About Us

We had our first physical experience with the breed in 1998 at the Melbourne Royal after finding them online earlier that year, and were lucky enough to get our first Aussie from a litter born in December 1998. Between the two events Ben and I got married.

Since then we've bought our own property up the Hunter Valley from Newcastle, a few hours north of Sydney, NSW, Australia, and over the subsequent years, have added a few more Aussies including many imports and another breed (the Finnish Lapphund) to the mix.

We waited until 2002 to breed our first litter, wanting to get a real feel for how to do things right, before taking on such a huge responsibility. Due to fantastic mentoring and our keen and dedicated effort for self-education we have had much success in the dog world with over 100 class in Group awards, over 30 class in Shows, many Best In Show and Runner Up Best in show wins, Best in Group and Reserve in Group wins, a BISS, a RUBISS, several exports, a couple of imported in dam litters, a NZ Champion, a Norwegian Champion, over a dozen Australian Champions and more on the way.

Our Aussies

At Cuebiyar, we take our responsibility to the puppies we bring into the world seriously. While no one can predict the nasties that sometimes pop up in what was thought to be clear lines, we do try to do everything to prevent it, and to fix a problem when it occurs.

We believe all aspects of the breed are important, see the breed standard for more information. It is extremely difficult to order our priorities as they are all so intertwined. Type, I believe is the most important aspect. Without type you don't have an Australian Shepherd. Understand that when I say type, I mean more than just looks, type to me means conforming to the breed standard, and that includes "well balanced, slightly longer than tall of medium size and bone", "animated, lithe and agile, solid and muscular without cloddiness", "docked or natural bobbed tail", "intelligent working dog of strong herding and guarding instincts", "has the stamina to work all day", "even disposition", "good natured, seldom quarrelsome", "reserved in initial meetings", "smooth, free and easy gait". So you see, type is composed of temperament, health, and movement.

I conduct all breedings on the basis of improving the breed, hoping to keep something for myself, and I choose stud dogs with the aim to do the best I can to improve my bitch, not based on producing the current colour of choice.

Our History

We have had many unexpected problems pop-up in what we thought to be 'clear' lines. Over the term of our involvement with the breed we have had to educate ourselves on many of the common diseases found in Aussies today.

Instead of adopting a defeatist or 'head in the sand' attitude we have dealt with each problem as it occurred and decided on the best course of action. Sometimes we have removed those lines from our breeding program and other times we have moved forward carefully with an eye to reducing the risks while retaining the good points of the dogs involved.

To move forward we have turned our focus overseas, and we have many imports planned over the next few years to bolster the country's gene pool with genetically healthy, structurally sound Aussies of good type.

Personal experience in no way makes one breeder more careful or health conscious than someone lucky enough to have not had any bad experiences. The mark of a responsible breeder is not how many problems they have or have not produced, but what they do to avoid problems and correct a problem when it occurs.

What we do

All our dogs used for breeding will have been hipscored and eye tested by qualified specialised veterinarians in their respective fields prior to any mating taking place. When future tests become available (eg CEA carrier, Epilepsy carrier) these tests will be carried out as well. Physical and genetic tests are tools used by breeders to match weaknesses and strengths in the dogs and bitches that they use. Our bitches will whelp inside our house and puppies will receive daily human socialisation.

No decision on the future owner of any pup will be made until they reach 8 weeks of age. This is because puppies change so much from birth and it is not until 8 weeks that you truly know what the adult might be like. Temperament, structure, movement, mouths, testicles (for boys) etc all go into deciding if a puppy might have what it takes to be a show dog or future breeding animal, colour and sex have very little to do with it.

Only after everything has been taken into account can we match a puppy to a prospective owner. The most important thing is that the puppy fits into your family and the activities you are interested in. All puppies will leave with an information pack containing baby photos, puppy and parent's health clearances and some of the food the puppy has been eating. Remember we are always available for any questions you have, for the life of your pet.

We want all our puppies to go to loving homes as valuable companions and pets. Only the very best of our litters will be registered, for showing and breeding potential. The only difference is that main registered puppies can have offspring registered. Both can do conformation (when clubs start offering the neutered classes), herding, obedience, agility, flyball, tracking etc... The sky is the limit.

If you are interested, check out our litter and available pages!