meet the breeders
We are Paul and Kylie Pieper, the owners and breeders of Red Fern Aussiedoodles. We grew up very differently but one thing we always connected on is our love for animals. Paul grew up on a small farm with cows, chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits, cats–you name it. His favorite animals to take care of, however, were his dogs (who would’ve guessed!). Kylie grew up in the suburbs where her first pet was a cat, however, she always had a spot in her heart that yearned for a dog and it wasn't until she was in her teen years that she was able to get her first dog with a little persuasion. Even though he was a rescue, he was the most lovable mutt that she enjoyed training and spending time with him. Once we were married, it wouldn’t be for a few years after starting our family and buying our first home that we would get a dog. We weren't sure what dog we wanted to get, so we did some research.
We first were drawn to the Bernese Mountain Dog and Golden Retriever but with small kids in the home we felt having a big dog would probably not be ideal. We looked at smaller dogs like Cocker Spaniels, Shih Tzus, Cavaliers, French Bulldogs, and other small dog mix breeds but none really seemed to fit what we were looking for until we found the Mini Australian Shepherd. They seemed to check all the boxes for us; they were neither too big nor too small, intelligent, athletic, obedient, and loyal.
We found a local breeder with a new litter and made the mistake of just going to "check out" the new puppies. We were in trouble because as soon as we saw our little Fern we were in love! She was a sweet puppy and amazed us with how easy she was to train. Furthermore, her ability to catch a frisbee, play fetch, and swim made her an enjoyable dog for us. We got her with the hopes that she would someday be a dog we could breed meeting certain requirements. She did, but there were some downsides to the breed in general that we wanted to improve, the first being that they shed. Another is that Aussies are, by nature, more reserved. They are very "business" oriented–they love to have a job and seek approval so laying down to cuddle isn't usually a top priority for them. While Aussies will always hold a special place in our hearts, we hoped that to create a better pet for people's homes, mixing with a poodle would complement where the Aussie lacks. We still weren't sure about the mix, and we were worried about how the puppies would turn out when it came to their coat and if they would lose the Aussie qualities. To our surprise, our first litter of Aussiedoodles blew our expectations out of the water. They were soft and fluffy like a poodle and more affectionate but still just as intelligent and easily trained; plus, they were still just as athletic. We knew the combination was more than we could have ever dreamed about, and with this discovery, breeding great Aussiedoodles was something we became passionate about. Shortly after our first litter we purchased our first poodle, Tucker. We soon learned that Poodles, especially Mini Poodles, were not the stuck up, unintelligent lap dogs we had come to believe, but were quite intelligent, loving, and to our surprise, quite athletic dogs!
Since that first litter, we have learned much about what it takes to achieve quality dogs and have developed clear breeding goals for our Aussiedoodle program. Our overarching priority is, of course, to better the breed. For us, this means breeding away from any genetic diseases as well as making sure our breeding dogs have great structure to ensure that our buyers are getting a quality puppy. We also evaluate temperaments before we breed our dogs, matching personalities that complement each other and seeking to produce low herding drive and a calm disposition as these are more conducive to great companionship. We understand the coat and color genetics of Aussies and Poodles, and since the two breeds have colors and markings that are generally dissimilar, we strive to only breed with poodles that hold similar color genotypes to preserve the unique tricolor and merle markings of the Aussie. Our mission at Red Fern Aussiedoodles is to breed for Quality, Companionship and Color.