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Anonymous
Hey /an/, i'm highly contemplating investing in a new companion, that of an Australian Shepherd.

Can anyone tell me what experience they've had with this breed, good or bad, mainly innate qualities like maybe.... getting along with other animals (cats to be specific, for personal interest) and how they handle different house sizes.
>> Anonymous
That dog looks like he mean business, I'm guessing there's a score to be settled.
>> Anonymous
A dog type of dog - one of those breeds that are loyal, very intelligent, easy to train. No hidden quirks, if you get a well-bred dog and spend time with it, he/she will be a quality companion.

But obviously, because of breed, can be high energy (the ones I meet always end up becoming friendly obese tubs of lard after the age of 3). Not a really good choice for an apartment unless you adopt an older dog and can give lots of outdoor time.
>> Anonymous
>>238377

It's a working dog breed. Can withstand some tough love and harsh treatment, but on the other hand, needs a lot of exercise in a suburban setting.
>> Anonymous
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I have one. They are definately loving, and loyal. However don't expect them to come to your rescue and save your life if your house is burning down. They get along great with other animals. I have two ferrets and he wouldnt hurt either of them.

I'm sure he'd get along great with cats too though. He gets really excited, so he needs a bit of outdoor time. Otherwise, he can be really needey (follow you everywhere and not leave you alone for a second).
>> Anonymous
>>238424
Australian Shepards are in the herding group, not working.
>> Anonymous
we have one. he lives in our 4 bedroom apartment. he is cute and fun, but dumb as hell. also he tries to herd the cats, but my cat slaps the shit out of him and hilarity ensues
>> Kitty-chan
I love aussies so much. I've never had any bad experiences.

My b/f had one that learned to pick up dirty laundry while his mom was bedridden.
>> Anonymous
They're great dogs, very easy to train and very friendly. They can be a little anxious or shy if you don't socialize them well as puppies, but otherwise they're incredibly smart and very loyal. I'm looking at getting one for my next dog.
>> Anonymous
This is relevant to my interests, I may need a pair of herding dogs here in a couple of years. Hmmmmmm.
>> Anonymous
OP here;

Thanks for the input guys, one thing I will be doing with him/her is a lot of exercise, despite living in a fairly small place, I think it'll compensate a bit for the boredom that might otherwise take hold and is a major focus/interest point in having a new dog. I did have a Blue Heeler x Dingo which is pretty much the same level of physical activity and she was happy until the end.

I have a cat we picked up as a stray 3 years ago and she's dull as shit, she could be being flayed open by some korean for lunch and she'd still be purring and be like "yo, sup?" so I know she wouldn't run away from the dog if it was aggressive for some reason some time.
I'm getting her (hopefully 'her' for size reasons) as a pup, so there should be no environment/progressive reasons she'd hate a cat as she'd have nothing but a mellow experience with mine as she grows. Thus why I was just asking if there were innate/breed issues, but your experiences clear that up for me.

There just wasn't enough info online to this effect, just some general info sheets (and some that mentioned one quality weren't backed up by others).
>> Kitty-chan
If you're worried about size, then maybe looking into a miniature aussie would be good. I've heard that they are exactly like regular ones, only they grow to be 25-30 pounds.
>> Anonymous
>>238659
Yeah, as much as it may seem a bit shallow, i'm a big dog type of person, I will try to get as small as I can, like a bitch as I mentioned, to compensate for my living space, but I don't think I could get along with smaller dogs easily (i'm a big guy). I love all animals, but hey, when you're getting a life long companion, they've gotta be the right one.
(Note: I understand fully that a large dog, no matter how much you walk/play with it with your spare time, will inevitably get a little bored inside a smaller house/yard)

Not only that but I can be really obsessive with exercise/fitness, and having a dog that can 100% live up to that and really enjoy it without being out-done by me at all, would be really handy.

I love Jack Russels for example (about one of the only small dogs I enjoy admittedly), but they couldn't live up to me when i'm being "mr fitness" and I wouldn't want to push them that far either.

A Bull Terrier could be good in that respect, but I know they destroy everything when they are bored.

I was originally going for a Collie, but I've had several people/websites say they can be awfully destructive and aggressive without a yard/place to run, some people and websites even suggested this breed, the Australian Shepherd, if someone was looking for a Collie in a similar situation to me, as they're quite similar but are calmer and do have a lazy bone sometimes. And that's where I started looking and thought they were great.

Thanks much for the advice though, it's just that I've done a fair bit of searching in terms of breed, I just wanted some confirmation on this one in particular in-case there were any major things that people experienced with what I mentioned that was just innate in the breed. Not one to leave all my judgment up to what's written in one guys info sheet/textbook is all =)
>> Kitty-chan
My b/f puts in his input: If you don't do something daily to exercise their body and mind, they'll just get into shit.
>> Anonymous
I live on a farm, and we had a half Border Collie, half Australian Shepard, until she died a few months ago at age 14. She was a great dog, really friendly and tons of energy. She herded our cats -- chased them but never hurt them. Really fun, but I'm not sure I'd pick one for a mostly-indoor pet.
>> Anonymous
My family had an aussie that lived until about 12 before it died of heart complications ( my mom says he died of a broken heart because my dad left them ).

He was an awesome dog. Kept indoors, though we had a very large yard, as two houses were actually contained on the same property. Very playful, but not in an accidentally painful or obnoxious way. Extremely protective and loving, of myself and my parents, but also of our other animals -- two small dogs and two cats.

The only problem we ever had with him was how absolutely absurdly terrified he would get of storms/thunder/lightning. He would hyperventilate and drool and run around in an absolute state of panic... and one time something happened and he managed to get out during a storm, and went into such a frenzy and panic that he actually ran out of the yard and just kept going -- after never having shown any signs of wanting to be out of our yard before... he was found, scared but alright, and glad to be home. I'm not sure if this is a trait of the breed that varies in intensity, or if we just had a dog that may have had bad experiences previously (we adopted him at 2-3 years old).

Best of luck to you, they're my personal favorite breed.
>> Anonymous
my b/f's roommate has one that NEVER STOPS BARKING. also it is pretty dumb and eats any animal shit it can find. caveat emptor
>> Anonymous
We had one when I was a little kid. We got her from a shelter, and I think she probably had some abuse issues, as she would twitch if you raised your hand a bit. Not sure if she was pure-bred, either, but she was sweet and energetic, really fantastic and loving when you got sad.

She was a bit delicate, and had some hip problems after a couple years, though...and I think some eye problems.
>> Anonymous
>>239055
My previous dog was timid like that when we got her at age 1, though we found out later that was cause the previous owner beat the living shit out of her.

We were able to couch that out of her, but that ended up making her just a little on the edgy side, so she was a little snappy. She probably never would've really bit anyone, but yeah.
>> Anonymous
We have two and they are AMAZING dogs ... extremely intelligent! Lots of personality too!
>> Anonymous
>>238736
In my experience they are a little prone to being nervous, so a lot of socialization when young is very important.

As for your example, fear of thunderstorms, those kinds of things can be trained out with patience. What you do is, first off, ignore the dog when the scary thing (thunderstorm) is taking place so you won't accidentally encourage her reaction (if you say "it's ok! It's ok!" over and over, for insance, your voice sounds like a dog's whine and you're really telling her "it's ok to be scared! That's the right reaction to have right now!")

Second, just get something like a CD with a thunderstorm recorded on it (you can get nature tracks from places like target) and play it at a very low volume for a long period of time. She'll realise nothing scary is going on, and over time you up the volume until she can listen to the track on a high volume without becoming nervous.

Same kind of thing can be done with fireworks, sirens, etc etc.