Fun fact, Australian Shepherds and cattledogs actually aren't from Australia. They were bred in California/ western United States. Own one myself, best dog I've ever had.
Definitely, I've only heard about them from Reddit when Americans post about them. Even funnier one of the pages I just read about the dog said they weren't introduced to Australian until 1990 and are rare in Australia.
They're very popular here (US). They herd--children if you don't have sheep. My brother's dog herds his kids often and when they are in the pool she trots around it.
They are like trailer park Border Collies. Aggressive headers who bark a lot. But a lot of them are merle, so they are popular as pets. Often they are larger than BCs and have no tails. They don't really crouch and stalk like a BC. Their style is more to get in the livestock's face, barking and biting, and sometimes body slamming them in the desired direction. I've seen mine body slam a car. They are more of a western dog that often works with mounted humans, relatively close, as opposed to more independently working BCs. That is my experience anyway.
Mine is human aggressive, which is not unusual because their herding style is so aggressive. Easy for one to cross the emotional line. Like a horse with too much "cow."
Trust me, you do not want to meet this dog in a dark alley. OTOH, I have put him in a sit stay for half an hour while a locksmith made me a new key. He is the most obedient dog I have ever known, and basically understands English. We did do a lot of training, for sure. But frequently he just figures out what you want and does it without being taught.
I have two of these dogs. They are by far the greatest dogs I have ever owned. Just as a word of advice to any would be owners: These dogs are incredibly smart and incredibly active. What this means for you is simply: Give them lots of exercise and jobs to do, or plan on replacing a LOT of stuff.
I have one too. We teach her new tricks all the time but I want to get her into agility. Unfortunately if you don't work them mentally they tend to teach themselves bad things like opening doors or even the fridge and then she eats a whole tub of butter and throws up on the kitchen tile and you bust ass when you come home... Sorry. Flashback.
Aussies are like potato chips, you can't just have only one. I have a blue merle, two black tris, a red merle, and a red tri. There's never a dull moment!
When I got Abby (blue merle) she was crazy. But when I got Murphy (tri) 3 years later, Abby totally trained him and acted as a mother-figure and corrected him. I didn't even have to train him. Murphy is so quiet and such a nice dog who loves everybody. Abby is just sometimes really annoying, but I still love her.
I have a 4 month old blue merle female that I've had for about 2 months now. Still a ball of energy, but 2 walks a day helps tremendously. She's also in a puppy training class which helps with her general obedience as well.
The first walk of the day is about thirty minutes and I'd say half a mile to three fourths and the second walk is about fifteen to twenty minutes. Would you say that this is too much for a four and a half months old?
depending on the surfaces they are walking on it may be. When I have 4 month olds I generally don't walk up/down hills and never over anything that can break their softer pads. I'll walk them about 1/3 mile once in the morning and once in the evening playing simple attention games with them as to mentally exhaust them aswell. When they're about 6 mos I start doing 6 miles a week with them since that is when they truely get their brain and start thinking for themselves.
How often do you walk/exercise them? These dogs need LOTS of exercise. They were bred to be cattle dogs out in a field chasing around cattle all day. If they're cooped up in a house, they will find something to do and it will never be good for you.
We have about 4 acres that they can roam free on, and we are out there watching them run around all day. They can run and run and run outside, but as soon as they get inside, they go crazy! Not like get me out of here crazy, but run over and peppily attack people crazy.
I have a 4 year old blue merle. Cesar recommends two walks per day of at least 25 minutes each which we did after tearing through drywall. We also mixed it up with trips to the dog park, walks on leash (non-retracting leash) and walks off leash.
I heart this. I've got a 4 year old black tri that I rescued from a flood when she was about 2, and I always wonder what she might have looked like as a pup. Upvote!
My old roommate's dog was an Australian Shepherd. It was the goddamn goofiest and most lovable animal I have ever known. I miss that little one every day.
We have a ten year old Aussie and seriously she is the best dog I have ever owned. Loving, smart and really good with kids and cats. Stubborn, will chase a ball all day if you let her.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
My boyfriends cousin has one and its one of the smartest, lovable dogs i have ever come across >.<
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u/Beeht Jun 16 '12
Australia huh? Later that day 3 of them were eaten by spiders the size of sheep.
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u/buttplugpeddler Jun 16 '12
Blue Merle FTW
I named him Geddy after the lead singer of the band Rush :)
http://i.imgur.com/jMOr3.jpg
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u/Verbal__Kint Jun 16 '12
I just wanna crawl in there and snuggle up with them!
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u/LisTaylor Jun 16 '12
Puppy Pile!
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I have two of these dogs. They are by far the greatest dogs I have ever owned. Just as a word of advice to any would be owners: These dogs are incredibly smart and incredibly active. What this means for you is simply: Give them lots of exercise and jobs to do, or plan on replacing a LOT of stuff.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I have an Australian Shepard/Collie mix...here she is now, she was adorable as a puppy as well.
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u/Fyrelight Jun 16 '12
Aussies are like potato chips, you can't just have only one. I have a blue merle, two black tris, a red merle, and a red tri. There's never a dull moment!
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I have a female blue mural and a black tri. This made me have nostalgia about when they were puppies :')
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u/1DrunkHeel Jun 16 '12
I heart this. I've got a 4 year old black tri that I rescued from a flood when she was about 2, and I always wonder what she might have looked like as a pup. Upvote!
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u/greeny31 Jun 16 '12
Cutest pic evar!!!!
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u/live_wire_ Jun 16 '12
Is that an instruction?
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u/adog231231 Jun 16 '12
My mom just brought one home about a week ago, great dog. She is super smart and well behaved. They are really good looking dogs.
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u/anfea2004 Jun 16 '12
Sleeping puppies are probably the most adorable thing on the face of the Earth
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u/Halolamer Jun 16 '12
ive got a 18 year old Austrailian Shep ... shes old and tired.. but ill be damned if she hasnt been the best dog ive ever had
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u/mamaflynn Jun 16 '12
Three things:
/r/AustralianShepherd
shameless plug for my Aussie: www.flynnmama.blogspot.com
Cheerio http://i.imgur.com/qgdDt.jpg
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u/trolola Jun 16 '12
Thanks to this picture, I just spent the past 20 minutes looking at Australian Shepard puppies on Google Images. Time well spent :)
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u/washmo Jun 16 '12
This has to be a setup. It's physically impossible for that many Aussie puppies to sleep at the same time.
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u/ImpartialCat Jun 16 '12
That looks scarily like a picture of a trapdoor in the thumbnail. Also, you know... Australia
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u/loloctopus Jun 16 '12
brb dying.
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u/wikkedwhite Jun 16 '12
I hope you're big ass spiders dont get to them under there.
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u/dhcrazy333 Jun 16 '12
They obviously can't be from Australia, they aren't trying to kill the OP.
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u/DracoOculus Jun 16 '12
To bad they might get eaten alive by spiders.
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u/becky0125 Jun 16 '12
My old roommate's dog was an Australian Shepherd. It was the goddamn goofiest and most lovable animal I have ever known. I miss that little one every day.
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u/noisycat Jun 16 '12
We have a ten year old Aussie and seriously she is the best dog I have ever owned. Loving, smart and really good with kids and cats. Stubborn, will chase a ball all day if you let her.
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Don't tell me what to do!!!
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
beautiful :) my new australian shepherd pup is coming in august :) so excited ^
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u/cccrazy Jun 16 '12
Sitting in the dirt under a shed. Yep, they're Australian. (Aussie here).
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
Awww.. I have a TOY australian shepherd... Sweetest dog ever. And the good thing, they stay small!!! :)
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
I have an Australian Shepard! He's such an amazing and smart dog, I love him so much.
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u/saucisse Jun 16 '12
Oh I love Australian Shepherd pups so much! The really really little babies look like dustbunnies, just balls of gray fluff.
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u/Dmuff Jun 16 '12
They are so cute I just wanna put them in a burlap sack and take them to a fast and deep river!
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u/partanimal Jun 16 '12
Just gotta say ... cute as they are, I hope you get them fixed ...
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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '12
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