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We thought you might like to check out our history in the Australian Shepherd and see how we have evolved.  Our lives have been enriched by each and every Aussie we've owned, trained and/or handled plus the many friends we've made over the years, those we now fondly call our extended-family:)

OUR LIFE HAS SURE GONE TO THE DOGS!!!

MEET STEVE

MEET ANNE

MEET STEPHANIE & SHELBY

STEVE D. SHOPE
Steve has lived or worked on ranches or farms most of his life.  He trained & handled for others quarterhorses as a kid for competition in all venues.  He also roped calves competitively & rode bulls competitively in his younger days.  He worked on ranches as a teenager (branding, sorting, doctoring and he still does help out at some ranches nearby from time to time as his schedule allows).  He also served as a pack guide in Colorado.  He and his wife, Anne, owned many years back (1970's) a large hog operation ( farrow to finish - semi-confinement operation - hogs often numbered from a low of around @3500 to a high of @5500 total) in the eastern part of New Mexico (E&S Swine Farm, Inc.) where they shipped hogs regularly to Jimmie Dean and Amarillo Packing.  On this farm they periodically worked Aussies (these were not registered) and Miniature Schnauzers (these were registered) from time to time on the hogs (Aussies on the feeders & sows and Miniature Schnauzers on the weiners).   Steve & Anne share a passion for animals and enjoy the ranch life.

Steve has handled & trained nine dogs to their ASCA working trial championships, some of which qualified and competed in the ASCA Stockdog finals (Bandit, Rosy & the latest is Gus with Talon being the up&com'n).  He began competing in ASCA in the stockdog trial arena in 1994 with Bandit (who was dubbed the black pup and WTCH'd by age two).  He competed in the Canadian Stockdog Futurity and won the 2nd day's competition in open cattle with his then-young under two-year old Aussie Rosy (linebred Dude daughter).  He has trained and handled many other breeds successfully in ASCA, including Bercerons, Border Collies and Bouviers.  His students graduating from his classes have garnished herding-AKC-AHBA/working-ASCA titles on german shepherds, aussies, and border collies.  Steve is an AHBA judge, ABCA stock instinct testor, and a Provisional ASCA stockdog judge.  He gives stockdog clinics as his schedule allows, both here at the ranch and on the road, including when it fits his schedule some clinics abroad.  He has an Aussie (Bandit) and a Border Collie (Major) with AKC herding advanced titles; you'll not see him running much these days in AKC or AHBA due to time constraints.  You can find him these days, however, periodically competing at the State Fair and in jackpot cattle futurities, and more frequently competing in ASCA trials.  Watch for his up&com'n pup Edi to debut in the summer of 2006.  Watch for Steve & Talon & Gus at the ASCA Nationals in the stockdog finals:)

Steve has served on the ASCA Stockdog Committee.  He is a member of the Lobo Australian Shepherd Club and currently serves as their Co-Trial Director and Past President.  He has hosted trials, been the trial coordinator, and the stock provider many times over.  Steve has done stockdog clinics in Wisconsin, Colorado, Arizona, Sweden & Finland plus New Mexico.

Steve and his wife, Anne, have co-authored a Stockdog 101 manual and dvd/video (& daughter Stephanie McDaniel is the production editor of the 2005 PROFESSIONAL edition).   The Stockdog 101 package includes choosing your stockdog and your trainer, stockdog lingo, introducing your dog to stock, fetch work, teaching directions, square flanks, teaching your dog to understand pressure, reading stock, beginning drive work, demo started work and advanced work, starting your dog on cattle and ducks, and practical use training information on sheep, cattle and ducks for competition or ranch work.  Steve is happy to refer you to other trainers or point you to instructional materials that might help you train or problem solve the partnership you have with your working dog.

Steve is currently serving as an ASCA stockdog judge.  Steve is frequently booking 2 calendar years at a time as a stockdog judge so don't be offended if his schedule cannot fit you in at any given time:)

AUSSIES HANDLED SUCCESSFULLY BY STEVE IN HERDING/WORKING (RED TITLES put on by Steve):
VCH WTCH CH Shope's Goodnight Bandit CDX RTDsc HX-Ad HS-As
  (stockdog finals qualifer & finalist/USASA herding stats)
VCH WTCH CH Lady Claugene Shope CDX RTDsc HS-As
    (AZ Silver Specialty HC winner/USASA herding stats)
VCH WTCH CH Trueluc's Misty Blus Shope CDX
    (stockdog finals qualifier)
WTCH CH Kansaquest's Chances R CD
CH Legends Three Times a Lady CD STDs
CH Legends Classy Sassy CD STDcsd
Odyssey's Nifty Fini CDX STDsc(Most Promising STD award)
Private Stoc's Walker Ranger CD STDdsc(Most Promising STD award)
Private Stoc's Maclovia STDds OTDc (Most Promising STD award)
CH Windogo's Red O'Sonny Boy CD STDdsc (Most Promising STD award)
Wilmeth's Steel Blue Iceman STDdcs (Most Promising STD award)
Shope's Cinamon Cachina Doll CD STDdsc
WTCH Diamond S Legends Rosy RTDs(ASCA herding stats; stockdog finals dog; futurity competitor & Nationals sheep HIT Wisconsin '03)
Legends Without Remorse CD STDdsc
   (seated in ASCA herding stats/Nat'l award for started cattle)
WTCH Las Rocosa Western Legends RTDsc (one leg of PATDs) (stockdog finals competitor)
WTCH NT Connected Lucky (merit awards)
CH Legends Quartermaster STDs
CH Heartfire's Thief in the Nite STDsdc OTDds (one advanced sheep leg), MPS award
WTCH Legends of Teewinot's Talon RTDs DNA-VP (MPS award; ASCA merits; HC awards)
Ruff Stocks Legends Cowgirl Up STDdsc (MPS Awards)
Legends Be Forewarned CD STDs (Cow Country Classic MVA Winner) - Steve two STDs/one STDd
Legends High Noon Cooper STDsd OTDcds
OTHER BREEDS:
WTCH Legends Black Shadow (border collie) HX-Asdc PATDsc (USBCA money winner)
Legends Tickles My Fancy (border collie) OTDdsc
Lulu (Berceron) STDsdc (one leg open sheep) (his work w/Lulu was written up in the Rare Breeds Magazine)
Sketch (Beauvier) STDdsc
Lock-Eye Katy STDs OTDcd
STUDENTS taking lessons from him have garnished titles
on german shepherds, shelties, border collies, aussies

  ANNE M. SHOPE

Anne has had dogs all her life and could not imagine her life without dogs as part of her family.  She, like Steve, has nearly always lived in the country.  Her family has owned farms and/or ranches throughout her lifetime.  In her younger days, she competed in small rodeos and horse shows.

She bred, trained and handled one of her dogs to #1 bitch/#3 dog (Dream) overall in the ASCA conformation standings a few years back.  She's handled her BBX (Disney) to Best of Breed Puppy at the Nationals and her foundation bitch (Claugene) to Best of Breed Veteran at the ASCA nationals.  She's trained and trialed dogs to High in Trials, Premiers, Most Versatile Aussie, Most Promising Started, and a few merit awards.

Anne has:
   * trained and handled 8 Australian Shepherds to their ASCA championship; she has major pointed and minor pointed many others in AKC and ASCA.
   * trained and handled 16 Australian Shepherds to 26 CD titles (14 in ASCA and 12 in AKC).  (In the past, she often trained and handled for others but she doesn't do this much any more due to time constraints)
   * trained and handled 3 Australian Shepherds to 5 CDX titles (3 in ASCA and 2 in AKC)
   * trained and handled 9 Australian Shepherds to started stockdog titles (including several MPS awards and several MVA awards)
   * trained and handled 1 Australian Shepherd to an open stockdog title (Anne kinda left the stockdog trialing up to Steve but she's going to get more serious now about open and advanced title work with Deeter, Max and the up&com'n puppy, Ally).
   * in partnership with her husband, Steve, put ASCA versatility championships on three Australian Shepherds (Bandit, Claugene & Misty).  Steve did the stock titles and Anne did the conformation/obedience titles.

Anne currently serves as an ASCA obedience judge (through open),  ASCA BreederJudge (conformation) and is a member of the Sandia Dog Obedience Club, Zia Australian Shepherd Club (Affiliate Representative) and Lobo Australian Shepherd Club (Affiliate Representative).  Anne served as the Chair for the ASCA Most Versatile Aussie Committee for two years and is currently serving as the Chair for the newly forming ASCA Hall of Fame Committee.

Anne has written two manuals:  '05 Practical Obedience and '05 How to Choose, Live With and Train a Puppy.  The Practical Obedience Manual is accompanied by a dvd or video.  The training manuals and dvd/videos are a family production.  The Production Editor is the Shope's daughter, Stephanie McDaniel.  All '05 dvd/videos are professional quality.

Anne is often sought out for problem solving temperament issues.  She works to problem solve the human/dog relationship and communication capabilities (both inside and outside the home and competition environments) so-as to enable both dog and human to understand each other, thereby forming a viable, lifelong, and productive partnership.   Anne and Karen Keller* are co-writing a book on communication between the human and the dog; watch for this to appear in hardback in probably 2008.

    *Karen R. Keller of ASCA Registered Kennel Karpe Diem Australian Shepherds resides in Pennsylvania.  Karen is an elementary school teacher, whose dogs often accompany her to work where they interact with the students.  Karen trains for and participates in ASCA/AKC conformation, agility, fly ball, and obedience. She is an instructor in obedience.  You can visit Karen Keller here shortly as Legends will be building her website the end of February, 2006.  You'll enjoy meeting her as well as her family.  Karen's kennel foundation is Nitani Australian Shepherd and Legends Australian Shepherd lines.  Please do not confuse Karen with another person of the same name that raises North American Australian Shepherds; these two are not related.

RED COLORS INDICATE TITLES PUT ON BY ANNE:
VCH WTCH CH Shope's Goodnight Bandit asca CDX akc CD HX-As HS-Ad RTDsc
VCH WTCH CH Lady Claugene Shope asca/akc CDX RTDsc HS-Ad usasa ROM (one leg in utility/AKC ptd breed/
    USASA obedience stats/BISS veteran '03 ASCA Nationals, 2 premier altered awards pre-shows \03 ASCA Nationals,  BOB veteran HOTASC pre-show '03 ASCA Nationals)
VCH WTCH CH Trueluc's Misty Blus Shope asca CDX akc CD (multiple rwbs awards AKC/USASA
    obedience stats)
Int'l/AKC/ASCA CH Legends Celebra Los Suenos (#1 bitch/#3 dog overall ASCA stats/AKC maj ptd breed)
CH Legends Three Times a Lady asca/akc CD (ASCA obedience stats) STDs (AKC major pointed breed
    & Most Versatile Awards)
CH Legends Classy Sassy asca/akc CD STDsdc (Steve put Sassy's sheep & cattle legs on her) (AKC major pointed breed)
CH Windogo's Red O'Sonny Boy asca/akc CD STDsdc (AKC pointed breed/Most Versatile awards)
asca/akc CH Moonlight's Black Mic Magic STDs asca/akc CD
Shope's Cinamon Cachina Doll asca/akc CD STDdsc
Legends Paws For Applause asca/akc CD (asca obedience stats)
Odyssey's Nifty Fini ATDsd OTDc CD asca CD
Legends Without Remorse asca/akc CD STDdsc
Legends Cafe Latte NA NAJ, 2 legs CD STDs
Legends Chance w/Hanky Panky asca/akc CD STDsc (one leg ducks), two ASCA majors, MPS award
CH Legends Quartermaster CD STDs (put on majors)
Legends Montana Los Suenos asca CD
Nitani's Hang'em High STDs
Legends Copper Canyon Watch Me asca/akc CD, asca Major (multiple RWB)
Legends Log-on at Karpe Diem STDs
Heartfire's Tried & True asca CD
(BISS puppy 02 ASCA Nationals) CH Legends WishUponAStar Nitani DNA-VP
CH Heartfire's Thief in the Nite STDsdc OTDds(one advanced sheep leg), MPS award
Legends Star Ruby asca STDsc, major pointed ASCA
Legends Be Forewarned CD STDsc (Cow Country Classic MVA Winner) - Anne two STDs/three STDc/one CD leg/HIT
Legends High Noon Cooper STDscd  OTDcds MPS 3-day average belt buckle winner; merits
CH Legends StarN Max-a-Million asca CD STDdcs (MPS 1-day; MVA & MPS Classic) akc CD (1 akc cdx leg) RA DNA-VP
 

MEET STEPHANIE

& daughter,# SHELBY
Hit Shelby's picture for her webpage:)
StarN Australian Shepherds
Stephanie Shope-McDaniel is Steve's & Anne's daughter.   Shelby is their granddaughter.

Stephanie is a former 4-H competitor and winner and a NM State Fair cookoff winner. Stephanie has pointed many Legends dogs both in ASCA and AKC and helped campaign Dream to her #1 Bitch merit. Stephanie has Lupus and chronic asthma &, therefore, we have to be very careful with her health.  On her down days, the dogs really make this world a better place for her.  They are her best drug for what ails her.  Stephanie is a member and President of LASA and Vice-President of ZIA, both local Aussie clubs.  When Stephanie's health permits, she has served as Show Secretary for MASC and LASA.   Stephanie is our Products Manager/Production Editor plus does embroidery when her time allows.  When her health permits, she shows dogs in conformation or obedience.

Stehanie's kennel is StarN.  You'll find many Aussies named Legends StarN - these are co-breedings by the Shopes with daughter Stephanie.  Stephanie has put in for her conformation judgship with ASCA (judgship pending publication in the Aussie Times).

Shelby has completed her Pee Wee career :) and is now on to her sub-junior involvement and thus far it's certainly been entertaining (Shelby thanks our Bandit, Sassy, Disney, Whitney, and Ally for assisting her).  Shelby has earned Degree One in '05-'06 with Disney & Ally!  Watch for Shelby in our Obedience dvd/video with Gabby, and in the stock arenas in due course with Gus.

Titles and/or points or legs put on dogs by Stephanie are in red colors:
CH Moonlight's Black Mic Magic asca/akc CD STDs NA DNA (all legs)
CH Legends Classy Sassy asca/akc CD STDdcs DNA
BISS AKC/ASCA Ferncrofts Ball of Fire asca CD (all legs)
Legends Montana Los Suenos asca CD (all legs)
WTCH akc/asca CH Kansaquests Chances R asca CD (all legs)
asca CH (ack 13pts) Legends RX For Success (Put on AKC major)
CH Quartermaster Four CD STDs (Put on ASCA points)
Legends Be Forwarded DNA-VP (two RWD to 4 pt majors & one to a 5 pt major/two CD legs with one HIT)
CH Legends WishUponAStar Nitani asca CD DNA-VP (BOS Special/all champion points & all CD legs)
asca CH Heartfire's Thief in the Nite STDc OTDsc (BOB over specials, champion points)
asca CH Legends StarN Max-a-Million asca/akc CD STDdcs RN DNA-VP (all champion points)
asca CH Legends StarN Magic Happens DNA-VP, (all champion points)
Legends Star Ruby STDsc RN 1 leg ASCA CD
Legends Willow Wins At Amistad (WB/BOW/BOS 4pt)
CH Legend Bienvenido Los Suenos CD STDsd (Specials  BOBPoints)
CH La Platas Mistico DeColores (BOB Wins-Specials Points)
Legends Star Ruby asca (2 legs of her CD) STDsc, major pointed ASCA