[TatumsMom]

Last summer we had an Australian Shepherd litter. We kept a male from the litter and named him Blaze. I have to laugh now because I seriously didn't think he was very good looking in the very beginning but our mentor said "you just wait.... this pup will be the best one". I kept saying he looked like a guinea pig when he was a baby. He really did! Well, I guess she knew what she was looking at because he really has turned out well. His mom, Stormie, is 35 pounds but he is turning out like his daddy... as of last week he was 49 pounds - at 8 months old. His daddy will be "retiring" soon as a stud dog and our mentors and others in this Aussie group have told us that Blaze will be a much sought after stud if we decide to go that route. We'll wait to do all the testing to make sure it's all great and talk about it some more. It's a big thing to get into - not as easy to deal with as non-breeders believe. Having the stud at your home is a big commitment. We're prepared for that but will love him all the same if we don't go that route. Stormie is a blue merle with pointy ears and the dad, Roby (with a long "o" sound) is a red tri with gold trim and floppy ears. I swear they are almost identical.