wuffles

My criteria usually goes on drinking. If mine stop drinking they go to the vet. Likewise if they can't keep water down while fasting (throwing up) they go to the vet too. If it's just diarrhea they get fasted for 24 hours.

I think it depends on the dog. My dogs are gutses of the highest degree. Honestly, people say their dogs are food motivated but mine take it to a whole new level :) Anyway, I tried swapping food with one of my dogs and all she started doing was swallowing things whole if I came near her. Now I just do minor interruptions occasionally, putting extra food in their bowl or patting them gently and walking away. I've found this works much better with my dogs than taking food from them. I teach "give" and "leave it" as separate commands trained using a mixture of food and toys if I need them to spit out or leave something gross. It's a different command for them though, their dinner in their bowl is different. (BTW I've had to take their bowls away before and bones etc in emergencies or if I've given them the wrong thing by mistake and I have had no issues)

Edit: Oops sorry I see you've sorted the issue. Will leave my reply anyway in case it helps anyone :) I started off feeding the puppy in their crate and the older dog outside. Then I gradually moved them closer ie. crate and same room, both outside at different ends of the yard, both outside a few metres apart. I always supervise at first but from a distance as I found watching them makes them more paranoid. I only step in if one goes to eat the other's food and redirect them back to their own bowl. I've done this with two sets of dogs now and find it works well. I work up to them eating about 2 metres apart, I never expect them to share food. They never get fed bones together. My younger dog eats from one of the special bowls as I found he was forgetting to breathe while eating. They do help.

It's not that cold in Canberra yet.

I'm in the same situation. Epic is too big for his 36" wire crate but pretty sure he can't be trusted in a soft crate yet. I am going to trial him in our old crappy soft crate (which is bigger) overnight and see how he goes with that.

Our first dog as a couple was a large (35kg) rescue GSD cross and he was amazing. We searched for an adult dog whose temperament suited our situation (both full time workers). He got a 30-45 minute walk of a morning, outside during the day while we were at work then came inside and spent the evening with us. I did obedience classes with him, not the most obedient of chaps but soooo easy to live with and the sweetest dog you'd ever meet. Honestly he was quite independent so while he enjoyed his time inside with us at night (he spent 90% of it on his dog bed) he was quite happy to toddle outside and snooze there of his own accord. On weekends he got trips to the dog park, I took him to my husband's sports games, markets, playdates... I miss my gentle man so much Now we both work full time, baby on the way, and have two active working breeds. It is a LOT of work. Edit: My GSD x shed a LOT more than my longer haired Aussie Shepherds. He shed like a demon LOL!

Agree with this :) Personally I think that my dogs have benefited from the environment a dog club provides but some do find it tough. I have a very excitable and boisterous 7 month old and he does really well in classes, it also provides me an opportunity to work on overstimulation issues in a more controlled environment than say, out on a walk. Enjoy your classes! :)

This. My pup is only 7 months old. No undesirable behaviours yet. I do believe that desexing earlyish is the best option for the "average" pet owner.

I'd let 'em rip, so long as the exercise isn't resulting in trauma (eg, falling off things, collisions) that may damage bone structure. Has anyone had a case of a high-energy pup given loads of free exercise turning out with problems because they were given freedom? I've never have. We let him go feral when he's outside :laugh:

Personally I think it depends on the dog. My boy was PTS at the vet and my other dog remained at home. To be honest, she didn't fret at all. She looked for him a few times but seemed to accept that he wasn't there very readily. She's a very sensitive soul and I don't know if she would have done well seeing him after passing.

What do people do for high energy pups who do not really do 'gentle' play and do not 'self regulate' in the sense that, off leash, they will run and run and run and run and run and run and... you get the gist? My pup could still run a marathon after an hour of obedience training or an hour of free play etc. We've generally followed the '5 minutes walking per month of age' rule but that's only for stimulation as it doesn't make a dent in energy levels :) (We've done a lot of work to teach him to settle while in the house no matter how much or little exercise he gets, but it's still a bit of a balancing act in terms of giving him enough to at least dim the 'busyness' slightly. He's a skinny little blighter too, on the go all the time!) :)

Sorry to hijack the thread but mine jumped the pen once - and he jumped INTO the pen He knew it was dinner time and that's where he got fed. Then when he'd finished, he whinged to be let out...

I always lifted mine in and out and he never learnt that he could jump out. He's an Aussie so he shouldn't be dumb... :laugh:

Also, routine is your friend! I took 2 weeks off to settle my pup in to the household and he spent time outside, in the pen and in a crate. We tried to mimic our morning routine from the start, so... Crate overnight Exercise/training on wake up Breakfast Into the pen while we showered/dressed Outside with Kong. We didn't leave him for the full 9 hours at first obviously but would leave him outside for a while to get the feel for the routine. He's never had trouble and is very happy to go outside of a morning as he knows there is a Kong coming :)

Just wanted to put the wording from the standard out there as I think it sums up Aussies very well and may give you some insight into his behaviour (which IMO is completely normal but if you feel needs more management then take some of the previous advice on board): "The Australian Shepherd is an intelligent working dog of strong herding and guarding instincts. He is a loyal companion and has the stamina to work all day."