Raising, training, and competing with responsibly bred Australian Shepherds!
Rapid River, MI
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We are Kirsten and CJ Tardiff; a wife and husband team who live on a small farm. The goal of our breeding program is to produce quality Australian Shepherds that are versatile, moderate, healthy, and sound in both mind and body. We're simple people, born and raised in the unique culture of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Both of us have a relationship with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Honoring Him with our lives - including what we do with our dogs, how we care for them and how we treat others - is something we take very seriously. We hope that each person we come into contact with through our love of Aussies will be positively affected!
I grew up in a home where we always had dogs...my mother had been breeding Miniature Dachshunds for over twenty years, and there was nothing I loved more than the excitement of a carefully planned litter and the tiny squeaks of newborn puppies. However, I never cared much for the Doxies as a breed. My love of Aussies started in my late teens. I wanted my own dog; one that was intelligent, energetic, and with a desire to please me. After researching many breeds, I settled on the Australian Shepherd and brought my first one home in 2009. I have enjoyed the privilege of being mentored under a retired Irish Setter breeder with over 40 years of experience in conformation and performance venues across multiple breeds, as well as several performance competitors with decades of knowledge under their belts. I spend a lot of time at our local kennel club, where I work on my handling and training skills and often help instruct basic obedience classes there. Watch for us at Obedience, Rally, and Agility trials and in the AKC, UKC, and ASCA conformation rings in the upper Midwest!
CJ is the new guy to the crazy world of purebred dogs and the "behind the scenes" support for our program. He is my partner in all things; from the first litter he helped me raise I knew he was hooked too. You won't likely see him handling a dog in the breed ring, running a dog on the agility course, or doing hundreds of hours of pedigree research...but I couldn't ask for a more supportive spouse! CJ enjoys the simple things - a good dog at his feet, a game of fetch in the backyard, the companionship and joy our Aussies bring - and he is a gentle reminder of why I do what I do. CJ handles the technical side of troubleshooting website issues I have, holds down the fort when I'm off at another dog show, and of course his fair share of puppy playtime when we have a litter on the ground (and often letting them out at 1am when we're in the middle of crate training a litter of 8-week-olds so I can get some sleep! He's the real MVP!!).
