Meet the Owner

Hi! I’m Donna and I’m so happy you’re here.

It all started when I decided having 8 kids was not enough to keep me busy!

In 2006, we were a family of 10…2 parents, 8 kids, ranging in age from 2-21 years old. I thought “Hmmm, I have about 10 minutes in my day to breath, let’s get a dog!” I had wanted an Australian Shepherd from the time I was a kid, so I went about researching breeders in my area. I found Lynn at Bonza Australian Shepherds, and brought home our first Aussie puppy a short time later. Unfortunately, Blaze was not with us very long.

Lynn had another litter born in January of 2007…at which time I was 6 months pregnant with baby #9. Four weeks before my baby was born, Saber came to live with us. One year later, on Valentine’s Day 2008, Strider was born and he came to our family as well. Several months later, Lynn offered Fable to us, and we said “Yes!”. Our dogs were very, very loved members of our family, and brought so much happiness. They were there with us through all of our good times, as well as the hard times. Fable eventually went to live with a family in a more rural setting, where she had lots of room to spend her golden years. We lost Saber in 2017 and Strider in 2020. Their presence was definitely missed and left a hole felt by all of us.

In mid 2020, I was ready to take on the task of raising another puppy. I contacted Lynn, and while she didn't have any puppies at the time, she offered to let me bring Poppy home with me, with the option to breed her. At this time, Lynn lived in Idaho. No problem…my friends and I made the drive to Idaho to pick up Poppy and bring her to San Diego.

Poppy was bred in November of 2020, and had her first litter with me in January 2021. In preparation for her litter, I began studying and learning as much as I could about Puppy Culture. Puppy Culture has been an amazing resource for me as a breeder, as well as a puppy owner. I utilize the information and guidelines to help with early neurological stimulation and socialization. All of the grand kids in the picture above have been a huge help in socializing every litter of puppies that we have had. You can read more about Puppy Culture on this page.

We had 8 beautiful, healthy puppies in our first litter. Seven of them went to amazing homes, we kept one girl with us, and named her Juni. She has been an amazing dog to learn and grow with. She LOVES showing with my grandsons in Junior Showmanship.

Our program has grown and changed since that first litter. We now also have Cypher, Bullet and Valkyrie. Cypher finished her AKC Championship in February 2024, and had an amazing litter of puppies, with 2 going to show/breeding homes. Bullet is an incredible boy, and is pointed in both AKC and ASCA. Valkyrie came to us in June of 2024, and is major pointed in ASCA and pointed in AKC. We love traveling and showing our dogs in conformation, mostly in Southern California, Nevada and Utah. If you’re nearby, we would love to meet you at a show.

We are located in San Diego, CA about 20 minutes from San Diego International Airport. We do not ship our puppies unaccompanied, but will help you with arrangements for pickup if you are out of town. Depending on scheduling, we can also meet partway for pickup, for a small fee.

Breeding and raising these amazing dogs has become a full time endeavor for me, which has been more fulfilling than I imagined. I am happy to be here to support you when you bring your puppy home and on into their golden years!