The Start of Kindred Spirits MAS
I wanted to breed dogs and raise puppies for as long as I can remember. I didn’t want to add to the dog overpopulation problem, which I saw first hand by volunteering at our local animal shelter and starting a dog rescue organization. I wanted to produce top quality puppies from health tested parents that would work toward the betterment of the breed that I would choose. The type of dog that you would rarely see at a shelter, that wasn’t really adding to the overpopulation problem. I would also vow to be responsible for the lifetime of any puppy I would produce. I would do all I can to ensure that my puppies would never end up in a shelter or rescue program, but are always welcome back in my home as needed.
Over the years I had a few purebred dogs that I would train and show a little. Each one that I would get would give me hopes that I could fulfill my dream of becoming a dog breeder. I love herding breeds and I had a Rough Collie, a Shetland Sheepdog, two Belgian Tervurens and a Border Collie. Each of these dogs were wonderful but with each one there were different reasons why it wasn’t the right time or the right dog or the right breed to start my breeding business. Many years go by and through extensive research and soul searching, my husband, Aaron and I decided we wanted to breed Miniature American Shepherds.
Once we decided to get a Miniature American Shepherd we started searching for the right breeder who would heath test their dogs and are striving to produce puppies adhering to the AKC standard for MAS. We were also looking for someone with many years of experience in breeding MAS that would be willing to help us get started the right way. Someone we could continually ask questions to, that would guide us along the way. I was finding most good breeders with quality dogs would not sell breeding rights to us unless they would co-own the dog with us. We did not want to start our dog breeding business by co-owning our foundation bitch with someone that could control a huge part of our business. I understand their position of wanting to protect their line from unethical breeders, I totally agree with them and feel the same way about our puppies! Even though I understood, we still did not want to go that route in starting this new adventure. They did not know, but I knew that we would do all we could to raise healthy pups and would be very conscientious breeders!
We continued our search. To several breeders I sent a very long, detailed email explaining who I was, my background with dogs and what I wanted to do. Every question I thought they might have was covered in this email. Then I waited for the responses, which varied as much as the number of emails sent. Finally I connected with a breeder that had some puppies available right now. I inquired about one particular puppy that we liked from the picture and information online. This breeder told me about a different puppy that she thought would better meet our needs. This was Jade, the foundation of Kindred Spirits and Lani from Herd About Miniature American Shepherds became our mentor!