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This breed was generally kept in ranches and similar households, so it developed a strong guarding instinct, it will bark to alert its master of any changes in the surrounding. This kind of environment and the jobs it was expected to perform also made the Aussie highly adaptable to new situations and challenges. They are easy to train and are extremely fast learners. The training is further facilitated by the fact that once they form a bond with someone their devotion and loyalty are unmatched.

They are very sociable dogs and interact really well with children. This trait, combined with their other qualities, makes them ideal for helping people in the capacity of hearing aid or seeing-eye dogs, therapy dogs or for search and rescue missions. And, of course, even though they have at one point started appearing often in dog shows, they are still used as herding dogs, which, after all, is what they were bred for.

The first thing you need to do is to check your pet’s fur for matting and entangled hairs. To do that you’ll first have to apply conditioner to the fur and start slowly and carefully brushing it following the direction it’s growing in. If the brush gets stuck don’t force it, you might pull your dog’s hair out and cause him serious discomfort and pain. Instead stop brushing and remove the matting, if possible by untangling it, if not by cutting the entangled hair off with scissors. Once you’re done with this stage, take a stronger wire brush and give his coat another go over, taking care not to be too rough.

After the brushing it’s time for a bath, get your pet in the tub and slowly pour warm (by no means cold or hot) water over his back. You should make sure that he is completely soaked; you might need to rearrange his fur every so often in order to achieve this. Once you are sure that the dog is wet to the skin you should start applying the shampoo. When the dog is completely covered in it, leave it be for a couple of minutes and then start carefully rinsing it out. Make sure to get all of the shampoo out, as any residue might cause serious skin irritation. Dry the fur with a towel and then if needed, with a blow dryer, just make sure that the air coming out of the dryer is not too hot.

The last part of the treatment is trimming the hair on your dog’s tail. You should be gentle during this stage as dogs generally don’t particularly enjoy it when someone is messing around with their tails. Hold the tail softly, but still firmly enough that the dog can’t move it and perhaps get it in the way of scissors. Trim the hair to the length you find optimal, and enjoy the sight of your freshly groomed pet.

If you do intend to train your Aussie to be a therapy dog you should start with obedience training. The dog should be well behaved and comfortable in social situations. There is no better time for development of this kind of attitude then while the dog is still a young puppy. Try to constantly expose your dog to new environments, situations and people, of course, be careful not to overexert your dog, even though Aussies are highly energetic and adaptable even they have limits.

You are not expected to do all of this on your own. There are therapy dog groups that can help you with training, advice, tests and registration of your Aussie as a therapy dog. You need to pass the American Kennel Club’s tests in order to receive insurance documentation that will allow you to start making visits with your dog, and these groups can be of invaluable help with that.

Once you are registered and approved you can start making the actual visits. It is your choice whether you’ll do this on your own or as a part of a volunteer group, both approaches have their advantages. As a part of a group you’ll have experienced colleagues that might give you helpful advice and pointers, while if you are alone you get to make your own schedule, the choice simply depends on your preferences. There are a number of places that would welcome you and your dog – schools, hospitals, assisted living institutions, nursing or senior homes… Basically any place where there are people who could use a smile and some company.

Most common disorders afflicting Australian Shepherds are:

Cataracts – among several frequent eye problems that Aussies can experience, this is by far the most common one. Cataracts are not always caused by genetic disorders and need to be examined for their cause to be determined. If you notice that both eyes are afflicted that is usually a sign that this is a hereditary disorder. They can develop when your dog is anywhere from 1 to 8 years old. As soon as you notice that your dog is displaying sight problems contact your vet.

Hip Dysplasia – Even though breeders have been aware of this problem for a long time, and have been performing frequent screenings in attempts to eradicate it, their efforts have pretty much been in vain. Condition may vary in severity, and in the worst cases might leave your dog unable to walk. If your dog experiences this stadium of the disorder, surgical procedure will be the only solution. If you notice that you dog is limping and you can’t find any injuries on its paws or legs, that might be an indication that the dog is suffering from this condition.

Osteochondritis Desicans – Another condition that might immobilize your dog; it is caused by a dislocated cartilage within a joint that can prevent it from functioning normally and cause irritation and pain. It usually occurs in elbows or shoulders. It is more common in larger dogs. If left untreated it could make it impossible for the animal to use the afflicted limb.

Distichaisis – A condition characterized by improperly growing eyelashes that can cause irritation and even severe corneal scaring. This is one of the few conditions that you can (at least temporarily) remedy yourself. If you notice that your dog is having this kind of problems simply remove the obstructive eyelash if it is within your reach. A consultation with the vet is still advisable.

Retained testicles – This just recently became a frequent affliction. It greatly increases the chances of the development of testicular cancer, so if your dog is diagnosed with this condition you need to take rapid action before it progresses into something much more severe.

Once you bring your puppy home, let him get familiar with the environment, walk him in the yard and if he goes to potty in the appropriate place commend him and give him a reward, you should praise him and encourage him as often as is appropriate, this will help the puppy get comfortable in its new home and tech him what behaviors are acceptable.

Make sure that puppy is getting three meals a day, regular diet is a very important factor in its development. Use the best available meat based foods that contain at least 30% protein with less than 4% fibers. Puppy’s muscles and bones are forming in this stage and it is vital that it gets all the necessary nutrients.

Australian Shepherds are very energetic and very intelligent dogs, which means that they need to constantly be occupied, take your puppy out often and play with it or just let it find its own amusement. These playing sessions will not only strengthen your bond, but they will be the start of the training of your new dog.

The 1849 gold rush attracted a lot of new settlers to America, and these migrations brought both the people from Spain and other parts of Europe who took their shepherd dogs with them, as well as flocks of sheep from Australia. It is supposed that this is why this breed was named Australian Shepherd, not because it was brought from Australia, but because the most of the sheep it was initially used to herd were of Australian origin. Since it originated in mountains it is not bothered by altitudes which made it a popular herding dog in the Rocky Mountains. Of course, it should be noted that its resilience to adverse effects of great heights was not the only reason, it excelled as a herding dog because of its great intelligence, adaptability and a very large amount of energy and stamina. These features made him a popular sheep herding choice all over the US. In those early days of its development as a breed it was known under many different names – Spanish Shepherd, Pastor Dog, Bob-tail, Blue Heeler…

People are still unclear on exactly what breeds were combined to create this dog, but it is supposed that the original shepherds brought to America were at some point crossed with Collie stock, and that that contributed to the creation of the breed we know and love today.

The breed was further popularized after WW II in western movies, horse shows and rodeos. The breed began showing up in registries since the 1950’s and entered the American Kennel Club’s Stud Book in 1991.

It has a well proportioned head, and its muzzle is roughly the same length or somewhat shorter than its back skull. The dog’s teeth form a level of scissor bite. Its facial features display intelligence and alertness. This breed has a penetrating but not unfriendly gaze and its eyes are usually blue, brown or amber. It has triangular, moderately large ears positioned high on the head.

Their tails were traditionally docked. Some dogs are even born with a naturally shorter tail; if under 4 inches in length these tails don’t require further docking. But even a longer tail is not necessarily immediate grounds for disqualification in shows, and some dogs with tail longer than 4 inches have made good show results.

One of the more prominent features of these interesting dogs is their beautiful, multi colored coat. Aussie coats are usually straight or somewhat wavy, of medium length and offer good protection against the harsh weather. The coat is usually black, red, red merle or blue merle. It is not unusual for Aussies to have tan points or white patterns in their coats. If a dog has both tan and white markings it is called “tricolor”, and if it has only white it’s called “bicolor”.

Merle patterns give these dogs an even more interesting appearance, but one should take great care not to breed two merle dogs, as this union might produce offspring that has two copies of the merle gene which can cause pigmentation disruption and blindness of deafness. Merle gene can often influence the color of the dog’s eyes, sometimes even causing one eye to have a combination of two different colors. It is also common for all black and blue merle dogs to have black lips, noses and eye rims, while in red and red merle ones these parts are brown.

Apart from their beauty these dogs are popular because of their various talents, loyalty and pleasant disposition. They are extremely energetic, which is not surprising in a working dog, if you don’t find something for the dog to do, it will find its own entertainment. This excessive energy can even make them destructive if they are left without a more appropriate way to channel it. But this also means that Aussies are very playful, and make great company.

They are also highly intelligent and have been shown to be very fast learners. This is why this breed was not used only for herding sheep, but sometimes also poultry or rabbits, because of its intelligence and flexibility it wasn’t a problem for this dog to adapt to this significantly different type of work.

Australian Shepherds have both the looks and personality to make great and loving pets, but they are known to form very strong bonds with their masters, so if you want a dog that you don’t really have to spend a lot of time with, you should probably consider a different breed.

In case you own a Australian Shepherd Dog, send us a photo of your pet with a short description and we will post it on this site. Dont be shy, show your dog to others and be proud of it!

We started a new site – Your Dog Pictures.Com
give it a visit and share your dog pictures with us.

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Australian Shepherd is a herding dog breed, coming from the Northern America ranches. Despite the name “Australian” the dogs origins do not lie in Australia. Massive popularity of these dogs has to do with the boom of western ridign in the USA after the first World War. Australian Shepherds are highly valued because of their ability to be trained easily, obedience and willingness to please the owners. Commonly called the Aussie, this working dogs have plenty of energy and to be happy it needs a job to do. This makes the Aussies perfect dogs for all kind of dog sports like flyball, frisbee and dog agility. Due to their intelligence and perfect scent, they make excellent disaster and rescue dogs and can be also used as guide or detection dogs.