About Us

Copper Oaks Australian Shepherds is owned and loved by Pam McCaslin and Byron Watson.

How Pam got bitten by the Aussie bug:
I fell in love with Australian Shepherds in 1972. My first dog was a blue merle female that was registered with N.S.D.R. She had a big smile for her friends and a nip for people who were uninvited to her territory. For many years I only had Aussies for pets and didn’t start having litters until much later on. I got my first show dog in 1991. I looked at a lot of photos and videos, made a lot of phone calls, and asked questions to any breeder who would talk to me. When I got a photo of a little blue merle puppy I knew I had found “the one.” The next obstacle was to convince the breeder that I was serious about buying and showing her puppy. When I brought him home my life changed forever. That little boy jumped right into my heart. At his and my first show neither one of us had a clue about dog shows, but we both learned fast, he was Best of Breed Puppy. I didn’t even know what that meant. We also started training obedience at an early age. At the Labor Day show in Claremore in 1992 we were entered in both conformation and obedience. People started telling me I had made a big mistake. You can’t do both at the same time, he’s too young and he will be too confused. Well we didn’t know you couldn’t do both. He was Reserve Winners Dog at the Friday night competition. He was also Winners Dog and Best of Winners at the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday shows. He was entered in Novice Obedience on that weekend and he received three qualifying scores earning his CD. I was walking on air, in one weekend he became Ch.Hidden Lanes Power SurgeCD.

I loved the breed so much I decided to get serious about becoming a responsible and knowledgeable breeder. I registered the Kennel name Copper Oaks with ASCA in 1993.We show on a limited basis as time and job constraints keep us from traveling as much as we would like to. One of the saddest times of my life came when I lost my Surge in 2001. A lot of my time and effort are now focused on his son Ch.Echos Sky Walker of Copper OaksCD who seems to be filling his father’s big shoes.

We have an average of two litters per year. Our main goal is to produce quality, healthy Aussies with excellent temperament and the brains and willingness to be anything you ask them to be. Our breeding choices are carefully selected with research into pedigrees, keeping our bloodlines as free as possible of genetic health issues. All of our breeding stock is OFA rated, eyes certified yearly, and have DNA certificates. Our puppies are sold with contracts and full guarantees. Puppy buyers are screened carefully. We reserve the right of first refusal or will take back any puppy or adult that does not work out for any reason, as any reputable breeder should. Our dogs are only bred on every other or every third heat cycle and sometimes not even that often.

We belong to the Australian Shepherd Club of America, Oklahoma City Obedience Training Club, Indian Territories Australian Shepherd Club, USASA, and Oklahoma Search and Rescue Dogs. Pam is an obedience instructor as well as an ASCA obedience judge and we have both served on the Board of Directors for various dog organizations.

Our Aussies are our family first then show dogs. We spend quality time with our dogs doing things they enjoy.