Health

MDR1 is a gene that pumps certain drugs out of the brain. Dogs with a faulty copy can't do that properly, and some ordinary veterinary drugs reach the brain at toxic levels. The best-known are ivermectin (at higher doses, used for some mange treatments), loperamide (Imodium — never give it to an Aussie from the medicine cabinet), acepromazine and butorphanol (sedatives), and some anti-cancer drugs.

N/N (clear) dogs handle these drugs normally. N/mut (carrier) dogs can react at higher doses. mut/mut (affected) dogs can react badly at normal doses. Sorcha and Lasair are carriers; Rua and Fia are clear. Because one parent of every litter we breed is clear, none of our puppies can be affected, but some will be carriers.

Every puppy is tested and goes home with its own result and a wallet card for your vet. Show it at every visit. Standard flea, tick and worming products at label doses are safe for carriers.

Merle is the gene that dilutes patches of a dog's coat to give blue merle and red merle. One copy (M/m) gives a merle dog, healthy in every way. Two copies (M/M), from mating two merles, give a 'double merle' that is mostly white and has a high risk of deafness, blindness and malformed eyes. The Royal Kennel Club has refused to register merle × merle litters since 2013, and we would never breed one.

Some dogs carry a short 'cryptic' merle allele that doesn't show in the coat. That is why we test the allele length of every dog, not just look at them: Rua and Fia are m/m with no cryptic allele, so a merle bred to either can't produce a double merle.

Colour is never part of the price, and we don't take colour orders. Most families who come wanting a blue merle go home with whichever puppy suits them.

Some Aussies are born with a short natural bobtail (one copy of the T-box variant). Two copies are lethal before birth, so we never mate two bobtailed dogs. Tail docking is illegal in Ireland except for veterinary reasons. Every puppy on this site keeps the tail it was born with, and its card says which.