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Aussies come in a myriad of colours, as unique as the breed itself. There are four accepted colours as per the breed standard(s) all with or without white or copper markings as follows; Blue Merle, Black Tri, Red Merle, Red Tri.

It is perhaps what initially drew more then one of you or caught your eye about this wonderful breed. To want to look further and see that there is more then just the surface ‘paint’ as it were.

Prior to a litter being born here at Fortis, there has been much thought and research that has gone into it-selection of the parents, health testing, titling of the parents etc.

Then comes the big day...puppies are born! Clearly I’ve skipped ahead here ;) However...Puppies are born and we see what we have initially (sex and colour) as at this point we likely have an idea of how many were waiting to come. If all goes well, we get them going with mom and then start, daily weigh-ins, pictures, updates and well...the details.

We are watching, interacting, working with, handling the puppies on a daily basis seeing what milestones they are achieving, how they are responding to what, or simply watching them sleep.

Meanwhile, wondering the BIG questions, who would be best suited-where?

Who am I keeping?

How does this puppy respond to this? Or that?

Is this puppy more relaxed-or that one? Does this one settle better, or that one?

Is that puppy eating enough? Who has gained, who hasn’t?

Is my bitch doing well?

These are some of the questions going on-in perhaps a 10 minute span of thinking, multiple times a day ;)

We are constantly thinking, worrying, wondering and...enjoying the puppies!

And then, there is colour ;)

 

Most certainly I have had my bias as well as several others-we get it! And go with who is the best in the litter, regardless of colour.  Initially I like many others wanted a Blue Merle female. The Blue Merle, because it was what first caught my eye, and female because I had, had predominately female’s growing up-it was what I was used to. And no surprise now, although shocking at the time, when I made my first couple of inquiries-I didn’t hear back from the breeders I reached out to. Rather then get discouraged, I did more research...

What did I WANT in my Australian Shepherd? Ultimately?

This question that I asked myself opened up a whole other world. What I wanted, and HOW could I find what I was looking for? And better yet, how to articulate it?

 

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