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 (ENS)](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 (ESI) 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.
