BlaznHotAussies

Dogs that I have seen fit in perfectly in a young kid family situation are Cocker Spaniels, Aussie Shepherds (I have seen those dogs playing with my 2yo niece and it's gorgeous, also my 8yo brother has my dog's litter-brother and they're BFFs...oh and we had some Aussies at the football with us a few months ago to do a bit of socialising and ended up handing the leads to some tiny kids about 3-5 years old, they led them around and it was gorgeous! Such obliging dogs), Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Kelpie (my cousin's son has his own sheepdog), Border Collie (show line - he's very gentle with my 1yo niece). Oh my Uncle has a Samoyed and she seems to dote on his 2yo grandson :) lovely dog. I had a Silky Terrier x Maltese growing up, she's 15 now - toughest little critter out there! She'd follow me on trail rides with my horse, gets towed around in my little brother's red wagon behind his bike (this was pre-Aussie Shepherd!) & is always so obliging and lovely. Apparently that temperament is fairly common in Maltese dogs? Shih tzus also come across as a lovely placid breed and they're fairly solid - not super small and delicate!

Robo often dreams! He'll be wriggling his legs and every now and then he'll yip and growl. Sometimes he'll seem like he's eating because his lips will move haha. If it gets too ridiculous I'll whistle or tickle his feet and he wakes up and looks at me all sleepily so cute.

Glad he is now an X Sash hearing stories like this make my blood boil as well. Border Collies are very devoted 'people dogs'. They just want to be with you. WHY???? do people get the most intelligent dog there is & dump it in there back yard, thinking it's OK ??? Then go ahead & starve the poor pup of the very things they crave most, mental stimulation & to feel part of the family. It is just insanely cruel. Then they subject the poor pup to some harsh version of reform school. Nothing is more unnecessary with a BC than 'harsh handling' they are very sensible & sensitive as a rule. A simple 'no' will suffice. The poor puppy is the one that always suffers most & he didn't ask to be in the situation in the first place So true

Ugh tell me about it. One lot of friends I have got a BC x Blue heeler (farm bred accident type) and this dog has a LOT of energy. Problem is they live in suburbia and don't have much time to devote to walking/training/disciplining the dog. They also have two very young kids (they didn't for the first two years of the dog's life however) and have even less time for the poor thing now. So it is a neurotic mess, obese, hyperactive, untrained. I lived with them for a little while and tried to teach it to walk on a loose lead and even tried to teach them how to keep up the training and they just let her pull so I gave up on that. Nobody wants to walk it because it's a LOT of work to hold onto a pulling dog. (I actually managed to go for a walk and she stopped pulling next day they took her for a walk and it was forgotten ) So now they're also looking after a friend's GSD, who is absolutely lovely but likes to have a strong leader so they think she's naughty. But anyway these two dogs just hang out in the back yard all day then come in to sleep inside at night and that's about the extent of their day. Also have other friends who asked me about puppies and whether I knew of any GSD breeders so I asked around and found this awesome breeder (a friend has a dog bred by them and he's really nice) so gave them the details. Suddenly that's too expensive (well what do you expect?) and they ask about my dog's breeder, so I say I'll ask if she's got any puppies not spoken for. Two days later they have an Old English Sheepdog. From a petshop. Flown from over east (guessing that means puppy farm). So I don't know how that could have been any cheaper than the GSD? And now they're concerned that she's destructive (they both work full time so she's home alone most days) and needs a puppy companion!! I don't know... Oh and they were asking me about any breeders of Old English Sheepdogs in WA so that they could breed theirs when she's older as well so I tried to explain that there's a lot of testing you have to do before you'd want to breed a dog (besides whether it's actually a good enough specimen to breed) but I think that would've gone in one ear and out the other. sigh.

Oh wow how pretty are they!!

I'm *totally not biased at all*... Aussie shepherd! Your lifestyle sounds pretty similar to mine (horses, farm, home most of the time) and I have an Aussie suits him well - he runs off his energy at the horses while I'm feeding and moving them around then we head home and he passes out in the lounge room for the middle of the day, then we do the same at night when we feed horses again he's very easy to train. He knows some tricks (bow, shake hands, we've touched on roll over) and just general commands like getting in the car/in his crate/going outside/coming inside... They're very smart, eager to please and I know a few that are total goofs (mine included) lots of fun. Also they're fun to groom Another breed that would probably love your lifestyle is the German Shorthaired pointer. They need a fairly active lifestyle, as a working dog (although I'm guessing there'd be the difference between working lines and show lines...). I knew one on a horse stud and he basically followed whoever was around on their jobs. Great company.

I think the right Border Collie would suit you and your family, I've known a BC who would lay in the lounge room and not move a muscle for hours, have also known a couple (working dogs mind you!!) who are pretty much neurotic when not working sheep I think you'd be safe with a dog with show lines Sheena they're wrong!! My Aussie was brought up around a toddler and he loves kids. Even now the toddler (2yo) will basically be jumping on him and he'll be jumping on her and they have a ball

German Shorthaired Pointer - to be fair I've met one but he seemed like pretty much exactly what you'd expect absolutely lovely. Also I think Australian Shepherds but I'm biased.

Apparently blue heeler x Staffy is a great cross OH has family a few hours away (Leonora) and when they were visiting they were talking about these dogs and how they're good guard dogs. I'm guessing the blue heeler side is more likely to be the good guard dog bit though? Actually around there, I think any big strong mastiff-ish kind of dog would be popular for guarding and hunting. But yeah around here most dogs are Border Collies, Kelpies, Blue heelers or crosses of those.

I really feel a lot of it is nature, in horses and dogs. Just from working with four 2yo breakers a couple of years ago, one of them had been handled from a weanling and show prepped with heaps of going behind a motorbike, tying up, washing, being handled, etc (all by excellent handlers) and another had barely been touched. Guess who was easier to deal with!!! The one that had barely been touched. She was naturally more confident, had a tendency to look and think things through than basically freeze when under any kind of pressure (damn halter-bred QHs...haha). I also had a dog that, well, had very little confidence, very timid, submissive, and lacked personality or exuberance (except for the first 20m of a walk, then there were a couple of leaps for joy). Yes, it had barely been handled for the first 3 years of it's life & hadn't been off the farm. But after a bit of progress due to me socialising him and trying to make new people/animals/other dogs positive experiences only, never really made a dent in his natural wariness, and at some point there was just no progress despite me taking him everywhere, doing heaps of training, more positive experiences. When all he wanted was to be with his "pack" at my in-laws' house (I got him off them, farm-bred dog) - every time I'd go to feed the horses (who live at the in-laws part of the farm) he would disappear to see the dogs the absolute second I'd look away as soon as we got there. IMHO at some point you have to just say, you know what, this dog won't get better and you know what, if he'd rather not be with me for any reason, I don't want to waste my time, energy or money any more. Apparently he and the rest of his litter, as pups, would literally scatter (for no reason, they weren't abused or anything) when a human rocked up, which I first found out at my highest point of frustration too! So this has led me to the conclusion that nature plays a huge part in what you'll be able to manage with an animal. I mean, my pup is just...awesome. I'll admit that I didn't really get to socialise him as much as I'd like early on, but on his first trip off the farm he met a bunch of people and was an absolute star! This is what a well-bred dog is like! (well not every well-bred dog is perfect, but you have better chances!). But that's just my experience, YMMV. Sorry for the essay...wasn't sure what to add/leave out.

I'm wary of donating to animal charities, particularly RSPCA/PETA/Animals Australia...definitely not going near them. I didn't realise Petbarn was connected to RSPCA I like that store, sells cheap Advance!! I just feel awkward, usually I go in for something specific and we don't have time or money to be donating to every shop that asks for it. Even Cotton On Body asks if you want to buy a band/water bottle/etc for their charity. I'll stick to spending my money at local shops and events/fundraisers (I live in a small farming town that's begging for a good year after years of bad years!) Haven't been pushed into donating, golly that would be so rude! I'd be getting out of there so fast.

I said up to 8 hours originally. It's rarely (maybe once, hence "up to") that long, usually more like 1-5 hours if at all. Husband actually just confirmed that one of the longer days Robo was in the crate, he went home for lunch and let him outside for toilet and a run. The crate is huge. For giant breeds if I remember correctly. He's got a comfy big dog bed in there and chew toys and I normally give him a dental stick thing or a bone before I leave. So for at least the first hour or so he's not bored. I would LOVE to have dog yards outside but our backyard is literally a bush, we're barely 200m from the neighbours' boundary and sometimes there are sheep in our nearby paddocks. I'm not 100% sure if I can trust him for extended periods of time in the house yet, he's pretty good when we're around but he does like chewing things. Actually there is n enclosure outside (used to be a chook pen) which we've used but if it's 40 degrees or raining/windy it's a little bit unprotected. I'm saving up for dog yard panels that we can put on the side of the garage for him so that it's closer to the house and less out in the elements.

I had a relative with a lovely Cocker spaniel and she was about the same age as their eldest daughter! Absolutely golden temperament and so affectionate. Really great with the kids, their three girls basically grew up with her. My Aunty also has a Cav and he's awesome too Hard decision!!

I think that's happened about once, maybe twice and I'm being generous with how long it was. And from memory my husband came home at lunch time (I'd gone to another town for food shopping and other things, over a 3 hour round trip) to give him a toilet break and attention. If he's in the crate during the day at all because I'm out it's only because my husband isn't able to take him with him. It's actually a really big crate too, he's an Aussie shepherd & I'm borrowing a crate that's as big as they come. Anyway, I can't think of a time in the last 3-4 weeks that he's spent more than a night in the crate, except for if we've gone out to dinner at night for a couple of hours. But yes he's very neglected and unloved spending most days with me - I take him with me as often as I can, the only time I don't is when I go food shopping (human food plus dog food, treats, bones, toys), spending most of his time sleeping in the lounge room or kitchen at my feet.

Well, my 10 month old pup is crate trained and will stay in there overnight (basically no more than 9 hours, then gets let out straight away for toilets), then he might get shut in there if I have to be out of the house and can't take him (can happen for up to 8 hours occasionally) which wouldn't happen very often. On the days I know this has to happen I'll try to take him for a run at some point to wear off some energy and sometimes my OH even pops in to give him a break. If he's not in the crate he's with me in the lounge room, feeding the horses or somewhere else dog friendly. Often he'll come with me around the farm and he's been on the tractor a couple of times but isn't really a fan... I really appreciate the crate as a tool for peace of mind and training the dog to just chill.

My Rav had a side opening but it was also pretty low to the ground (little bubby 2 door!! So cute!) so never had a drama with that... Or is it more a problem when it comes to putting crates & other rigid type things?

I used to have a Rav4 and carted my dog around in the back all the time was flipping awesome little car. Even drove across Australia with it so it was very reliable. Only don't have it any more because I rolled it going too fast on a just-graded gravel road oops (definitely learned my lesson there!). It was not only mechanically sound (in fact after rolling it, the engine was still running...) but also fairly simply furnished inside so it's pretty tough which is good for dogs and I found it was also really good for my horse gear such as saddles and other stuff. Great little car, I really miss it .

Naaw go Bruno! How awesome that the little girl wanted to pat him! Bet that made her day that you let her go out there and she got him to sit & stuff that's so nice hopefully she raved about how lovely your dog is to her mum, might make her less scared of dogs

Gosh so sorry this happened Hope you're all ok . And that Maddie makes a full recovery

Oooh Robo does this too!! Not quite as flexible though haha

I've found people aren't wary of Aussies. They are too "pretty", they lure people to get a closer look instead. I wouldn't recommend one for a few other reasons either. I too would go with Black Lab or Rottie. My yellow lab would scare the crap out of people if he barked, until they saw him with his wiggly tail. Ahh ok, I've never seen them in the city myself, but I know when they're barking when I rock up I prefer to hang back because they put on their scary barks Even though I know they're just doing their big tough guard dog act, I must be a minority though :) I have some anxiety issues too and find my Aussie makes me laugh which relaxes me. He also loves cuddles so that makes me feel better too.

Aussie shepherd great goofy fun temperaments, not too much brushing, they really only have a big shed a couple of times a year (correct me if I'm wrong, I've only had mine 6 months so far and he had a big shed about a month ago, now it's not so much like an avalanche), they go well with an hour (ish) twice a day to run off steam (we go for a half hour run in the morning and then feed horses where he wanders around and has a sniff, morning &/or afternoon) and are happy to loaf all day. They're smart but not difficult, you can be firm with them and they don't fall apart; they also learn quickly! Mine doesn't bark when we have visitors, even if he's outside on the verandah (or collecting bones....) but I do know some to bark when there are visitors, seems to depend on the dog. They can be really good at looking scary until their owner is around I really like that about them. They're also really gorgeous

Love it!!! How cute. The commentary was awesome too

Signed and shared on FB :) great petition.

Along with Advance (or our back up, "Mate"), he gets sardines and eggs approximately weekly, usually a couple of times a week he gets frozen bones and then treats (shop-bought, cheese, ham occasionally) when we do training. Oh and Super coat chew sticks :) And to round it all off (extra fibre!), he'll have his daily serve(s) of horse manure while I'm cleaning stables