Aussie families arrive with a photo in their head: a blue merle with two blue eyes and copper trim. Your job is to match the right puppy to the right home, explain why merle to merle is off the table, and keep a list of active, opinionated families in the loop for months. Whelpify gives your program a real website, one organized waitlist, and deposits through your own Stripe account, with no marketplace cut.
Despite the name, the Australian Shepherd was developed in the American West, working stock on ranches and rodeo circuits through the 1900s. The breed was recognized by the AKC in 1991, and today it sits comfortably among the most popular breeds in the country, equal parts family companion, agility competitor, and working dog.
Aussies come in four base colors, blue merle, red merle, black, and red, each with or without white markings and copper points. Add eye color, which can be blue, amber, brown, or a mix, and families show up wanting a very specific dog. Most breeders spend real time explaining that a black tri with the same temperament is every bit the same Aussie, and that the merle pattern is a single gene that should never be doubled up.
Well-bred Aussies are sound and long-lived, but the breed has known concerns: hip and elbow dysplasia, inherited eye disease including cataracts and Collie eye anomaly, the MDR1 drug-sensitivity mutation, and epilepsy that runs in some lines. Responsible programs screen every generation, publish the results, and say plainly that this is a high-drive dog that needs a job.
Honest context for planning a litter. These are the ranges we see on public listings and in parent club guidance; your region, your lines, and your reputation move them.
Three things Australian Shepherd breeders spend the most time on, and how Whelpify handles each one out of the box.
Aussie families are specific. Your application asks about color, sex, eye color, and whether they want a working prospect or a couch companion, and those answers sit on every waitlist card. When a puppy goes available, families whose color and sex preferences match get notified, and the rest of the list stays calm.
Attach OFA numbers, the latest eye exam, and the DNA panel to the sire and dam once. Every litter and puppy page shows the parents' screening beside their photos and pedigree, so the family researching merle genetics at midnight finds the answer on your site instead of in your inbox.
Every inquiry and application lands in one numbered queue with a status, the family's preferences, and your notes. Reorder it yourself, set a follow-up reminder on a family you want to call, and merge the duplicate who emailed and then applied. When the litter is born, the people who said "any color, must be a male" are right there.
The United States Australian Shepherd Association recommends hip and elbow evaluations, an annual eye exam, and DNA testing for the hereditary conditions the breed is known to carry. Most serious buyers have at least read the MDR1 page.
OFA evaluation at 24 months or older (or PennHIP). Fair, Good, or Excellent are passing grades.
OFA elbow radiographs at 24 months or older, graded Normal or by dysplasia grade.
Annual exam by a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, recorded through the OFA eye registry, watching for cataracts, Collie eye anomaly, PRA, and iris coloboma, which is more common in merles.
DNA test for the multidrug resistance mutation. Carriers and affected dogs react badly to ivermectin and several common drugs. Results should go home with every puppy in writing.
Commonly HSF4 hereditary cataract, Collie eye anomaly (CEA), PRA-prcd, and degenerative myelopathy. Carriers can be bred responsibly to clear partners.
Not a disease test but a breeding rule. Merle to merle produces double merle puppies with a high risk of deafness and blindness, and two natural bobtails should not be paired. Knowing the genotype of both parents protects the litter.
The full platform is included on every plan. Here is how the pieces map to an Australian Shepherd breeder's week.
Families state the color and sex they want on your application. When a puppy goes available, matching families are notified, and the ones who miss out hear about the next litter without re-applying.
Fenced yard, hours alone, experience with a herding breed, plans for sports or stock work, kids and livestock at home. Build it once and every family answers the same thing, with follow-up questions that only appear when they apply.
Health testing lives on each dog's profile with registration numbers and titles. Buyers see it on the parent page, the litter page, and every puppy page without asking.
Deposits and balances go straight to your account. Prefer Zelle, Venmo, or a check for some families? Send a branded invoice and mark it paid in one click. Whelpify takes no cut of your sales.
Mark a puppy available or publish a litter announcement and it posts to your Page and Instagram with the photo and link, which is where most Aussie families are looking anyway.
Your purchase agreement, MDR1 disclosure, spay/neuter terms, and return clause become a signable form attached to each family's file, with a typed legal-name signature and date.
The rhythm of an Australian Shepherd program is particular. These are the numbers the workflow is shaped around.
Every puppy gets its own page, color, status, and deposit record from birth.
One litter can hold merles and solids, tris and bis. Preferences on the application do the sorting.
Captured up front so the "do you have a blue merle female" email mostly stops arriving.
Core clearances attach to parents and appear on every puppy page automatically.
Sports, farms, and hikers. The application screens for it so you are not re-homing a bored Aussie at ten months.
Offers with a response window, automatic balance requests, and receipts for every payment.
Yes. Your application can ask for color and sex preferences (and anything else, like eye color or working versus pet home). Color and sex preferences are used to notify matching families when a puppy becomes available. Final matching is always your call.
Each dog record has a health section where you enter results and registry numbers and upload certificates. What you publish appears on that dog's public page and on every litter and puppy page that descends from it, so buyers see the clearances before they email you.
Yes. Create the litter from the sire and dam pairing and publish it as upcoming. Interested families can apply and join the waitlist, and when the litter is born you can notify them and start posting puppies with photos and current weights.
Yes. Each female has a cycle tab with a visual timeline, an estimated fertile window for planning, and an email and dashboard alert before her next heat is expected. Predictions learn each dog's own cycle length over time.
No. Stripe is built in if you want card payments straight to your own account, and you can also send invoices for Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, or check and mark them paid yourself. Whelpify takes no cut of your sales either way; Stripe charges its standard processing fee.
Yes. Every dog, litter, puppy, and waitlist entry is tagged by breed, and your website presents each breed cleanly. Multi-breed programs are supported on every plan.
Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial and includes the full platform. Most breeders have a site up in an afternoon.