Hi Everyone,

We are getting an Aussie puppy in October(-ish!!!) this year, we have done all of the research we can possibly do, and yet still we are going back over our notes/books/websites/thoughts, just so we haven't missed anything!! We haven't stopped reading for about 8 weeks now! It's very rare we find anything specificaly about Aussies that we haven't already read!

We have read all of the general traits of these fantastic dog's, but we can't seem to find any personal stories from owners, that will give us an idea of the practical side of living with an Aussie. We know they need lots of mental and physical exercise, and we know they shead all year round etc, what we really want to know is the nitty gritty bits (good and bad - there is nothing that could put us off now!)

Any stories or information would be great, we can't get enough of these dog's and I can already see that this puppy will not be the only Aussie we will ever own!

Also if ayone knows where we could get a diary of local dog shows where there are likely to be Aussies (Local would be Lancashire, England!) we have no plan to show the dog we will be getting, but we want to see as many dog's as we can until our obsession is catered for with our own puppy!

So if you have anything at all to say about Aussies please get back to us, we are looking forward to speaking to like minded people!

Thanks for your time!

Lee and Natalie Oliver

Hi Natalie - a lady of taste & discernment :D :D

We too have Aussies - started with 1, and now have 4!!!  

They are lovely dogs - very noisy, I have to admit, and the one thing that I would advise you to do is socialise, socialise, socialise - and then SOCIALISE!!! From the minute that you bring your puppy home, take it out, let it experience as much as is possible.    Believe me, it will definitely pay off.

They are very busy dogs - but they aren't as "off the wall" as border collies can be, if there is a day when you cannot work/play with them.    We have found that they aren't as keen on playing ball as our labradors are - if we throw a ball away - then obviously, we don't want it - so why on earth should they bring ig back to us ?? :D  

They are little wriggle bums, and will stick as close as possible to you - I can easily be tripped up by 2 or three of them, all trying to walk as close to me as possible!   Be prepared to be kissed on the ears by your dog when he is fully grown - they all LEAP into the air with joy when you appear - and as for the Aussie grin :) :) - they always look soo happy to see you!

Do let us know more about yours when you get him/her!

Regards
Margot

Hi Margot,

Gosh that was very quick!!

I love that bit about the ball!! This is the kind of thing we are wanting to hear!!

We live literally across the road from two primary schools, so we will take the puppy over when the kids come out, and we have a 3 year old little boy, so kids wise, the dog should be fine. We also live on the very outskirts of our town, so we very often have horses walking down our road, and at the end of our road there is a farmers field that always have some kind of cattle in it, so hopefully we can train the dog to be OK with the bigger animals. We are getting a kitten at the end of May so she will obviously be a nearly cat by October, I am hoping that the cat will keep the Aussie in his place!! There are various parks (doggy friendly!) and fields around so it seems we will all be getting fit with the dog! As well as the different family members (men and women) that will all want to see the puppy, we have quite a few 'strangers' always knocking on the door (e.g. my hubbie has things for work sent to our house by several different delivery men, and there is always someone asking for directions, or trying to sell us replacement windows, or to 'save us money on electricity bills' and the like) so hopefully we have the socialisation down to a tee!

We are very excited about getting our puppy, although we would prefer a female red or blue mearl, we are certainly not banking on either, with having our son, we would much rather wait and see which puppy has the best personality and temperament to suit us. We are looking only for a pet/companion quality as although we will be doing some agility and obedience training in the back garden, we won't be competing in any events, it would just be for fun and the good of the dog more than anything. We have also started keeping records of good articles and notes on training, not just for the above but the various tricks these dogs are capable of. We keep reading because we can't imagine that (at least for us) there is such a perfect breed! We keep thinking we are going to come across something that will mean that we can't have one! But so far we have found nothing that isn't completely what we want from a dog.

Sorry for going on and on and on! We are just really excited!!!

BTW - I don't know if I have done this right I just pressed 'reply' hope it goes to the right place!!

Natalie

Margot, I have to disagree with you about balls :) Tara (Aussie) is absolutely bananas about balls - her favourite is a small football with ropes attached. She will happily carry everywhere when we go for a walk and barks with ecitement when we throw it :D Tara loves to lie in exactly the wrong position - in doorways or always by the kitch cupboard door that you want to open :) She is very loving - but does sulk :D

Daisy

  Hi
      I co own 2 aussie bitches and I agree with what Margot has said you must socialise your puppy find a good training class, my 2 go to ring craft training and obedience.Even though you are not showing most ring craft classes will encourage you to take a puppy for socialisation They are thinking dogs and read your mind they know what you are going to do before you do!!  an aussie isnt a lap dog they live round your neck and the tongues get everywhere They are easy to train but that means they will learn bad habits just as quickly as good. One problem I have with my 2 is keeping them out of water doesnt matter if its lakes, rivers the sea or a lovely muddy puddle they will be in!! Both my girls live in the house but are crated when im not around they accept this no problems as i used crates as soon as we got them They are only left for about 2 hours a day 3 days a week the reast of the time they are my shadows if i go upstairs they do washing dishes you cant step back as 2 girls are right behind you hope you enjoy your puppy
          Sheila

Hi Seila,

We are going to crate train our puppy. As I said we have a little boy and a cat on the way, so if for nothing else the poor little thing is going to want somewhere he can go to get away from it all! I might nip into town for a couple of times a week but most of the time I am at home, and I don't have any plans to return to work when our son starts school, but I think it will still be important to train the dog to be able to be on his own for a couple of hours. Most of the time the dog will be with us where ever we go, but sometimes obviously there are places where dog's can't be and so it is for this reason we will need to be sure that the dog won't be too stressed if we are not here.

We have looked into training classes (however very swiftly) and we haven't found one in our area yet, but I am sure there will be one somewhere, when we get a bit closer I will have to ask our vet if we haven't found one by then. If there isn't one (we do live in a very small town, and I don't drive) we have many parks where there are always a few dogs about and some family members have dogs of their own that have been trained to quite high standards, so there will probably be many questions asked and fulfilled by them in any case! If not, our breeder should be able to help us.

Thanks for your info.

Natalie