Australian Shepherd thread

[ezzysmom]

There might not be much of a market for this thread but since the breed is so unique I thought I'd give it a whirl.

This is Ezra, he's 9 months old and we love him to death. He's extremely bouncy and excitable, he really keeps us on our toes. At the moment we're working on teaching him calmness as a skill and getting him more comfortable in the car.

I've never known a breed quite like this! Are there any other Aussie parents around?

He's beautiful. Have you watched Muster Dogs on Netflix? They are kelpies but Ezra still might enjoy it.

I have an Aussie. He turned two recently. He's absolutely lovely, energetic and active when out and about, but very calm in the house. He's extremely clever, he knows so many words and responds well to verbal cues. Sometimes he even makes up his own commands. For instance, once he was pestering me a bit and I said, "Go lie down," not really expecting him to do anything. He knew what "lie down" meant, but I actually wanted him to move away from where I was sitting and lie down somewhere else. And that is exactly what he did, even though I had never taught him that combination. The first time he did it, I thought it was just a coincidence. But he reliably repeated that behaviour several times in the next few days when I said those words. Now it's part of his repertoire.

He's very affectionate and friendly. We adore him! I honestly couldn't ask for a better dog.

@MossCow no! We'll have to give it a go. Thank you

@certainshepherdpups ah that's amazing! There aren't too many of them around so I wasn't sure if get any responses.

I love the go lie down story, he sounds just like Ezra. So clever and intuitive. Ezra is also similar in that he's a dream in the house, but struggles with excitement levels when out and about. He's so excited to meet other dogs that he almost comes off aggressive because he lunges and bites his lead with anticipation. He also plays really roughly. It's a struggle, we're working on it!

My friends have one. She is nuts - mainly as they admit they haven’t trained her. Seems to be a breed that really needs to be kept active, be trained, etc or they get destructive. I am sure they are lovely dogs if trained and kept busy!

Ezra sounds very much like mine was at that age. He was also extremely eager to play with other dogs and his play style could be quite rough. Has Ezra hit the peak teenage phase yet? For us, the worst time was when my pup was 10 months old. He forgot everything he had ever learned and on a couple of occasions even chewed things he wasn't supposed to (something he had never done, even as a teething puppy). Fortunately, that stage didn't last long, probably only a few weeks, though it seemed endless at the time!

Then around the time he turned a year old, he really seemed to mature and sort of settle into himself. He became less interested in playing with other dogs. Up until then he'd been fairly indifferent to playing fetch but suddenly it became his favourite thing. He isn't neurotic or obsessed, just very happy to chase a ball. And now that the ball is king, he ignores other dogs or people completely while the game is going on. He also loves swimming.

It's nice to meet another Aussie owner, if only virtually. They are such wonderful dogs! 😊