Where we've been and where we are...
        We are farmers.  We do not have a big ranch with thousands of cattle, but we are farmers none the less.  As such, we need dogs that can help us with farming.  Certain breeds of dogs are better at this task than others.  Border collies make good working dogs.  Chows do not.  This is because certain dogs have been selectively bred for certain tasks over the years.  We therefore owned Australian shepherds to help work the livestock and Great Pyrenees to guard the livestock.  The first Australian shepherds our family owned were amazing work dogs because they had been bred for generations by ranchers and cowboys  to be so.  Eventually our original dogs grew old and passed away.  However, since the time we first obtained our first aussies, a change or rather a split had occurred in the breed.  A significant portion of the Australian shepherds have been bred for conformation with little emphasis on preserving the working instinct.  We purchased more than one of these dogs.  They were smart, loyal, and all-around wonderful dogs.  Unfortunately, they did not have the instinct to help in the farm work.  And it was becoming increasing clear that Rose Marie and Lou were not getting younger and they really needed help on the farm.  They needed another aussie that could get the cows and goats up for them and keep the bull away at feeding time.  Early in 2000, we performed an extensive search for aussies that still had the herding instinct.  In the end, we purchased two puppies from Pincie Creek in Alabama:  Monty and Gypsy Rose.  Monty especially contributed a great deal to the dogs we currently own. We have continued to focus on working lines and have retained females from our litters that best match our goals and bred them to carefully selected males that will hopefully continue to improve our lines.