Cypher is standing at stud to approved bitches.  He is located near Port-Aux-Basques, Newfoundland.  If you are considering Cy as a stud dog, please click here to see the Stud Dog page to read more about facts you should consider before approaching me about using him.

Free running with his buddies, Pishum the black Lab, and Goldie the Alaskan Husky about to overtake him from behind.  Thanks A. Griffin for the photo!  Check out http://www.artandcarol.ca for more examples of Art's excellent photography.

Cypher is everything I have ever wanted in a dog.  Working ability on stock, temperament, looks, drive, sensibility, all wrapped up in a 55-pound, 21 inch red merle body. 

Search and Rescue:  Our primary focus.  Cy and I were  certified for the first time July 1 2006.

We train for air-scenting with the re-find method.  At left is his alert...a body bang, after which he lands and then barks at me. 

Photo by Art Griffin

Cy is a very naturally wide-sweeping dog and little needed to be done to shape his grid patterns and directability.  He is tough as hell physically, and pretty damn tough mentally too...he keeps me on my toes and he has just the right dose of hard-headed self-thinking, combined with an edge of sensitivity and biddability that his father lacks somewhat.

He goes through the Newfoundland terrain (some of the densest forest I have ever seen) as if it is butter.  

Although I dabbled in sports (flyball and agility) early on, we haven't done much since...but for someone who is interested in Cy as a stud dog or an example of what this breeding is capable of producing, let me tell you a little bit about real-life agility. He can jump from a standing start into the back of a full-sized pickup truck with no fear and without touching the truck (and with the tailgate UP, not down).  He climbs 6 foot straight fences.  He climbed the ladder onto the roof of my garage with no training (much to my surprise...I was retrieving a lost frisbee and whoops, all of a sudden there he was).  He has back-end awareness that never needed to be taught.  He walked a 2 x 4 without any training or preparation.  Nothing is impossible in this dog's eyes and I have actually had to teach him to slow down and ease things up a bit for his own safety...I had to install commands, teach him to be careful, as he thinks he is invincible.  He is easily directable and has an instinctive eye for body language.  When he works, it is always 100%.  I once worked him for 8+ hours straight with a 10-15 minute break every hour or so, in cold weather and deep snow...his working style and drive never changed.  He was the same dog at the end of the day as he was at the beginning. 

He has been a maniacal tugger since 8 weeks of age, and tugs with each and every "victim" we find, all the way back to the car (while making insane screaming noises through his nose, and barking and growling around the tug).  He is an easily motivated dog--his favorites, in this order:  TUG, toys, play, food.  He is also a job-motivated dog and seems to do things for the sake of doing them.

He settles immediately and on his own when work is through.  People who see him around the house or sitting around the campfire see a sleepy-looking, flaked-out dog...his off switch is impeccable.

This is a truly great dog with the potential to do anything asked of him with absolute 100% of his self, all the time.  He was great "raw material" and all I had to do is install the "software." 

Working Stock:  Cy was exposed to sheep at 10 weeks of age and showed standing eye, force bark and bite.  Since then we haven't seen sheep again, but we have worked cows on a few occasions.  He shows immense power, standing eye, sustained focus and intensity, and is easy to kick out around and control (when I send him to stock he naturally turns sideways and goes around without moving the stock, then pushes for a fetch).  He bites heads without reservation when necessary, and he bites hard. When confronted with a challenge on cows he walks up with eye, then bites if he needs to.  He wears very closely behind his stock when driving in an open field. 

Above:  Walking up using eye, 11 months of age, first time on cows.

Below:  The following photos were taken at Terry Martin's place (Slash V Australian Shepherds).  Cy was much barkier at her place, and I sure didn't like that and neither did Terry!  We worked him several times over a couple of days and he did quiet down a lot by the end.  I didn't do much to help him out (bad handler, bad!) and Terry told me a few things that made so much sense...helping him control his excitement and think, etc.  I'll be getting calves this spring 2007 so I hope to have a much clearer idea of what his capabilities are after that.

Things I know for sure:

--he'll bite a head, and hard--he won't quit, ever--he can take a direct kick in the face, more than once, and keep on ticking--he kicks out easily and has a great sense of group-he responds to me easily and is not a hardheaded, "shut up and leave me alone" type dog--he is sensitive to over-done corrections (surprise!) and it doesn't take much to get him to listen--doesn't look like there's a low-heeling bone in his body--he does have standing eye and a flat-footed walk-up.

Dog Sports:  Currently I am focusing exclusively on Search and Rescue with Cypher.  In the past we trained for flyball and agility.  In flyball his fastest time was about 4.5 seconds, but that was taken just after he began doing full runs and things were still very sloppy--and we just didn't continue afterwards, so who knows how it would have developed.  Natural swimmer's turn.  Agility...he weaves extremely quickly and is a fast, drivey worker.  Due to time constraints and my commitment to Search and Rescue, dog sports will always be a "sideline" with Cy, and we may never compete.  I'd like to get some titles but the distance to shows is a major obstacle, along with the time commitment.  I feel that our "fun" should be SAR-focused.

Video of Cypher's amazing jumping ability.  So much for fences.  The fence you see him scaling is over 6 feet tall.  We did this about 15 times in a row before we got one that didn't show how fat I am! 

Structurally:  Picture taken at 35 months of age.  21 inches, 55 pounds.

His overall structure is wolfish, with longer hocks and greater flexibility than the average Aussie.  It is hard to describe, but he is a "limber" dog.  He is a rangy dog with a good amount of leg length and what I consider to be the ideal leg/body length ratio with a good amount of loin.  (I hate cobby dogs, with body length nearly the same as leg length and a flat, straight croup.  Usually these dogs have almost no loin either.)

When he stops moving, he nearly always lands in a great natural stack, four-square.

Head:  (see top 2 photos on this page, taken at 18 months old) Strong masculine head with lots of substance.  Natural rose ears.  Full dentition.  Tight skin, small almond eyes.

Neck and Body:  Strong long neck, well-arched.  Mostly flat topline with a very slight arch at the loin.  Loin and back extremely well-muscled.  Sloping, flexible croup.  NBT (was born with half a tail, docked).  Ribcage deep and well-sprung.  Longer loin than most conformation Aussies.

Forequarters:  He has a good amount of angulation in his front (matches with his rear).  He has a strong chest and forechest (not visible in the above photo, has filled out a lot since then).  His legs are straight and very flexible.  His pasterns and feet in particular are very flexible...feet oval but not as tight as many conformation Aussies that I see.  His feet are an asset in SAR work as he is able to flex and use them in ways my other Aussies cannot...they almost seem like fingers.  In normal gait and on flat ground his feet appear tight and catlike.  His shoulders are loose and very flexible.

Hindquarters:  Extremely well-muscled, tight and strong.  Sloping flexible croup.  Good amount of angulation.  Hocks longer than what is preferred in the conformation ring, very wolfish, I consider this a correct trait.  Flexible hocks and feet.

Coat:  Moderate with mane and frill.  Little feathering on legs.  Very harsh, flat outer coat and tan wooly undercoat.  Burrs slide out easily, dog is hard to get wet due to correct outer coat.  Much less coat than what is preferred in the conformation ring.  Cy has had one bath in his entire life, and I rarely brush him, yet people always comment on how well-groomed he is. 

Color:  Dark sorrel merle with neutral buff and some white.  Bright copper.  Probably has masking gene (many of his siblings do as well).  Dark amber eyes with marbling in the right.

Gait:  Coming and going, his front feet and pasterns turn a slight bit in motion but converge correctly toward the center.  Sidegait, powerful reach and drive.  This dog can trot all day long and has done so on many occasions without the gait breaking down.

Size:  21 inches and 55 pounds of hard muscle. Even when comparing him to other Aussies, which I consider to be the "top of the barrel" when it comes to natural athleticism and agility, HE IS AT THE TOP OF THE BARREL.

Health Issue:  By far the largest puppy in his litter (he was 12 pounds at 7 weeks...littermates were 7) he grew to his adult height by the time he was 6 months of age. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page, the last photo shows him at 6 months old and at his full adult height. He experienced panosteitis intermittently from age 8 months to 14 months or so and I am sure that his fast growth was linked to this problem.  If bred, I feel that rate of maturity of the bitch and her relatives should be closely researched.  His siblings have all grown much slower than him.  He is the tallest and biggest-boned of his siblings--21 inches, 50+ pounds.  His other male siblings are mostly 20-20.5 inches and around 45 pounds.

General Temperament:  Cy is a problem-solver and independent thinker with just the right amount of sensitivity and biddability to make him trainable.  He is pushy and fearless and a comic at heart.

He is foody to the extreme and once ate 10+ pounds of dog food (opened a door and a dog food bin to do so).  I have caught him with hind legs on counter and front legs on top of refrigerator, eating dog treats.  Fortunately this means food is a great motivator in training.

He is reserved with strangers but once you're not a stranger, watch out, he'll drape himself over you and rest his head on your neck.  With our family, he is extremely cuddly, loves to lie beside me on the bed with his head on my stomach.  Becomes floppy like Jell-O when being stroked and will often slide in a puddle down to the floor for particularly good petting (moaning while doing so.) 

He loves play and interaction above everything else and will do anything, absolutely ANYTHING, for his tug. 

An intact male, Cy interacts well with every dog he's ever met.  I use him as "psychiatrist dog" with client dogs, some of which are very aggressive or terrified to the extreme, and he adjusts his behaviour to theirs.  For some reason he humps all Chocolate Labs (I have to be honest even though to me this is a very embarrassing trait!).  I think that this is a way for him to try to get other dogs to calm down...

He is not a resource guarder with people or other dogs, though he and Vegas do have interesting dynamics when there are excellent bones on the floor.  I find it entertaining so I let it happen.  Nobody gets hurt but there's lots of posturing and eyeballing from across rooms.  A whole silent world of entertainment, better than TV for me!  LOL.  If outside dogs come into the picture, valuable items are not guarded.  He's a great host.

Although he is a funny, comical and affectionate companion, he is also an extremely serious guard dog and I have to make sure that he does not get put into positions where he can really guard.  Because of his ability to go over fences and his Houdini-like abilities to get out of crates, he is a personality that needs to be watched.  If a neighbor tries to put something over my fence and Cy is in the yard, he will jump the fence and hold the neighbor (with body position and barking/growling, he's never put his mouth on anyone) until I get there.  For this reason it is necessary for me to supervise him at all times while he is outdoors so that no accidents happen.  Until I get a better fence, this will always be necessary.  In my vehicle, when I am not there, I am sure he would bite someone that tried to get in.  For this reason he is crated at all times while in my van.  This trait is NOT based on fear.  He is a watchdog, and a good one.  If I am around he will alarm-bark and then I tell him thanks, got it, and he is fine.

In his adolescence (between 8-14 months or so) he went through a visually spooky period where he reacted with threat barking toward some men, especially those who showed him direct eye contact or "funny" body posture.  He has now gotten over it without much effort from me.  Please read Raising and Training an Australian Shepherd to see what I learned from that experience.

Scroll all the way down the page for his pedigree, or click here.

Click here to play "Find the Aussie"

above...Notice those flexible toes on that tree!

NEWS FLASH!

Cy takes Group 2 and Best Puppy in Group for 3 points on March 6, 2004 at the NKC all-breed show!  First time out, a Group winner at the tender age of 6 months!  His dad Vegas took Group 2 the next day!  It's all in the family!