The goal of United Colors is to breed an Australian Shepherd according to the standard of breed. A dog which has got the right exterior and interior to do all the various jobs that will be given to him in his life. A companion and friend for the family, a sports mate for the active ones amongst us, may it be agility, jogging, horse riding, cycling etc. but mainly as well a working dog that can be used for the purpose it was bred for, i.e. working with livestock. He is meant to be a faithful comrade and unbribable guardian of the property who will noisily show his possessory rights, if need should be. A dog with a mild hunting instinct that can be put rather easily into the right channels. In short terms an allrounder that can be used in nearly all branches.

To do all that it is a must that the dog is healthy. The eyes of our dogs are yearly checked for various eye diseases. As well as in the age from 18 to 24 months the hips are x-rayed to find out whether there is an existing hip dysplasia. The set of teeth should be a complete scissors bite. The dogs will be wormed and vaccinated regularly. These are only a couple of major points and obviously every incidence of a disease that genetically plays a role will mean that the dog won`t be used for breeding. We would like to preserve the breed as healthy as possible because it can cause so much harm for humans and animals if things like that are taken too lightly.

Obviously you can well imagine that a dog that fulfills all those criteria will be rather self-confident and might have a strong character. When working with livestock it is sometimes necessary that the dog will have to make his own decision how to react and what to do. It can happen that he has to face an aggressive ram or a worried mother cow.

This means in clear words that an Aussie out of our lines requires a lot of consequence from his handler, otherwise he will have to decide himself what to do - and that might not always be in your own sense! An Aussie that wasn`t put into the right direction right from his first day could cause you trouble for the rest of his life. Everybody who wants to own an Australian Shepherd has got to be aware that this dog requires a lot of consequence and assertiveness - however combined with the right feeling for a sometimes sensitive soul.




All in all a dog whose purchase must be carefully thought about and in my eyes most probably not the best choice for a first dog.