My first Australian Shepherd came to me when I was still a child. Shadow was so smart, sweet, and willing. He wasn't registered, well bred, or show quality, but he was my best friend. He passed away at 13 years old and to this day I get teary thinking about him. He fueled my passion for dogs that still burns in me today and I thank him for his loyalty for all those years. I fell in love with the breed. I grew up, went to college, and got married, telling everyone in my path what an amazing dog he was. I promised myself I would get another Aussie.
Shadow at 13 years old
I remember laying in bed looking at Aussie puppy pictures trying to find a way to convince my husband that we should get a dog. I popped the question, and shockingly, Tim, my husband, was open to it. I immediately began looking for breeders. I emailed several and found out that there was an ASCA show the following weekend. I bit my fingernails at 2am researching every breeder, so excited to meet them and see the dogs that could potentially be the parents to my new little one. The following weekend we went to the show, met each of the breeders and I instantly connected to Laura Diebold. Now all I had to do was wait the excruciatingly long 4 months for the puppies to be born!
Warwick at 8 Days Old
On September 14, 2013, I got a text message from Laura. Five puppies had been born, all healthy. I could come see them on Saturday, 2 days away. She sent pictures of each of the puppies, one of them being a fat black tri boy. It was love at first sight. I had told Laura that I wanted to compete in conformation, agility and obedience and we knew that there was no way to tell if a puppy was show quality until much later. On Saturday, I met all of the puppies. My husband and I fell in love with the black tri male and decided that day, regardless, that was our boy.
We had no idea how lucky we had gotten.
My husband and I have been blessed to have Warwick (Wiki) in our lives. He is inquisitive, full of energy, keen to learn, independent and thinks EVERYONE loves him. He is filled with exuberance and he makes people laugh, especially when he finds any source of water! He will roll and splash in any form of water! Below is a video showing Wiki playing.