Bel Ami Australian Shepherds
Heath, TX
Home of Australian Shepherds born with Beauty, Brains, and Ability!
Bel Ami Australian Shepherds
I wish I could take full responsibility for finding this amazing breed, but that would not be the whole truth. My husband Kevin was out working in the yard one day and happened to see a man drive by in a Jeep. In the back of the Jeep there were two Red Merle Aussies. Needless to say, Kevin stopped the man to comment on his beautiful dogs and ultimately had a long conversation about all of their wonderful traits. After sharing this information with me and us deciding that this was the perfect breed for us, we started our search for our next family member. We were lucky enough to find a lady who had been faithfully involved in the breed for the last 25 years, and whom actually played an integral part in their acceptance as a breed by the American Kennel Club in the mid 90's.
Karen Broadus of Marquis Kennels nonchalantly informed us of an upcoming litter of hers that she thought would produce all four colors...Red Merles, Red Tris, Blue Merles, and Black Tris. (Little did I know that the sire of this litter, Eric, would subsequently finish the 2007 show year as the #1 Australian Shepherd!) We put in our "order" for a Red Merle Male and told her all about our home and the type of temperament we would like, and then we waited. As a family looking for a pet, we had no concept of what goes in to evaluating a litter, so when there was one little Red Merle Male in the litter, we just assumed he would be ours. Every week we called to get an update on "our" puppy and her response was always the same....he's looking good. I heard her say that no decisions about where the puppies are placed happens until the "eight week evaluation", but I guess I thought that didn't apply to me :)...At eight weeks of age, she informed us that he had matured very nicely and that he should ultimately be a "Show" prospect. I didn't really know what that entailed, but I knew that he wasn't going to any home other than ours, so I agreed to show him, and the rest is history. Ramsey became our first show dog and set in stone that we would never live our lives without an Aussie in our home. He not only was absolutely beautiful, but his temperament was tailor made for us. We couldn't have asked for a better fit. Since then, I have had the fortune of meeting many wonderful people also owned by Aussies and have subsequently shown for friends with Aussies and various other breeds. I guess at this point, our only regret would be that we didn't find this wonderful breed sooner!
Karen Broadus of Marquis Kennels nonchalantly informed us of an upcoming litter of hers that she thought would produce all four colors...Red Merles, Red Tris, Blue Merles, and Black Tris. (Little did I know that the sire of this litter, Eric, would subsequently finish the 2007 show year as the #1 Australian Shepherd!) We put in our "order" for a Red Merle Male and told her all about our home and the type of temperament we would like, and then we waited. As a family looking for a pet, we had no concept of what goes in to evaluating a litter, so when there was one little Red Merle Male in the litter, we just assumed he would be ours. Every week we called to get an update on "our" puppy and her response was always the same....he's looking good. I heard her say that no decisions about where the puppies are placed happens until the "eight week evaluation", but I guess I thought that didn't apply to me :)...At eight weeks of age, she informed us that he had matured very nicely and that he should ultimately be a "Show" prospect. I didn't really know what that entailed, but I knew that he wasn't going to any home other than ours, so I agreed to show him, and the rest is history. Ramsey became our first show dog and set in stone that we would never live our lives without an Aussie in our home. He not only was absolutely beautiful, but his temperament was tailor made for us. We couldn't have asked for a better fit. Since then, I have had the fortune of meeting many wonderful people also owned by Aussies and have subsequently shown for friends with Aussies and various other breeds. I guess at this point, our only regret would be that we didn't find this wonderful breed sooner!
Hope & Kevin McQueen
Heath, TX
214-682-6170
hopecorso@yahoo.com
