the singing falls waterfall singing falls logo text capella, the goat shepherd's constellation

Barking Dogs
In the night
Fray the Nerves
Of would be
Predators
~ox-{

 

 

~~*The Australian Shepherds of Singing Falls*~~

 

dog barod
Acuva

To the left is “Barod.” The name is a Hebrew word meaning, “speckled, spotted and merled.” Barod is a beautifully marked blue merle with amber eyes, though both eyes are speckled with blue. He is “papa.” We are thankful to C&C's Northfork for the privilege of owning this incredibly beautiful male dog. To the right is our “Singing Falls Dayenu”, the dam - a very pretty black tri who we raised from puppyhood and consider our own breeding, having had her dam, Ponderosa's Acuva and her sire, O Sage Caleb for all those many years. The two of them, Acuva and Caleb passed over the Rainbow Bridge not too long ago. Caleb followed Acuva by about three months and I am sure they are together again playing tug of war again with some huge stick between them. (stick picture here) We miss them greatly and it is like I tell folks when they call, some in bitter tears telling me that they lost a beloved pet, Stan and I surely know how you feel. It is sometimes a heartache that just will not quit.

dog barod
dog barod

One more of Barod. (He's pretty and he knows it!) You can see the blue “specks” in this photo, as well as the rich copper coloration he sports.  The pups left in the litter are a little black tri female, Reba Rose, and her brother, Banjo. PUT IN PICTURES! For Reba Rose: A charmer with great stock dog attitude! A black tri with rich copper markings on legs, some on cheek. It looks like the mascara around her right eye was applied with an unsteady brush, creating a rather clownish appearance. She possesses both Aussie style and grace and has a lot of spunky personality, to boot. $250 Banjo is every bit Aussie, wants to herd livestock and is waiting for the right people to take him home. $150

Barod's PEDIGREE:

  • C&C Northfork Kat's Bear, pa
  • C&C Northfork Witherspoon, ma
  • Some of his grandsires and dams:
  • Patterson's O'Rafter Bottle
  • Lace's Patchwork of Red at O'Rafter Bottle Ranch
  • Meshlacon Cacho (O'Rafter Bottle Ranch)
  • Sunni Calico Girl

 

I discovered that back one more generation is Windemere, Flintridge and a host of well known names (including Las Rocosa) and Dayenu has a pedigree loaded with Las Rocosa from top to bottom. There is also a line of Flintridge in her pedigree, so for those that esteem lineage (I do), these pups make the grade.

It seems that with this breeding we have a winning combination; all the pups have had gentle, calm dispositions - and fun personalities, to boot.

Barod was named, by the way, by my spouse.  Stanley, a student of the Hebrew language, searched for the name for “speckled, spotted & merled” and found it.

Barod is, of course, every bit aussie, a blue merle with fantastic copper markings. He sports a full white ruff which looks elegant against his silvery blue coat. But it is his winning ways (personality) good charm and constant smile that has taken my heart away. Not a mean bone in him, he aims to please - whether adults or children. Bred by the good folks of Northfork Australian Shepherds (Molalla, Oregon), we couldn't be more pleased with him.

*****

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REGISTERED WITH AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD CLUB OF AMERICA (ASCA)

PICTURE OF DAYENU

aussie family

This is another picture of the girl we raised from puppyhood, our Singing Falls Dayenu, a black tri female we chose as pick of litter five years ago.

WE ARE AN HOUR'S DRIVE FROM MEDFORD, OREGON AND ONE HOUR, FIFTEEN MINUTES FROM ROSEBURG, OREGON. CAN MEET IN CONVENIENT PLACE TO CUT DOWN ON YOUR DRIVING TIME. (WE LIVE IN TILLER, OREGON. IF YOU WISH TO SEE WHERE WE ARE LOCATED CLICK “FIND US” ON OUR INDEX PAGE)

WHY WE BREED AUSSIES

This dog breeding business is not “arbitrary” with my husband and I. We came to love the breed (Australian Shepherd) more than 20 years ago in 1978, actually, after we'd purchased our first registered “aussie” from a breeder in Golden, Colorado. She was a little whipper snapper, Kukla Mooner was a blue merled aussie with one eye blue and one eye brown. In fact, Stan and I still rather newlywed at the time, made up a song that we dedicated purely to her. Actually, as I recall it exactly, it was my husband who thought up the song. After a long day at the Henderson Mine he would come home to us Kukla and I and if he sang to me I have long forgotten. But, for sure he would sing a song to her, and nearly daily. And Kukla would look at him adoringly every time he did so.

Kukla as a pup

Little Kukla at the age of 5 weeks

“Whose dog is this? Whose dog is this? Whose dog is this?

Whose dog is this whose dog is this whose dog is this?

With one eye brown and one eye blue whose dog is this?

With one eye brown and one eye blue whose dog is this?

Kukla's my dog, Kukla's my dog Kukla is a dingo!”

Well, the melody was a simple one, really, but she was totally in love with my husband and it mattered not to her that its simplicity of both word and melody left much to be desired.

We moved to Montana in 1980 and we took her along with us she and her nine pups that nestled under my feet in that blue Toyota pick up. The pups were sired by Las Rocosa Survivor Red, our red tri aussie of great lineage. And it was there in Montana, only days after we'd arrived to a “new land” that we lost Kukla Mooner - in a tragic accident under the wheels of a Montana logging truck. I cried my eyes out for days, or was it weeks. She was dearly missed. We still had the young red tri Las Rocosa dog, and his friendship at the time of my bereavement meant a lot to me.

We knew then that we'd keep one of her pups and since we had nine to choose from, we could be picky. We chose the one that most resembled her the blue merled female with the speckled brown and blue eyes. We named her Merlin and it mostly escapes me why we chose the name. We were living on the land, 20 broad Montana acres, building a log house and living our homesteading dreams. Survivor Red and his daughter, Merlin, were our homestead aussies and did a great job keeping coyotes and other predators at bay. They also hauled a few small logs for the log home in their bright orange harnesses attached to a sled!

aussies pulling a sled

Aussies pulling a sled in Montana snow

Well, as it turns out the years came and went and in 1991 we left our Montana homestead behind (again, with tears in my eyes) and moved to southern Oregon (where we currently reside.)

By this time Survivor Red had passed on and we only had the old gal, Merlin, by the time we arrived here she now twelve or so years of age and gray in the muzzle.

pup Merlin

Merlin as a pup in Montana

It took some time to settle in. Slowly we began accumulating a sheep flock Suffolk crosses (lamb being one of our favorite meats.) We also started in on a new facet of homesteading the raising and breeding of angora goats. Our goat herd was multiplying by leaps and bounds.

One day in 1992 I broached the subject to my dear spouse. “Honey, there's a litter of aussies advertised. Can we go look at them?” We had been talking about getting a dog to help with the goats and sheep. Australian Shepherds were the breed of choice.

I still remember my telephone call when I saw that ad in the Roseburg News Review:

“Hello I'm looking for an Australian Shepherd that works. I have angora goats and many sheep and I don't want to look at show case aussies. I want to find an aussie that will work.”

It was Roy Sage who was speaking on the other end and he advised me that he thought I had “called the right place.”

We drove out the next day and first were awed by Roy Sage as his aussie, Shine, maneuvered a group of sheep in and out of pens her precision as a herding dog flawless. Roy signaled her from far away using hand commands solely. She was the dam to the current litter that he'd advertised. I was sold already, but went to view the pups.

Four unsold pups remained in the litter. Nine weeks old at the time, they were not “showy” or flashy and actually were a bit boring to view. Black tris, all of them, there were two of them that were only black and copper, without any white markings at all. Their red sister had been sold already, so I couldn't choose her though I would have if I could have.

One of four males that looked at us imploringly was a black tri. He had a full circle of white around his neck and a white chest and copper legs. He looked at us with one ice blue eye, the other eye brown. There was no black color circling one of his eyes, as though the aussie paint brush had faltered somehow.

“He is a mismark,” Mrs. Sage told us.

“That's all right. We like this little guy. We like the way his mother, Shine, herds sheep. We've never seen an aussie do what we just saw her do all by hand commands” Stan and I were convinced. I spoke up again. “I told you when I called that I wanted a sheep herding dog I think we have found our little dog”

“Besides,” my husband added, “he's got one eye brown and one eye blue”

We took him home that day.

awesome Calevanue

Caleb holding a treasure

Indeed, as I told you above, the black tri aussie, Caleb, after fifteen long years on the ranch, left us in February 2008. He was sire to a few litters of working aussies along the way, and I now receive occasional phone calls from folks who are looking for another puppy from Singing Falls lines because Caleb and Acuva did such a good job making the best aussies in the world. It just seems that we hit the jackpot when it came to breed temperament and classy looks when we bred the two, and we are more than pleased that we kept one of their daughters, the winsome Dayenu, to breed.

Along the way we acquired Barod because I fancied breeding Acuva to a merle. It had been so long since we'd had merle puppies born. I longed to see those “colored like marbles” pups.

Through just the right circumstances that fell into place amazingly, we found the gorgeous blue merled Barod. Acuva passed and then Caleb, so now we have just the two aussies here - their daughter Dayenu and the blue merle Barod.

And that's where we are at at this point in time: still raising aussies.

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*****

Jen and pup Boomer

Jen and her “Boomerang,” December 2003 (Thanks, Jen, for the wonderful note!)

And now a “commercial” break - owners from previous litters.(In both cases our Acuva was bred with our Caleb.)

Dear Alexandra,

It has been awhile since I last sent you an update on “Boomer.” He is a definite joy in my life and is quite the companion.I couldn't be happier with his personality and temperament as he is great with humans (large and small) as well as other dogs (again large and small.)He is also a favorite in the neighborhood as the neighbor children often come over looking to see if Boomer can “come out and play.”Most adults are quite surprised to learn that he is just a year and a half old, because he is so well-behaved.I get to beam as a proud momma every time.Boomer has some great genes, so thank you as well.

Jen Hanke

a pup called Petrowski

“Petrowski” on the Oregon Pacific Crest hike which starts on the California border and ends in the utmost northern border of the state, the Columbia River.

From another previous litter, this three year old Aussie by Caleb x Acuva (named by its owner “Petrowski”) packs his own lunch and dinner wearing his own backpack when he and she hike through the Sierras or Cascades on one of their many very long mountain treks. On a note from his owner, Sandra Burns of Prospect, Oregon:

“The smartest, most sensitive and protective dog on earth is Petrowski. Daily I count my blessings and gratefulness to the Lord and to you for this faithful dog of many strengths!!”

aussie agility

Aussies are great at the game of Frisbee. Here is a photo that shows with what particular agility, determination, grace and speed these dogs are gifted. In frisbee contests all over America, the Australian Shepherd ranks among the most astounding achievers.

Stanley & Alexandra Petrowski
34620 Tiller Trail Hwy.
Tiller, Oregon 97484
mohair@singingfalls.com