Australian Shepherd Dog - Everything You Want to Know

Do you live in a big house or a small apartment? Is your house in a subdivision? Do you have your own yard? These are some things that will need to be evaluated if you are planning to own a puppy Australian Shepherd. This dog breed is a working dog, so it needs enough space to move on where it can run and play even if it cannot perform its usual task of herding animals.

Australian Shepherds are very loyal dogs, they become much attached to their owners and it is a good idea to have one as a puppy and have a fully bonded adult Aussie with your family after several years. The form of bonding that an Aussie may have to its master may truly be amazing. It will literally follow you all over, even inside your car. You may find it cute at the start but it may become irritating as the dog constantly follows you everywhere you go.

One thing that you should never do to your Aussie is leave it alone in your house. Because these pets are very hyperactive, they always look for ways to entertain themselves. Leaving them alone in your household may bore them and they may start destroying your furniture. So if you have plans to leave your Aussie alone, make sure you temporarily contain your dog in a cage.

Before making final decisions if an Australian Shepherd is good for your family, let me summarize the good points and bad points of this breed.

The Good Points: Loyal, Trainable, Excellent Farm dog, Needs Constant Companion

The Bad Points: Hyperactive, Wants to be with Owner constantly, Barks at strangers too much, May have health problems, May destroy furniture.

Now that you know both the good and the bad points, you may now decide if having a puppy Australian Shepherd is good for your family or not.

When you are choosing a dog for your family, you may have to think twice, as it can be the best or the worst decision that you will be making.  Having a dog can actually work both ways.  It can be an adorable pet that will bring constant happiness to the entire family, or it can be a monster that can bring trouble to the family.  Miniature Australian Shepherds can be a good choice for a family dog, considering its size, having a height of 14 to 18 inches and weight of 9 to 14 kg.  Parents can assume it is safe to have Mini Aussies around their children.

Before you jump into that biggest decision of getting a dog for your family, you have to consider several factors.  Owning a family dog requires commitment on the part of the owner.  Your pet will need food, exercise and a lot of attention.  It involves investing a lot of time and money.  So if you are ready for all this stuff, then by all means proceed with buying a family dog.

Now that you have figured out that you have the dedication and finances to take care of a family dog, the next thing that you will need to do is select a dog that matches your character and lifestyle.  There should be a perfect match for both family and dog to enjoy the environment of living together.  If you have kids around the house, Mini Aussies are unquestionably one of the top candidates.

Most families would usually want intelligent dogs and those that have a high amount of energy.  Mini Aussies love physical activity, and surely they will enjoy playing with your children and vice versa.

Dogs breeds like people, can have general character traits but they always differ in their personality.  Miniature Australian Shepherds is a unique dog breed that you will surely love to bring home to be your family dog.

Pet owners, who are into breeding, may be interested to sell puppies to earn an additional income.  An Australian Shepherd is a good dog breed that can possibly have quite a number of interested buyers.  Dog buyers will be able to find you as a seller if you post advertisements of Australian Shepherds for Sale.

For the buyer, finding a good priced and quality Australian Shepherd may sometimes be discouraging.  To help an interested buyer locate a seller who will be ready to help them with a guaranteed good buy, here is a quick guide:

Be Wary of Fraudulent Sellers – Because several businesses have now ventured into online marketing, it is also likely that pet buyers will browse through the Internet to canvass for the lowest priced Aussie.  Make sure that you are dealing with a legit person and that you pay only as the goods are delivered into your homes.

Cheap Buy Is Not A Guarantee of A Good Buy - Shoppers are often unaware of this.  Buying the cheapest goods will not guarantee them that they are getting the best quality for the product they are buying.  The same is true when you intend to buy an Australian Shepherd.  Looking for the most bargained price may be useless as it does not totally mean that your cheaply purchased Aussie is the best of its kind.  There may be flaws in its coat and you may find it hard to train the Aussie.

The next time you see Australian Shepherds for sale and you feel like buying it, better talk to the seller first.  It would be good that both the seller and buyer be able to talk to each other about the pet before it is turned over to its new owner.

There have been arguments involving the Miniature Australian Shepherd, claiming that it isn’t actually a real dog breed.  To put an end to these arguments, let me share with you a short history of how this dog breed was developed.

Back in the 1960’s, a woman from the state of California became interested with breeding small sized Australian Shepherds, which she did by selecting small sized Aussies and she was able to come up with Aussies that were below 17” in size.  This is how Doris Cordova started the so called miniature breed of the Australian Shepherd.  Aside from Doris, Billy and Sally Kennedy and Chas Lasater also got interested in breeding these miniatures and we can say they are the people who pioneered this dog breed.

The Mini Aussie is moderately active, so it is perfectly okay to have one in an apartment.  If you own one, just make sure that your dog gets sufficient exercise.  This dog is somewhat active, and it would be best to have a small backyard where it can play be able to exercise.  Enough exercise helps them stay in shape.  Its characteristics are fairly the same as that of an Australian Shepherd.

Now that I have shared with you a short history of the Miniature Australian Shepherd breed of dog, perhaps you may agree that it isn’t really another real dog breed as it is just what I can understand to be just a petite version of the real breed.