City Slickers Ranch - Toy And Mini Australian Shepherd Breeder Ocala, Florida

Tried 3 times to get ahold of someone for a dog, no response.

Good food and good people.

10 years ago we arrived for our meet and greet. We had planned to meet a female black tri and ended up getting to know her brother. He was hyper and ran all over. Our hearts were on the mend from losing our prior dog and instantly fell in love with this little ball of energy. We asked to see the parents and were informed his mother, Catherine, was unavailable to see. ????Hunter, the father, was brought into the room. Hunter was energetic as well, super sweet, and kept trying to bark but nothing would come out but a raspy sound. Nancy informed us she had his voice box removed because he barked too much during shows. ???? During our meet and greet with the puppy we eventually brought home, Nancy talked a lot about how she was an expert on this breed. We had confidence in all that she was telling us as we were new to the breed and were learning a lot during that time. In hindsight, we realize she blew a lot of smoke. We arranged for a pickup appointment before leaving and were ecstatic about welcoming this puppy into our family. The appointment was delayed several times and many calls to Nancy were unanswered. We later learned there was a death in the family (either Nancy’s mom or her mother in law- I can’t remember). We were sympathetic to her loss and rescheduled to a more convenient time for her and her family. On the 2 hour drive home with our boy we named Sokka, he panted the entire time and was scared to death. We figured he was nervous about leaving his litter mates and scared in the car. Little did we know he’d suffer with extreme anxiety for his entire 10 years of life. Sokka was the smartest and best companion we’ve ever had. He could communicate his needs and predict our movements. He was extremely affectionate and loved to snuggle. He was a soul mate dog and meant the world to us. As wonderful and smart as Sokka was, he suffered. He was scared of everything and barked constantly. We tried training to no avail. We tried meds prescribed by the vet, to no avail. We tried anything and everything recommended to us by friends, anything we could find on the internet. There was no cure or relief for his anxiety. Not one but multiple vets told us this was genetic and a result of the breeding program from which he came. Sokka also had genetic problems with his knees. I can’t remember the exact name of the diagnosis but basically his knee joints weren’t in alignment and his knees would pop out of their sockets. Another genetic problem. Sokka spent a lot of his short life at the vet where he was terrified due to his anxiety and spent the latter half of his life on a lot of medicine. He developed a heart murmur and at 10 years and one month old, he was anxious and went into cardiac arrest at the vet. We weren’t even in the room when he died due to covid precautions. Our sweet boy died, without us by his side, while scared at the vet because of his debilitating anxiety. I’m sharing our experience with others because I wish we had paid more attention to the red flags. I don’t regret buying Sokka from Nancy because our lives were better for having Sokka in it. I do regret supporting a breeding program that produces dogs with so many genetic problems causing them to suffer. There are Facebook groups devoted to Mini Aussies and there is a wealth of information there. I wish I had known about them 10 years ago and highly recommend anyone considering purchasing a MAS to join. Ask lots of questions about breeding standards. Google this place and the names of the owners. There are stories you’ll find that I wish we had found before now. Buying here may gift you with the best companion you’ve ever had but it may also be a lifetime of suffering for them and tons of vet bills for you. The 3 stars I left on this review are for Sokka and Sokka alone. I would leave 0 stars for the breeding program itself.

I hope no one ever ever gets a dog from her… I was thrown off my the type of ‘customer service’ she provided. But was like maybe I’m overthinking it. She never provided me any medical documents, never sent photos of the parents and wouldn’t answer any basic questions. We scheduled to physically see her before investing on a deposit and the night before she told us she sold it to someone else and said ‘she didn’t even ask for any pics so I just gave it to her lol’ ofc business is business but this is super sketchy. I was happy to find a healthy pup from a different breeder and couldn’t be happier. Just… be careful with this one. Also… what good owner submits her own 5 star review to bump up her reviews…

I got my boy Dex almost 8 years ago. I went to get a different dog, but I had not refreshed my browser so the dog I had gone to get was actually already sold :). Dex just happened to be available - not the gender or color I wanted but he came right to me, eyes barely open, and laid on my foot with his little skunk toy. That was that. It was meant to be. I had some problems early on - he was a lot smarter than any dog I'd ever had and did things I did not expect. Nancy was RIGHT THERE to help me, email, even came to my house to see him. She is "overly protective" of her dogs, good for her. She is *selective* about who she sells them too. Good for her. Ok, maybe she is not the best at maintaining/updating their web site but really, are you looking for a state of the art web site, or the best puppy you can find? Nancy was completely open about Dex's parents (I met his mother that day), his potential, his size, and what all would be involved in raising an Aussie boy. I have had eight WONDERFUL years with him, and recently he has developed an enlarged heart, which happens with some smaller dogs. I don't know how much longer I will have this little joy in my life but I would without hesitation get another dog from Nancy and Rocky at City Slickers.

I don't want to leave a negative review, I just want information. Does anyone know if this place is still in business? I have left several voicemails and emailed and haven't received a response. Is this breeder open to stop by and take a look at pups?

City Slickers Ranch is The Number 1 Best Breeder of Minature and Toy Australian Sheppard puppies in Florida!!! Owner and Breeder Nancy Stacy is dedicated to breeding beautiful healthy dogs . …

I am the owner of City Slickers. I have been an Aussie (standard and mini and toy) breeder for 20 years. I am proud that over 20 years I have only received a bad review from ONE owner and only 2 families that visited. Most businesses …

Nancy's furbabies are the best in personality

We have purchased 2 Aussies from Nancy and plan on getting getting a third. Nancy is a knowledge and helpful breeder. She has always been there to help us …

I have recently had a negative experience with Nancy. I was talking to her about her pups that will be arriving soon, and looking on her website. (Which later I found out is outdated). Everything seemed good so I jumped the gun and put a …

I cannot say anything bad about Nancy. I am shocked there are such negative reviews. My entire experience with her was great. I got the perfect dog from her, healthy and perfect temperament. Nancy has been supportive ever since I started …

i responded to a craigslist post about toy and mini australian shepherd in ocala florida and was told i could meet a lady named nancy about the dogs. upon researching i found this review page, which has a review from 3 weeks before im …

I got a Toy Australian Shepherd from Nancy almost 12 years ago. Nancy told me that my little Jupiter Joe (not his name at her ranch, I believe it was Star) fit all the guidelines for showing, i.e., stance, bite, coat, everything EXCEPT his …

This puppy mill should be shut down. Over breeding, inter breeding, behavior issues due to inter breeding. Very poor standard of care for the dogs. *Please avoid at all costs*

Nancy, the woman running the breeding ranch was not only very sketchy and hard to reach over the phone, but also unprofessional and quite rude to us when we came looking for a puppy. She made us wait for a long time outside and the puppy …

I had a wonderful experience with City Slickers Ranch. We picked up our mini aussie over 2 weeks ago at 10 weeks old. She is the sweetest little girl. Nancy sat and talked with us for 2 hours and made sure we felt it was a good fit and …

Adopted our pup, 9 years ago. It was a leap of faith. Turned out to be one of our best ventures. Tilly is almost perfect. She has been our constant companion and love. She's smart, loveable and beautiful. She looks just like her Daddy, Mo. Would not hesitate to adopt from Nancy, again.

Website is outdated, and coordinating on what pups are available, and when they were available was a hassle. Bad at replying to emails, and difficult to contact or plan with. Shame, really was looking forward to it.

we were about 20 mins early and when we walked in and the lady ushered us into a tiny room that smelled bad and told us that we were early and to leave and come back on time and when we arrived back we were not greeted and outside we looked …

My daughter has had 2 Aussies from City Slickers. I am the babysitter and I adore my fur babies! I am currently babysitting Liz and she is absolutely the smartest most gorgeous dog. People stop me when I’m walking her and think she’s a …

Not anything like I had anticipated, I wouldnt buy anything from them again. The so called "ranch" isnt even remotely close to what the website suggested. I should have went with my instinct on this one and turned around and left. Its my …

Our TWO pups (a mini now 8 years old and a toy now 6 years old) are amazing! Very sweet, well behaved and have, throughout the years, received nothing but praise from our vet. We're beyond happy with City Slickers Ranch! No medical problems. No temperament problems. My husband and I highly recommend this breeder.