About Us

I grew up in Southern California with a couple of Weimaraners. Mike grew up in Texas with Shelties, Collies, and later, an Australian Shepherd. We met in 1982 while attending the University of Hawaii and later moved to Phoenix, Arizona. We were fortunate to find a home on 5 acres right in the city and soon began filling it up with horses. I wanted a puppy so bad that I couldn't see straight, so I went to the pound to adopt a dog, but could not find the right one. Shortly thereafter, while buying hay, I saw a beautiful dog that definitely caught my eye. It was an Aussie, and the rest is history! We took our first Aussie to obedience class for manners. Our instructor was impressed with our progress and encouraged us to pursue a CD (Companion Dog) title with Kasey. We decided to give it a shot and went to a show. It opened up a whole new world to us: a fellow exhibitor encouraged us to enter Kasey in conformation; he won a blue ribbon, and I was hooked! Later, when we were introduced to herding, we found ourselves redesigning our property to accommodate a 125' x 250' arena and acquiring sheep, as we like to say, "for the dogs". We also found ourselves trading in the 2 seat MR2 sports car for a Toyota 4-runner that held 3 crates and numerous dogs. Is this starting to sound familiar? We currently live in New Braunfels, Texas with 2 Aussies. We aren't doing as much with the dogs since the addition of a couple of 2 legged kids to our household, but the dogs are still a big part of our family, and I enjoy going to an occassional dog show with Randi and Ryan or seeing new Aussies in other parts of the country when I get a chance to judge. We are a small kennel, by choice, and are interested in producing quality, not quantity. We have been blessed with much fortune and success with the litters that we have raised, the families that we have placed our puppies in, and the friends that we have made in the process. And we are very proud of the fact that our kennel "Shadowrun" qualified for ASCA Hall of Fame Excellent status with 9 litters, which produced 20+ Conformation Champions, 4 CDXs, 3 Working Trial Champions, 1 Post Advanced Sheep Dog, and 2 Versatility Champions. We believe in the Versatile Aussie and feel that given the right environment, our dogs can and will “do it all!” Thank you for taking the time to learn a little more about us and our dogs. We hope you enjoy your visit, and please contact us with any questions you might have, or even if you just want to talk “Aussie”!

Kristin Rush Shadowrun Aussies