It is official — Queen City Farm has welcomed its very first litter of Australian Shepherd puppies. After years of planning, health testing, titling, and carefully building our breeding program, nine beautiful puppies have arrived. This is the moment we have been working toward, and we could not be more grateful.
Why This Litter Is Special
Every litter a responsible breeder produces is intentional, but a first litter holds a particular significance. This litter represents everything we believe in — the culmination of health testing, conformation evaluation, temperament assessment, and careful pedigree research.
Both parents have completed their health testing through OFA and have been genetically screened through Embark for breed-relevant conditions. Both have been evaluated in the conformation ring and represent the Australian Shepherd breed standard in structure, movement, and type. And both bring the kind of stable, confident, adaptable temperament that we prioritize above all else.
This pairing was not made on impulse. It was planned with the goal of producing puppies that are healthy, structurally sound, mentally stable, and ready to thrive in whatever role their families need — whether that is a performance sport partner, a service dog candidate, or the best family companion they have ever had.
The Thanksgiving Feast Litter
Nine puppies arrived right around Thanksgiving, so naturally they all received Thanksgiving feast-themed names. Meet the litter:
- Cranberry — bold and confident from the start
- Muffin — calm, content, and always eating
- Cobbler — adventurous with a big personality
- Yam — quiet and steady
- Pumpkin Pie — vocal and full of life
- Casserole — strong and stocky with beautiful markings
- Maple — the firecracker of the group
- Butterball — round, relaxed, and easygoing
- Stuffing — sweet and gentle in every way
Every one of them came into this world healthy, and mama has been an absolute natural from the very first moment.
How Our Puppies Are Raised
From day one, these puppies are part of a structured enrichment program designed to give them the strongest possible foundation for life.
[Early Neurological Stimulation](https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/dog-breeding/early-neurological-stimulation/) begins at day 3 and continues through day 16. This research-backed protocol involves brief daily handling exercises that have been shown to improve stress tolerance, cardiovascular health, and overall resilience in adult dogs.
Early Scent Imprinting also begins in the first week. Puppies are exposed to a novel scent each day, building neural pathways and enhancing their scent discrimination ability.
As the puppies grow, our enrichment expands to include novel surfaces, sounds, objects, and experiences. They meet new people regularly. They are introduced to basic problem-solving challenges. By the time they go home at eight weeks, they have had hundreds of positive exposures that build the confidence and adaptability that Australian Shepherds are known for.
Every puppy is weighed daily, handled multiple times a day, and monitored for health and development at every stage. Nothing is left to chance.
Health Testing and Transparency
Before any puppy leaves Queen City Farm, they receive a thorough veterinary examination, age-appropriate vaccinations, and deworming. We also conduct BAER hearing testing on every puppy in the litter — not just the ones we suspect might have issues.
All health testing results for both parents are publicly available. We believe in full transparency because we believe that is what puppy families deserve. When you purchase a Queen City puppy, you receive copies of all health clearances, a written health guarantee, and a lifetime of breeder support.
Follow the Journey
We will be sharing weekly updates on the Thanksgiving Feast litter as they grow — individual portraits, developmental milestones, temperament observations, and all the small moments that make puppy raising such a joy.
If you are interested in a puppy from a future Queen City Farm litter, we encourage you to reach out and introduce yourself. Our waitlist is the beginning of a relationship, and we love getting to know prospective families well before puppies are on the ground.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us on this journey. This first litter is just the beginning, and we are so excited to share it with you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is BAER hearing testing and why is it important for Australian Shepherds?
BAER stands for Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response. It is a non-invasive test that measures the brain's electrical response to clicks played into each ear individually, and it is the only objective way to confirm that a dog has normal hearing in both ears. We BAER test every puppy in every litter — not just the ones we suspect might have hearing issues. Australian Shepherds with merle patterning or extensive white markings can be at higher risk for congenital deafness, and testing the entire litter gives families certainty rather than guesswork.
What kind of health guarantee do Queen City Farm puppies come with?
Every puppy goes home with a written health guarantee that covers congenital health conditions consistent with the testing we do on the parent dogs. Specific terms — duration, what is covered, and what the breeder's obligations are if a guarantee is invoked — are spelled out in the puppy contract, which we share with families well before any deposit changes hands. We are happy to walk through it line by line.
How do you match Queen City Farm puppies to families?
We spend the full eight weeks observing each puppy individually — their temperament, drive, sensitivity, recovery from challenge, and how they engage with people and littermates. We pair that information with what each family has shared in their application and conversations with us, and we match puppies to families based on lifestyle and goals rather than letting families pick by color or markings. The process exists so that every puppy goes to the home where they are most likely to thrive.
Where can I follow weekly updates on the Thanksgiving Feast litter?
Weekly updates, individual portraits, and developmental milestones for this litter are posted on the Thanksgiving Feast litter page and on our Instagram. We document the whole eight weeks publicly because families who are part of this litter — and families considering future litters — deserve to see how the puppies actually grow up.
How can I be considered for a future Queen City Farm litter?
Start with a puppy application. Applications open a conversation and are how we get to know prospective families well before puppies are on the ground. We do not place puppies on a first-come, first-served basis; we match families to puppies based on fit, and that process starts long before a litter is born.
