We believe that God created animals (and people) with amazing immune systems and providing our dogs with the proper nutrients and care can provide a much better balanced life than overloading their systems with chemical interventions. We also want to do what is best for our animals and we have no problem using modern medicine/interventions for the health of our animals, should the need ever arise. There is a lot of evidence from veterinarians and science that we as a society are drastically overmedicating and over vaccinating. That is causing a host of issues such as cancer, allergies, auto-immune disorders, and much more. Because we are not relying on medications/vaccinations to artficially "protect" our animals, we believe that requires more diligence and responsibliity on our part to provide high quality food, natural supplements to support their natural immune function, and to constantly evaluate our system and how each individual is responding to our program. We personally do not vaccinate our dogs (other than the state required Rabies), but we understand if new owners would like to vaccinate their puppies once they are in their new homes. We also prefer to use natural dewormers versus chemical ones unless absolutely necessary - which thankfully we haven't needed as raw feeding and using proper nutrition really provides them with strong immune systems to keep parasites at bay. We do a weekly rotations of naturals dewormers. We offer the puppies free choice kibble to ensure they get used to it in case their new owner doesn't want to raw feed. Our dogs and puppies get a variety of raw food such as vegetables, cornish game hens, salmon (we have a source that is very affordable), liver/organ meat, turkey, eggs, pumpkin, beef, chicken, yogurt, grass-fed raw milk from our cow (in moderation), and such. If you have questions about why we choose not to vaccinate and use natural practices, we would love to talk to you about it.

We are strong believers in knowing why we do things rather than doing something just because everyone else does it or because it is expected. So when it came to chopping off our puppies' tails and removing body parts, we wanted to make sure a) was it necessary and b) how does it affect the puppy in the future. Tail docking in Australian Shepherds started when they were being used heavily as herding dogs. Australian Shepherds typically do not tuck their tails under them and tend to work in close proximity to cattle vs Border Collies who tuck their tails and tend not to get so up close and personal to the cattle. This caused more tail injuries in Australian Shepherds which lead to docking becoming the breed standard. We don't believe in removing useful body parts because they have the potential to get injured. A cow could just as easliy step on and break a foot as a tail, but we don't chop their legs off just to be safe. There are a lot of studies and evidence showing the pain involved in the docking process as well as long term effects on the dog from docking. The United States is one of the few countries left where docking is still legal. Most other countries have banned tail docking. In our research, we have found that natural tails only really affects two groups. If you are looking to show in AKC Conformation, you will get docked for having a natural tail. Other registries are starting to accept natural tails and are worth looking in too. Or if you are wanting to be heavily involved in herding large amounts of cattle, buffalo, etc, you may want a docked dog so you don't have the worry of a tail getting injured. If either of those options is extremely important to you and you wish to purchase a docked puppy, that is totally your decision. There are plenty to great breeders out there for you to choose from. We have made the decision that it is not worth the pain and long term effects on our dogs to dock tails. We think natural tails are beautiful and we love to see the way our dogs use them for balance, to communicate, and to play. Why are Thor and Skye docked? We are very particular about the type of dogs we add to our program. We looked for several months before deciding on Thor and Skye. The way it worked out, they were already docked when we found them. Having the right qualities was far more important than limiting ourselves to only those breeders who will not dock tails.

Benefits of Raw Feeding: We can clearly see the difference in our dogs when we are raw feeding versus straight kibble (even high quality kibble). Here is a short list of just some of the benefits of raw feeding. We strongly encourage you to do your own research to see if raw feeding is a right fit for you. • Superior Joint and Bone Health • Strengthened Immune System • Skin and Coat Health • Improved Dental Health • Reduced Stool Volume and Odor • Enhanced Reproductive Health • Reduced Body Odor How can you afford to raw feed? Any suggestions for affordable meat? We have been blessed with the ability to grow our own meat and vegetables. We also have the benefit of being within driving distance of some Mennonite Bulk Food stores that we can often find super affordable deals on things like Cornish Game Hens, Raw Salmon Filets, Turkey Breasts, as well as a variety of vegetables. Our local butcher shop has organ meat, raw dog bones, and such for super cheap prices and are a great way to supplement. If you have the ability, the best way for raw feeding to provide the best nutrient value and often the most affordable cost, is for you to grow your own meat and veggies. However, that is not a possibility or desire for everyone. Here are some tips that have helped us find raw food sources for our dogs. Check with your local farmers and butcher shops. Facebook has some great groups that help connect farmers with consumers. Often you can find some great deals for raw feeding – especially If you can buy in bulk. People can post searching for organ meat, freezer burnt meat, etc and have been able to save a ton of money that way. See if you have any discount grocery stores within driving distance (it may be worth your while to drive a ways if you find a good meat source with cheap prices). Most importantly, remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect. Don’t make it overwhelming. 😊 It’s okay if you have periods of time where you can’t find affordable meat and you need to feed kibble. Just starting and trying to better your dog’s life is progress. What if I don't want to raw feed? About half of our puppy owners go on to raw feed and half choose to stick with kibble. We try to provide the puppies with the best nutrition we can while they are here, but we anticipate each new owner may choose to feed kibble. Our puppies are exposed to kibble early on and it is offered free choice so that if their new owner decides to feed kibble.

Our goal is to get puppy owners to stop and think about the reasons WHY they do certain things. Not just to do something because it is all they know or what everyone else does. We want each puppy owner to make their own decisions about what is best for their situation and family. Every person and situation is different and we are all responsible for making our own choices for our health and our pet's health. We will absolutely consider a convential home for a puppy, presuming the family/home is otherwise a good fit for the puppy. If you do choose to go the conventional route with vaccinations, your puppy will have only missed one round of the 6-8 weeks vaccines.

MDR1 is basically just a drug sensitivity that is quite common in the herding dog breeds. MDR1 dogs may react to certain drugs/medications. Having two affected copies of MDR1 gene can cause far more problems and dogs with one copy tend to be less effected. Your puppy can only possibly inherit one affected copy from Skye as Thor is clear. Because it is so common, alternative medications are readily available. You should be able to tell your vet that your dog is/may be an MDR1 carrier and they should be able to easily make adaptions to your medications. Your vet may already be using the alternatives just to be safe since it is such a common issue amongst the herding breeds. If you are doing things more naturally, I would recommend just doing research into any new supplements to make sure they won't have a reaction.