Pet Lovers

[goldensrbest]

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@SilleeMee wrote:

@goldensrbest 

Mine use to love running in a field. He was very independent and didn't much care to be around people. He was shy to meet anyone new. He was very different from my goldens. Aussie dog liked to be with me and no one else. Golden girls would be happy with anyone...lol!

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This dog is very shy,and skittish. A golden is just happy all the time ,that golden smile, wagging tail, my heart belongs to this breed.

[Drythe]

@goldensrbest 

I’m a lab lover, but have had a variety of other dogs.  My Dad had an Aussie named Babe who lived alone with him for 11 years very happily.

She was a sweet, attentive, smart, affectionate girl.  Not the lap sitting affectionate, of course, but her eyes were always following him, and she loved to be with him sleeping, walking, riding in the car, just being.

Babe always had a fenced yard to run around in and that seemed

to satisfy her exercise needs.  She seemed well content with a bit less exercise than our rowdy labs.  

Hope this is helpful.

[SilleeMee]

One time I took Aussie dog out to an open field where off in the distance, really far away, there were some grazing cows. It was getting dark and he wouldn't come to me when I called. I had to go b/c I worked the night shift so I left him out in the field. I called my friend to go check on him that night and my friend found him covered in cow manure!!! Aussie dog went rolling in it out where those cows were. My friend said Aussie dog looked pooped...literally!! LOL!! Had the time of his life out there.

[Kachina624]

This breed is now correctly called a Miniature American Shepherd as per AKC designation.  No more mini Aussie.

I've currently on my second one, both have been rescues.  They are not dogs for beginners.  Until they establish a strong, trusting bond with you they can be very willful and stubborn.  They are extremely smart and want to do things their way.  It's may take a couple of years, but once they respect you, they're loyal, devoted, and obedient. 

They are naturally suspicious of strangers.  I have no doubt the dog I have now would bite if a stranger wandered into my fenced yard unescorted.  When we go on walks, I don't let people pet him.  My other dog is very friendly so she gets the pets.  He also hates other male dogs, although he's neutered.

Neither of my minis are/were big barkers.  Piper, my current dog, is very loving and affectionate to me.  He loves to cuddle.  My previous dog, Joy, was actually very shy at first although she emergered to be a friendly dog, very sweet and was so intuitive it was like having another person around.  She seemed to read my mind.

Both of my dogs were about 18 mo old when I got the.  Maybe things would have been easier if I'd gotten them as puppies.  You never know what they'd been through.

[plc123]

I have one right now .She just turned 5 and is tri colored. She loves car rides and walks on a leash. I think most of them have lots of energy. Mine has energy but loves to just lay on the couch. She is my husbands dog but i am home with her more. She has been a good dog except likes to bark...alot.

[Kachina624]

@goldensrbest    You might think about a collie, rough or smooth.  They have a personality much like a Golden, very sweet and friendly, although they will protect "their children".  They very seldom get cancer, unlike Goldens.  There is the short haired variety for easy grooming, with exactly the same traits.

Smooth Collie

[Kachina624]

@SilleeMee    I got my first Aussie plus a beautiful Sheltie from Rocky Mountain Collie/Sheltie Rescue in Pueblo.  Hope Hemperley, the Director, is the ultimate rescue person, nationally acclaimed.  People actually move there to work with her.  I admire her so much.  She lives in Pueblo West.  I've done home visits and some transports for them.

Hope's son is a CC grad.

[Love my grandkids]

@Kachina624 Love your post about these dogs, had no idea about their official designation now. Thanks for the doggy stories, I always love hearing about dogs even tho DH and I always had cats (which we adored)!

[mspatmac]

I got Murphy from a breeder as a puppy and is a red merle.   My DD and her husb had 2 when they lived with me and they were both docile and very sweet. Great Frisby dogs and DIL was the head of the pack.  After they moved and I retired I got my very first dog, Murphy. Since their dogs were s great I chose an Aussie. He had a mind of his own from the beginning and very inquisitive. I have a large backyard for him to run in and we figured each other out.  He was socialized byvisiting DD dogs (his cousins) so has never had a problem around other dogs. He loved being walked and it would take forever because he had to check everything out.

Since it is just the two of us he loves company and even if he sounds scary when he barks he loves people. He is excited to get groomed and go to the vet. Take him with when we visit DD for a week or more he is fine with all the excitement.  He lets me know when anyone approaches the house and let them know he;s watching them. Not a big cuddler but his eyes follow me all the time and he does follow if I go to another room.  He will sit on the couch with me and has a bed in my room.

DD lost her 2 Aussies and when she got two more as puppies Murphy watched over them when we went to visit.  Oh and loves the grands who he met when they were very young. No problem with kids. I think every dog has their own personality and while some traits like hearding are evident they are each uique. Since I got him as a baby he didn't know anything else but love and he is the boss and that's OK. 

[Kachina624]

@mspatmac   I've had several regular Aussies and have had problems with them being dog aggressive.  I had to re-home two beautiful purebred rescues that seriously and viciously attacked my other dogs.  Found them one-dog homes.

I discussed this with my vet, an Aussie lover who'd had several dogs and was involved in an Aussie rescue.  She indicated it was not an unusual problem and one for which there seemed to be no solution.

My Jennie, a red tri, I had for years until she died a natural death at about sixteen years of age.  What a character!