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Five puppies born Jan 5th, 2026
2 Dark red males with white trim
2 Blue merle males with white trim
1 Blue merle female with white trim
(All blue babies have heavy black merling)
Sire: Lane’s Tennessee Fire
Aka “Shooter”
Red Merle male, white trim, 45 lbs ., works cattle-low heels-quiet
Dam: Lane’s Black Dahlia
Aka “Dally”
Black with white trim , 35 lbs., works sheep with strong eye- nice outruns- very quiet-would bite cows if prompted
This 2026 litter has been in the works for a long while. We are grateful to the Sire’s owner, Michelle Davis, who shares our vision in preserving the history of the breed. Frozen semen from Shooter’s sire, Lane’s Mighty Cochise, unfortunately did not take with Dally on our attempts to make this bloodline cross.
Their combined pedigrees actually enhanced the connection to our founding sire, Sorensen’s Gunsmoke. We had to smile a bit when the white trim showed up on some of the puppies. Not a huge surprise knowing that Gunsmoke’s mother had white trim.
Most puppies born prior to 1970s had some…to a lot of white trim as shown in our early historical photos. Richard’s breeding program was influenced to breed away from white trim because the influence of white trim in the early days was a negative attribute due to the merle to merle breedings that created most litters. We all understand the genetics of merle genes now, but some mystery about it, early on, persisted, including the PIEBALD gene. Self merled dogs, (no copper trim) in this pedigree are: Sorensen’s Gunsmoke, Jefferys Shade, Rowe’s Comanche Warrior, William’s Laddie, Colorado’s Mighty Blue Digger, Ch. Colorado’s Clint; and notable bloodlines from Woods, Jones, Pincie Creek, Slash V, JBarD, Justus, Ruff N Reddy and Iacovetta.
This litter and our previous litters of the last few years, have been bred towards eliminating any presence of Hemangiosarcoma, “HSA”, also known as blood cancer in dogs. Our early dogs lived to significant old age, 14 years being an average.
Breedings to other bloodlines, showed that a couple of those dogs produced from those breedings, died mysteriously and suddenly in mid-life for no external or explained reason. History NOW has disclosed the probable fact that their death could have been blood cancer. Thousands of dollars were spent trying to find their cause of death.
A simple blood test to identify Hemolytic Anemia “HA” (low red blood cell count) may point strongly to blood cancer. If an owner of an Aussie wants to ascertain the condition of his dogs’ blood, testing for a normal blood count at 6-8 years of age may give an indication of what is possibly going to be a future health issue or a sigh of relief. We tested “Cash” at 8 years and his blood count is normal. An ongoing study involving a significantly mutated gene known as tumor suppressor TP53 is signaling breeds with this gene may be at higher risk for HSA. So with testing and a focus on our past clean bloodlines, we aim to produce healthy Australian Shepherds who live a long active life.
We can not however do this singlehandedly. All breeders must do their due diligence to produce the healthiest dogs possible with testing and bloodline research. Keeping news of affected dogs private is a literal death sentence for all breeds. Let’s not forget Epilepsy and the effect that it had. We can do better together, armed with information and intent to improve the health of our dogs. We control their future.
There is a glimmer of hope for DNA identification for this as we move forward to better the breed and do our part the best we know how.
Colorado Australian Shepherds 
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