dogs in public, not want to go greet them. They have plenty of dog friends with whom they are already friends.
06/03/2024
I just had over a hundred scam links posted on my posts here. If anyone tags you in something directing you to a group with words like "for adoption" or "rehoming" know they are 100% a scam based group. Please don't join or support them, or even interact with them except to block them. I try to catch and block them fast but sometimes their comments are visible for a few hours and I don't want anyone who follows this page to be taken advantage of.
06/02/2024
Deacon would love so much to be your special buddy. He's very people social and biddable, used to being a house dog with a big fenced yard to play in. He's going on 3, current on everything and is about 25 lbs. He LOVES to swim so someone near a pond or lake would make him happy. More in comments.
06/01/2024
Baily is THE sweetest little guy, is always at our feet, and makes great eye contact. He melts when you hold him, just wants to be your best friend. He should mature to around 13 lbs. Parents are OFA hips and elbows, CAER eyes, DNA panel including IVDD and NAD. 2 year health guarantee. Located in southern Michigan.
I wanted to write a bit about so-called "friendly" dogs.
Permission granted to share as long as you credit Jill
Porter/Faithwalk Mini American Shepherds. Written August 2020.
I have been in dogs over 35 years as an adult and have seen a lot of so-called "friendly" dogs. You know the type, the ones dragging their owners up to anyone and everything, while the owner shouts "he just wants to say hi!"
The problem is, most of these "friendly" dogs are in fact rude, have no social skills and rarely listen to their owners while distracted or highly aroused. Their owners lack basic understand of dog behavior and body language. So these dogs terrorize innocent dogs and their owners, often resulting in altercations and possibly fear aggression or reactive behavior in the victim dogs. Leashed dogs can't get away so may be pushed past their limit to NOT react. Dogs who think they HAVE to meet all dogs can be very frustrated when not allowed to, and frustration is the number one cause of aggression in dogs.
Here is the thing. Most dogs don't enjoy meeting other dogs. Read that again. MOST DOGS DON'T ENJOY MEETING OTHER DOGS. Think of it like this, when you are out in public, do YOU rush up to every human you see, get into their personal space and touch them inappropriately, just because you are friendly and want to say "hi"? Wouldn't that be SO inappropriate in our human society, and possibly have a negative outcome?
I have a little analogy I make when counseling my puppy buyers on this topic. Picture yourself shopping for groceries at the store. There will be people you walk past in the aisles without even making eye contact. Maybe you will make eye contact with a few, smile and nod and move on. Maybe you will run into someone you know and will stop to chat for a few minutes. Then when you get to the check out lane, you may have a quick conversation with the cashier. Those are all different levels of social interaction and all are considered socially acceptable in our human society. Yet people often insist their dogs meet and have more physical interactions with EVERY dog they see. It is uncomfortable for most dogs, and even worse when they are on leash. It sets dogs up to fail, to react, to lash out after more subtle body language cues are ignored, and it makes the dog lose trust in you to keep him safe and honor his feelings. If a puppy is involved he learns very inappropriate behaviors at an early age.
Instead of thinking your dog has to meet every other dog he sees, instead teach him to be comfortable seeing other dogs but not meeting, and not reacting. If you meet a dog you already know and with whom your dog has a friendly relationship with, that's different. But leave strange dogs alone. That will go a long way to preventing leash reactivity and aggression! And don't be afraid to nicely but firmly tell others not to let their leashed or worse yet, unleashed dog, approach your leashed dog. Your dog will be more comfortable with you, knowing you have his back. Teach him a "watch me" cue using food to reward him turning his gaze to your face, and practicing a lot at home first. It is a VERY useful thing to have a dog who is well conditioned to pay attention to you before you face distractions. And most of all, change the thinking that dogs have to "love everyone", "be good with all dogs" because neither of those is realistic!
Your dog can have a few friends who are compatible with him, and that will more than meet his social needs. But these are not dogs he meets randomly on the street.
We as owners really need to understand dogs, read their body language and honor them, not try to see them or make them into human "fur kids", since that is not possible anyway.
Permission granted to share as long as you credit Jill Porter/Faithwalk Mini American Shepherds. Written August 2020
Sweet little Baily is a super people oriented little guy who loves to be held and follow us around. He is a little peanut, may be around 12-14 lbs full grown, and has one blue eye. His parents are AKC Miniature American Shepherds though he won't make size for show. His parents are also OFA for hips and elbows, normal patellas, DNA panel including IVDD and NAD. Located in southern Michigan. More info in comments.
These two little ones would love to be your new best friend. They are home raised Miniature American Shepherds (mini Aussies) who will be on the smaller side of the standard, around 15 lbs full grown. Parents are health tested and selected for temperament. I've been in Aussies over 20 years and Minis for 7. Located in southern Michigan.
Angel learned how to do the slide today. She went up and down, then immediately went and got a piece of gravel and took that down with her. So silly! (And don't worry, I supervise them so they don't swallow anything.)
Let us help complete your family! These little home raised boys are girls are Miniature American Shepherds (mini Aussies) who will be on the smaller side of the standard, around 15 lbs full grown. Parents are health tested and selected for temperament. I've been in Aussies over 20 years and Minis for 7. Located in southern Michigan.
Let us help complete your family! These little home raised boys are girls are Miniature American Shepherds (mini Aussies) who will be on the smaller side of the standard, around 15 lbs full grown. Parents are health tested and selected for temperament. I've been in Aussies over 20 years and Minis for 7. Located in southern Michigan.
And the difference in a puppy from such a breeder and a puppy from parents who were bred "just because" is huge. :)
Don't forget that behind every responsibly-bred puppy, there's a responsible breeder who poured their heart and soul into them â¤ď¸
05/17/2024
Does anyone have a red tri (or bi) or red merle with a coat like this - where there are missing guard hairs on the trunk, leaving a scruffy undercoat showing through? The rest of the coat may be normal and healthy. This is not normal change of coat or shed pattern. We are trying to collect data on any affected dogs, mostly who are or could be tested with Embark. We have a researcher who will see if we can develop a test for it. It's similar to color dilution alopecia but dogs affected with this may be clear of the normal dilute genes. Message if you can help. Feel free to share.
These adorable little guys and gals would love to complete your family. They are Miniature American Shepherds (Mini Aussies), who are home raised, vet checked, from parents with OFA, CAER and DNA panels including IVDD and NAD. I've been in Aussies over 20 years, and give lifetime support for questions and advice. Located in southern Michigan.
Happy Mothers Day to everyone! Let us make your family complete. :) Health testing includes OFA, CAER eye exams, DNA including IVDD and NAD, lifetime support. Southern Michigan.
"We want to make your family complete!" Sweet littles that should mature to 15 lb range, very social and outgoing. Parents are OFA, CAER and DNA panel including IVDD and NAD. Michigan.
This is so good! I hate seeing people interact with dogs like this. Yes, I get my dogs used to body handling for grooming and medical care, but I don't nitpick all day like this, and don't tease them.
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To understand how Faithwalk Aussies/MAS is run, you have to go back to my childhood and life long passion which is to learn all I could about animal behavior, canines especially. The more we understand how dogs think, the better we can understand them. And the better we understand them, the better and deeper our communication and relationships will be with them. Since I was a small child I was drawn to animals, not so much just to have pets but to really observe them, with no other goal than to understand. In my twenties was blessed to have the opportunity to live and work with wolves at Wolf Park, alongside some of the greatest minds in the field of canine behavior. I spent about 10 years there and learned more than some do in a life time. I also learned how important quality of life is for all animals, captive wildlife as well as our domestic animals. Even when I got married and moved, my passion to understand behavior did not wane and even today, itâs the driving force in all I do.
Along with that passion to understand, I have a passion to teach. Dogs (and wolves) are great teachers if we step outside ourselves and stop trying to understand them through our human filters, but try to walk in their world and see things as they do. I never set out to be a dog breeder, but along with my passion for behavior, I also had a keen interest in how it was inherited. I knew it was not âjust how you raise themâ as I followed generations of canines, sometimes most or all of a litter, and saw they were who they were from birth and how we raised them did not change that. Yes, we could influence behavior but not profoundly change the temperament. This makes sense, if you could by how you raise a dog, profoundly change things, we would not even need breeds, but could take any generic dog and make it the best herding dog, bird dog, sled dog and so on. We all know it doesnât work that way. I also was quite familiar with how selecting breeding could change things in just a few generations, after having studied Dr Dmitry Belyaevâs fox breeding experiment. In that he evaluated thousands of foxes and picked a few hundred of the most âtractableâ ones (meaning naturally easy going, not too aggressive, not too shy.) He began to breed them and kept selecting for those temperament traits, but also noticed that physical changes happened along with it, traits we associate with domestication like floppy ears, spotted coat colors and curly tails. It showed how behavioral and physical traits are linked so we canât select for one without changing the other. I also realized just how quickly we can increase the occurrence of the temperament traits we wanted by REALLY selecting for them, and thatâs where my breeding program was born. Now this does not mean my dogs or any dogs are carbon copies of each other or any is âperfectâ. But it means selecting for the temperament traits I really value, which include biddability, resilience, strong social attraction, drive with an off button, intelligence (especially in problem solving), and overall stable, sound minded dogs. It means actively selecting against the traits I donât want which include shyness, reactivity, aggression, anxiety, fear, hyper activity, aloofness, too much softness, or any other trait that makes a dog less functional in itâs role as a companion much less any other goal we may have for it. This also does not mean none of the dogs I will produce wonât have some of those, but I actively work to diminish it by selecting breed, carefully evaluating what I produce and making necessary changes. And I actively select for the traits I DO want to see more of.
I also must have good health so do all due diligence there, by doing x-rays for OFA rating for hips and elbows, annual CAER eye exams, and DNA testing for MDR1, HSF4, CEA, prcd-PRA and more. I study pedigrees for all things including the risk of things we canât test for like epilepsy, but also temperament traits. Temperament is not just a gene, but is so complex so knowing what is there in the parents and relatives is key to making the best breeding decisions. And lastly, but still very important, I want good structure, movement and breed type. Even dogs sold as pets should have this so they can stay sound through an active life with their humans.
I have such a passion for learning and always seek to know more today than I did yesterday and this is no truer than in my program. I also consider what I do to be a ministry, since I know what a blessing a good dog is to itâs owner. I take my role in that seriously, wanting to help bring that to peoplesâ lives. I also want to inspire people to give their dogs a great quality of life, and that starts with understanding, and then play. Let your dogs be dogs, donât just make them fit your world but step into theirs! I invite you to check out my Faithwalk Aussies website for more info - the link is http://qualityaussies.webs.com/
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Now go have fun with your dogs!
