copy and paste my email to get in touch with me.
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find me on :FACEBOOK@WhitneyHillAussies
and Maggie Mulligan
I am Maggie Mulligan. I live in Northern New Mexico on a 43 acre ranch that reaches up to 9000 feet in the high mesa desert.
Teaching people to ride horseback and Alpine ski are my passions. But my dogs are my first love. We hike daily in the mountains together and enjoy frisbee and agility.
In the summer months I give trail rides on my land and the dogs are always by my side. They are there always whether I am teaching riding, hiking or painting canvas in the beautiful New Mexico landscape.
In the winter months I give private ski lessons on different mountains . My clientel is generally anxious skiiers that need coaching and support. I also guide on several mountains.
But my main interests are the dogs. I have been breeding Aussies for over 25 years and am an avid geneologist in Australian Shepherd ASCA lines.
A Little History...
Our history begins with a little red merle puppy that was born on a dairy farm in Williamstown, Vermont. Her parents were working cow dogs and she was a twist of fate for me, Maggie Mulligan. I named her Corey Dowsing Rowdy Jem, aka Corey, using all names on her pedigree thinking the names were interesting and not knowing anything of Aussie pedigree.
As I came to learn about Aussie pedigree through other breeders, I realized I had something special in Corey’s pedigree. Her lines quickly went back to the foundation Aussies. While investigating this I came across the book All About Aussies by Jeanne Joy Hartenagle. This became my bible, and a book I highly recommend. Through this book I learned about the correct way to rear an Aussie, as well as, breed them properly with the correct pre-breeding tests needed to be preformed. After Corey turned 2 years, her eyes and hips were tested. Both eyes came back cleared and her hips were excellent, a classification you don’t see many dogs with today. Corey gave me many litters and made lifetime companions for many families. Her pups excelled in herding, tracking, frisbee, flyaball agility and showing.
Her most important legacy for me was the birth of Whitney Hill Posey, aka “Possum", a once in a lifetime dog whose sire went back to Showtimes Sir Prize lines and other Eastern important lines. She was remarkably patterned Blue Merle, with deep coppers and almost true blue marbling all over her body. With a sweet temperament, obedient disposition and desire to learn, Possum quickly became one of my favorite pets I would ever own. Possum, and I were inseparable and together we learned how to show, herd and do agility. When she was five, I moved to New Mexico due to personal health reasons, and soon went looking for a stud dog for her to breed. I had learned of the Hartenagles Kennel which was only a few hours away in Colorado. Soon I made arrangements with Joseph Hartenagle, owner, for a kennel visit. This trip ended up changing my life with these dogs. Joseph, a renowned judge and breeder in the Australian Shepard Club of America (ASCA), became a mentor for me as well as a good friend. When Joseph first read Possums papers his eyes got big and he said “You must breed her to Ori! He is related to all 6 of our Hall of Fame dogs”. I took Josephs advice, now those lines are carried in all my dogs.
Possums’ last litter was with Ori and all but one were sold before they were born. The one that wasn’t sold went to a gal from Santa Fe, NM that I didn’t know. All the others I took cross country to people that were waiting for them back in New England.
Shortly after that I stopped breeding dogs for a few years. During that time, Possum had died upon my returned from a trip to New Orleans, post Katrina. Her death was heavy on me for a long period of time. Additionally, the economy was bad and I did not own any dogs I wanted to breed. My dogs were getting older, breeding was not the right choice at that time.
Then one day I got a call from the ASCA registry. Someone wanted my phone number and they wanted to know if they could give it out. I told them yes. Turned out, the person wanting to contact me had recently adopted the puppy I had sold to the gal in Santa Fe, the only pup from Possums’ last litter to stay in the area. She was in need of re-homing her, and wondered if I knew of anyone who might be interested. Indeed I did, me! That puppy turned my breeding program back on. She had all the lines I wanted and was from my beloved Possum. I bred her to a stud who had the lines I was lacking, making for a wonderful litter. Unfortunately, she had had a rough life and quickly after her only litter passed away. However, she left her legacy on my breeding program, giving me some amazing lines and I am ever so grateful she came back to me.