Welcome to Silveraurora - located in Wasilla, Alaska, an hour outside of Anchorage, at Sunset Acres Farm.
Rick and I own 120 acres here in the Matanuska Valley where we raise hay and livestock, champion AKC Australian Cattle Dogs and champion Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, as well as have a convenient AKC/AHBA/ASCA set of trial arenas for herding events. I started training dogs for stockwork back in 1997 when I purchased my first AKC Australian Cattle Dog, and I love every minute of it! I also train and handle other upright and loose-eyed herding breeds and have been lucky enough to be awarded a number of High and Reserve High in Trials with the limited number of herding trials that we have up here in Alaska.
I breed for cattledogs with sound temperaments, natural herding ability, and correct athletic structure that is necessary for competing in any of the popular dog sports. Our dogs have their hips OFA'd, eyes CERF'd, all are BAER tested bilateral hearing, and PRCD status known. We are currently working on getting all of our dog's elbows done too. We want your best companion and athlete to have every physical advantage possible for doing the job that you have at hand.
Our links below will take you to our dogs as well as our farm, registered dairy goats, livestock, and herding photos as well as other interests as we get the new webpages posted. We only have 1 or 2 litters in a year and because of this, they are raised with a lot of personal attention and raised in our home underfoot. We study their personalities from the day they are born and also have a form of the Volhund apptitude test done on them at 7 weeks of age by an experienced tester who has done all of our litters for years now and we like the information it gives us. At 8 weeks we also subscribe to doing the Pat Hastings Puppy Puzzle on each puppy. We do everything possible to ensure that you get the RIGHT puppy for you if you should decide that you need a Silveraurora puppy in your life!
Some of our credentials:
Member and supporter of: Cook Inlet Kennel Club; Alaska Herding Group Club (and founding member); Australian Cattle Dog Club of America; Australian Cattle Dog Club of Canada.
Owner/handler/breeder with more than 15 conformation champions.
Titled 6 (so far) of my own cattledogs in herding and at least 8 other dogs of upright breeds, with many more receiving qualifying scores/legs.
Many High in Trials and Reserve High In Trials in ASCA and AKC herding trials on a number of dogs.
ACD Rescue contact for South Central Alaska.
Stock and facility provider for AKC/ASCA herding trials.
Our dogs work and show, keep the trail ahead of you safe, and always try their best to accomplish whatever task at hand they've been asked to perform. They keep our beds warm at night, make us laugh with their antics, and occasionally give us headaches as only a cattledog can do! Each ACD is a total individual and we respect that, allowing each their own personality and preferences within reason. We have dabbled in Obedience and Rally work and the dogs love it, we just don't have enough time in the day to compete in those sports at this time although many of our puppy owners do.
We have placed our puppies all over the US, Canada, and Europe. Recently I took one of our home-bred champions to the UK and competed with him in the LKA at Birmingham. Entered in the Puppy Stakes Class with a total of 117 puppy dogs aged 6 months to 1 year, our boy, Ch Silveraurora's PW Tom Thumb, HIC, took 5th place and a Very Highly Commended award behind 4 toy breeds! Pretty awesome for an 11 month old boy! Some of our puppy owners have competed and titled successfully in the European show and agility circuits as well. We breed athletic, intelligent dogs that need and desire a working relationship with their owners, but they also require allot of love and attention. If you feel that you have the time, the desire, and the skills to own an ACD from Silveraurora, please feel free to contact us about any future puppies that we are planning.
Thank you for stopping by!!
