Our story

Welcome!

If you've been looking for a great companion and want a smaller version of the smart and versatile Australian Shepherd, then look no further as Spirited Dreams has what you're looking for!

Meet the Breeder

I’m the breeder behind Spirited Dreams Toy Aussies located in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. I have owned Australian Shepherds for 50 years. They are truly a wonderful companion breed smart, versatile and full of personality. We cherish each of our dogs and puppies, and we do everything we can to make sure that they have the best lives possible. That includes everything from choosing healthy parents with good temperaments, proper conformation, socialization and daily care, to placing them in loving homes with wonderful families. We strive to provide each puppy and their family with a truly positive experience.  I am dedicated to preserving the Toy and Mini Australian Shepherd breed. Our dogs and puppies live with us in our home raised with love and I am present at every birth. I strive to produce the best overall pets and family members.

   How I Got Started

 While in high school i used to the spend the weekends with a friend who had a miniature Australian Shepherd female. In the spring of my senior year she gave birth to five puppies. I begged my father to let me have a puppy (he was a cat person). My pup was mostly white with blue merle patches, which I learned later that was a "merle white" which meant  there  no coloring around the eyes, and pink skin and often they can be blind or deaf. He was neither. I trained him myself and loved him and  from then on was in love with the breed. After college in 1981 another one of my friends' dogs had puppies and I took one of them. She went everywhere with me. She helped me do ranch chores, went  swimming with me and joined me hiking in the Sierra's. 

Fast forward to marriage, kids and a move from California to the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1993. Two years later my beloved aussie died.  I wanted to find another aussie. My husband grew up with a German Shepherd but didn't like that they were so much of a guard dog. He had grown to love my aussie after being around her. We decided to buy an aussie female for our young son. She loved playing with a soccer ball and challenged my son's friends to play soccer with her. She was quick with the ball using her nose to push the ball around and was able to bounce the ball coming at her off her chest. Losing her was especially hard on my husband as she was his companion dog.  I started looking for another pup and found one in Colorado in 2009. I was coaching a swim team at the time and had several swimmers attending a swim camp in Wyoming. One of days while my team was practicing my husband and I drove down to Colorado and picked her up. We were all camped out at a friend’s house and in the morning my pup was crawling all over the kids’ heads as they slept on the floor. One of the girls came up with the name, Rowdie, and it stuck. Then in 2013 I bought a male from a breeder in Arkansas. In the meantime, I had met a lady who showed her aussies and she encouraged me to attend a show which I did. I was hooked even though at that show, another lady's dog had growled at mine and he was now defensive. The judge moved me to first place but because my dog growled as I moved him to the front of the line,  he got moved to the back.  Ironically, he is so good with puppies that he is "Mr. Popularity"! From there Spirited Dreams was born! 

  I continued to show and added two new females from Oklahoma to the family; one in 2016 and another in 2023. With my first female, I started my breeding program and continued to learn about the breed and what to look for in a quality dog. Both of my females have won Best in Show!

Though I am a small breeder  I strive for perfection, breeding not only for breed standard conformation, but also for great movement, happy temperament, and personality.

My dogs are health tested  and the puppies get the best of care. Our dogs are not kennel raised.They are raised in a loving home environment, sitting on our lap, sleeping with us and traveling with us. They are part of our family. They are happy dogs and follow me everywhere.

I love this breed because they are as versatile as their personalities from showing in dog conformation to running dog agility, joining me on walks or catching a frisbee. They are super smart and easy to train. My male taught himself how to open our front door so I taught him how to close it. We can be anywhere in the house or even outside and tell him to close the door and he will.  The best thing about the toy or mini size is they make a great traveling companion (compact) and they are small enough and light enough to sit on your lap while you watch tv.

I don't have a lot of litters but I take each litter serious and am committed to producing top quality, healthy strong dogs that fit the breed standard as close as possible and are ready to be a part of their own human family.  I invite you to check out our puppy page and join the Spirited Dreams family!

Why Choose Spirited Dreams?

• Our puppies are raised in our home, loved and part of our family.
• Health Tested- We screen our adults for all genetic diseases that affect this breed.  We want our puppies to have long and healthy lives. If there is a condition we can prevent by screening we’ll do it.Our puppies are handled from birth daily- exposed to new smells while their eyes are not yet open and sights and smells as they grow,  giving them better stress responses so they can grow up to be well adjusted family members. We live on 30 acres at the southern end of the Black Hills in South Dakota. When the puppies are big enough, and the weather is nice, I love to take them on walks to play, explore, run and check out new sights and smells as well as to meet the cats and chickens!
• Well Started  to learn. Our puppies are well started on learning the basic commands, learning to come when called when we go on walks. I also start leash training. Before bed they get a treat and learn to sit before they are given the treat.
• Support- I’m always available for questions and advice for the life of your puppy.
• Can you find cheaper pups out there? Yes, but they will not come with the testing, guarantees and support our puppies do.