About Us
Rick & I were both raised in rural Arizona. His family had a cattle ranch in Northern Arizona for most of his growing up years. He learned all about hard work and responsibility helping on the ranch. My grandparents also had a cattle ranch in the southern part of the state and raised quarter horses. I was lucky to live just a couple miles down the road from them. I loved getting to ride, help Grandpa feed, and even go to a couple of horse shows with him as he showed his flashy quarter horse paints.
I remember being so proud to see all my grandpa's cattle and horses with his brand - the Gunstock - on them. (We are lucky to own a paint horse from my Grandpa's line!) My dad told lots of stories about growing up on the ranch and always had a love of animals. He had a special love for his ranch dogs and talked about the special relationship he had with them. I inherited his love for animals and really enjoyed all the animals on our mini farm - horses, cows, chickens (yes, I had a pet chicken who followed me around), dogs, cats, and rabbits.
Rick & I were married, we were excited to get our first dog as soon as we graduated from college and we have had great family dogs ever since. We decided we wanted to breed dogs and got our first Australian Shepherd, Remi (Remington) about 7 years ago and she was such a great family dog! She was so gentle with my kids and would play fetch for hours if we let her. The only downside was all the shedding! When we learned about Aussiedoodles, we know that was what we wanted to breed! Having some family members with allergies to high shedding dogs, we were super excited about a dog that has a low to non-shedding coat! We bred Remi to a poodle and couldn't wait to start our little breeding program. Life doesn't always go the way you plan and Remi had some complications with her labor and ended up only having one litter of puppies before we had to retire her. She got to go live with my parents and was one of the highlights in my Dad's last year of his life as he battled cancer.
Even when he didn't have the strength to throw her the ball, my dad loved to just go sit with her on the porch. After my dad passed away, I knew I wanted to do something to honor him and carry on his legacy. Naming our breeding program after the ranch that was such a part of his life has been so healing and fulfilling to all of us!
Gunstock Doodles is a family affair. Rick & I have 8 (yep you read that right) kids and they are all an integral part of what Gunstock Doodles does. They help with everything from puppy socialization, puppy temperament testing, walking and playing with our adult dogs, to the not so fun part of being on puppy poo duty. My oldest daughter, Kaitlyn and her husband Chase have partnered with us and will have our first Bernedoodle puppies in 2023.
All of our puppy parents are genetically tested and have passed the health testing recommendations for their breed so we can produce the healthiest puppies we can. When puppies are just 3 days old, we start Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) and Early Scent Introduction (ESI). Our puppies are raised using Puppy Culture and Badass Breeder Curriculum so we can produce healthy, well-socialized, bomb-proof puppies for our Gunstock families all over the country.
We have expanded from just raising Aussiedoodles and now raise Goldendoodles and soon will be adding Bernedoodles too! All of these breeds are fantastic for families and we look forward to placing some therapy dogs in the near future. Dogs have unconditional love and a special gift for helping to heal hearts and it's so fulfilling to watch our Gunstock Doodle puppies making such a difference in their families lives!