# Got a new pup - Australian Shepherd



## Melensdad

No name yet. But he's a cute boy.


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## Doc

Cute cute cute.


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## MrLiberty

That's a good doggie........


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## Jim_S RIP

Cute!

I'm sure you will get suggestions for his name.  How about dammit, get out of there, or stop that?


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## MrLiberty

jim slagle said:


> Cute!
> 
> I'm sure you will get suggestions for his name.  How about dammit, get out of there, or stop that?




if it pees in the house enough times they might call it, "Not again!"


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## jimbo

My cousin is heavily involved in Aussies.  His wife was heavily involved in writing the breed standards.  He is a trainer, shower, judge, and provider of sheep for trials.  Well known among those involved in herding.  

Fascinating animals.

He has videos at his site.  One free.  Worth a look.  

http://twincreekherding.com/jerry-rowe/


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## EastTexFrank

jimbo said:


> My cousin is heavily involved in Aussies.  His wife was heavily involved in writing the breed standards.  He is a trainer, shower, judge, and provider of sheep for trials.  Well known among those involved in herding.
> 
> Fascinating animals.
> 
> He has videos at his site.  One free.  Worth a look.
> 
> http://twincreekherding.com/jerry-rowe/




This forum never ceases to amaze me.  

Melensdad, that is one beautiful, cute puppy.  I'm sure he will bring a lot of joy and happiness to you and your family.


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## JimVT

we had one like that when I was young. really easy to teach
we called it dingo because it had some in it. it worked the cattle good.


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## jimbo

BTW, both Jerry and Sharon are wonderful people.  If you have any questions, give them a call.


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## EastTexFrank

jim slagle said:


> Cute!
> 
> I'm sure you will get suggestions for his name.  How about dammit, get out of there, or stop that?




You're giving naming suggestions to a guy who named a female dog WALTER!!!!  I shudder to think what he's going to call this one.


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## Jim_S RIP

EastTexFrank said:


> You're giving naming suggestions to a guy who named a female dog WALTER!!!!  I shudder to think what he's going to call this one.



Shirley?


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## Melensdad

EastTexFrank said:


> You're giving naming suggestions to a guy who named a female dog WALTER!!!!  I shudder to think what he's going to call this one.



My wife threatened to name it BOB

So far we have Mitty and Elvis as the 2 in the popularity lead.  I like Mitty.  Melen likes Elvis.  

The lovely Mrs_Bob loves her sleep at night and got up and left the room after putting the puppy into our bed.  So I had Walter and the puppy with me, she went down the hall for a good night's sleep.  The 3 of us got up 1 time to go outside to go pee.  Then we got up at 6am again.  Really not a bad night.  

We have had an pee-accident in the house this morning  

Poop has been an outside thing 


He and Walter seem to get along pretty well.  In fact Walter was uncommonly gentle with him so that is good.  Not to say there was not a moment or two when Walter was getting a bit fed up.  But 98% of the time has been good, so that is a win for the household.


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## EastTexFrank

Walter and Mitty!!!!  I love it.


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## Jim_S RIP

EastTexFrank said:


> Walter and Mitty!!!!  I love it.



Mitty is a perfect name!


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## Melensdad

Well we had an impromptu family meeting this morning and, despite Melen's objections and protestations, the dog shall forever be known as *MITTY* from now on.  So it was deemed, so shall it be!  

I am home babysitting.  

Walter & Mitty have a visitor.  Georgie is here and its funny that when Georgie gets a bit rowdy around Mitty then Walter will intervene and push Georgie out of the way.  Near as I can tell Walter is not protecting Mitty but rather claiming Mitty as property that only she can abuse.


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## Melensdad

Right eye is green, left eye is blue


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## Doc

Our daughters border collie has two different color eyes too, one very light blue and the other green.  Sure looks different.   I've never heard of people with this 'feature'.


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## EastTexFrank

Doc said:


> Our daughters border collie has two different color eyes too, one very light blue and the other green.  Sure looks different.   I've never heard of people with this 'feature'.



If you ever come across some, they are zombies.  Shoot them in the head ... and double tap!!!!


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## bczoom

Awesome dog Bob!

My dog is half Aus Shepard.  Her favorite game is herding.  She'll charge at me and get withing a foot or two but she does it so quickly, you can't get a hand on her.

I like the way they lay down with both legs straight out the back (like pic 3 in post 1).  Mine is 9-years-old and she still lays down like that.


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## 300 H and H

Love it when a Dog gets a new and very good home!

Of course I just love Dogs in general. I can not imagine life without at least one.

Regards, Kirk


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## Melensdad

So potty training is not going well.  On the bright side almost all accidents are happening on the tile floor.  I'm using the same method as when I trained the Akitas but it doesn't seem to be working yet.  He does sleep in our bed and sleeps through the night without a problem.  He goes outside immediately when he wakes up in the morning AND after every nap he takes.  And I take him out constantly while he is awake too.  Praise each time.  But I don't think he's getting it and clearly not asking to go outside.  

I've had all 3 of our Akitas trained in 3 to 4 days.  We are at about 40 hours in our house and I see no signs of understanding.





300 H and H said:


> Love it when a Dog gets a new and very good home!
> 
> Of course I just love Dogs in general.* I can not imagine life without at least one.
> *
> Regards, Kirk



YUP YUP YUP

We've had 2 dogs in our home for the majority of the 32 years we've been married.  Only last spring/early summer was a time when we had ZERO dogs.  That was just after Misha died and while we were on the walk across Spain.  We got Walter a couple weeks after we returned from Spain.  

Now, with Mitty, we are back to 2 dogs in the house again


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## EastTexFrank

I was a bit like you when we got our youngest one several years ago.  I'd always house trained our dogs in a matter of days but Gypsy, our lab cross, just never seemed to get it.  Then I realized that she was entirely over thinking the problem.  Her favorite place to go was in the master bathroom and it struck me that is where she goes because that is where she knows that I go so it had to be OK for her to go there too ... right?  Once I figured that out, it was simple.  I kept her on a long training leash in the house and she was always with me, except when I went to the bathroom.  As soon as she showed signs of needing to go, we went outside.  That was it.  She finally put two and two together and never a problem since.

As I said, sometimes really smart dogs over think the problem.

By the way, for the last 20-years we have been at least a two dog household.  For a long time we had 3 dogs but I think that 2 is much more manageable.  I don't think that there will ever be a day when we don't have at least one.


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## Melensdad

EastTexFrank said:


> I was a bit like you when we got our youngest one several years ago.  I'd always house trained our dogs in a matter of days but Gypsy, our lab cross, just never seemed to get it.  Then I realized that she was entirely over thinking the problem.  Her favorite place to go was in the master bathroom and it struck me that is where she goes because that is where she knows that I go so it had to be OK for her to go there too ... right?  Once I figured that out, it was simple.  I kept her on a long training leash in the house and she was always with me, except when I went to the bathroom.  As soon as she showed signs of needing to go, we went outside.  That was it.  She finally put two and two together and never a problem since.
> 
> As I said, sometimes really smart dogs over think the problem.



I walked outside and pee'd off the edge of the patio.  I feel better


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## EastTexFrank

Melensdad said:


> I walked outside and pee'd off the edge of the patio.  I feel better



I used to do that too when I was house training Gypsy.


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## bczoom

Bob - Got to thinking about this when I found myself doing it yesterday.

Consider teaching the dog hand signals.  This breed seems to recognize them easily.


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## Melensdad

bczoom said:


> Bob - Got to thinking about this when I found myself doing it yesterday.
> 
> *Consider teaching the dog hand signals. * This breed seems to recognize them easily.



Well I can't get him to understand his name, so maybe American Sign Language is what I need to do to communicate with this dog 

We had 1 Akita that was trained to both voice and/or body/hand signals.  Another Akita was moderately trained to both as well.  And our 3rd Akita, he was just lucky he was cute and lovable  

The Aussie Shep is a challenge.  Seriously.  A challenge.  He doesn't really seem to understand much.  He is barely starting to understand his name.  Not much more.


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## bczoom

Thinking of you Bob...


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## Melensdad

bczoom said:


> Thinking of you Bob...


Dog is killing me.

I take this dog out 20, seriously 20 times a day.  He pees 18 of those 20 times and gets praised.  We talk about it in advance, I try to reason with him.  Blah blah blah

We go out, he pees in the yard, he gets praised.  He comes inside, not 5 minutes pass, there is a damn puddle on the floor.  

Or, I catch him mid stream on the tile floor, scream shout have a kanipshon fit, carry him out, he finishes in the yard, gets praised.  Comes back inside, 10 minutes pass, there is a damn puddle on the floor again.

WTH?


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## bczoom

Why not just leave him outside most of the day?  Might get the hang of doing his business out there and marking his territory.


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## Melensdad

bczoom said:


> Why not just leave him outside most of the day?  Might get the hang of doing his business out there and marking his territory.



In ground pool is in the fenced 'dog yard' and until I know *1)* he can swim or *2)* he will stay away from the pool, there is no way I'm leaving him unattended in the yard. 

Plus the fact that its been raining almost constantly lately, pretty miserable outside.


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## Melensdad

I think I picked the 'slow' dog from the litter.


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## bczoom

That might make it hard from the beginning but may turn out to be in your favor in the long run.

These Aus Shepards, Border Collies and similar breeds are really smart which can be a PITA at times since they're constantly underfoot wanting you to give them something to do.  Mine is mixed with Lab which calms her down quite a bit.


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## Melensdad

He tried to poop in front of the living room TV today.  I jumped, shouting, scooped him up, carried him outside *and scared the poop back inside him???*

Walked around with him for 20 min ... no poop.


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## Snowtrac Nome

when naming my dog it was a toss up between general lee or sgt Kelly my wife told me I was no longer in the military so the kids liked the dukes of hazard I named him Boss Dog. my youngest's little chick magnet, we call sarge used to follow me in to the voting booth when I was casting a vote for Hillary. he was smart enough to figure out what I was doing in there, if no one takes him out during the day, we will find a donation to hillarys foundation on the floor, right in front of the throne. I haven't scolded him for it as it is easy to clean up there.


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## Melensdad

Just thought I'd give a Mitty update.

Guess its been about 3 weeks and this dog still is NOT house broken.  Oh, he's a lot better than he was, but damn.  Seems like things are worse when there is a lot of activity in the house, he gets excited and just pees where he stands.  As I frequently baby-sit 2 additional dogs I notice that when there are 4 dogs in the house things are worse than when its just Walter & Mitty home with me.  

Honestly the 1st week we had him I simply don't believe he was able to control his bladder sufficiently to be housebroken.  He now is able to reasonably control himself and is now reasonably aware that he is supposed to go outside but sometimes he just doesn't.

Its very frustrating.  I had him at the Vet this morning for regular shots and discussed it with the Vet.  She indicated that I'm doing the right stuff, but suggested that I may want to add a food treat as a reward when he does his business outside.  Guess its worth a try.


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## EastTexFrank

The food treat might be a good idea.  Our dogs still get a food treat when they go outside, do their business and get back in the house.  The other thing that I did with Gypsy was that when she wasn't tethered to me by a leash, she was crated and she never messed in her crate.  She got out of the crate to go outside to do her business, got a treat when we got back inside and went back in to her crate.  I know that it sounds cruel but it really isn't.  She loved that crate and even when she had the run of the house she would go back in it to catch a nap.  She felt safe in there.


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## Melensdad

I am a crate fan.  My wife is not.  So we don't use crates.  Much to my dismay.  We did with all 3 Akitas and our Malamute.  Worked great.  


Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the way home Mitty got car sick.  Literally at the end of the driveway.  Barfed in my lap.


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## EastTexFrank

Melensdad said:


> Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the way home Mitty got car sick.  Literally at the end of the driveway.  Barfed in my lap.



That sounds so much like our Gypsy.  I feel so sad for her.  She can't make it to the vet and back or even in to town without honking.  The only reason that I keep the old van is to transport her around.  It's 20-years old and she can't do anything to hurt it.  What makes it so sad is that we have to kennel her when we go off on RV trips.  The other dog loves to travel.  If she thinks that you are going in the car/van/truck or RV she is right there, ready to go.  

I wish you luck my friend.


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## Melensdad

Mitty came running upstairs today. Got into the bedroom, YAPPED in pain, sat there holding up one of his paws in the air.

Not sure what he did.

Been trying to keep him calm all day.  He is lightly limping.  When he's excited he will run and shows no sign of pain but when he is walking you can see he is favoring his front left leg.

Not sure what the vet can do.  The local vet keeps SUNDAY hours, 10am to 5pm.  No added fee for showing up.  So we are going to see how Mitty does the rest of the day and tonight.  If needed he will be going into the doggy doctor tomorrow morning.  



On the bright side the potty training seems to have taken a turn.  At least when I am home.  No accidents in the house when I am around.


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## Melensdad

2 dogs went to the Vet's office 

2 dogs stopped at Starbucks to share a cup of water 

1 dog barfed all over the backseat of my car on the way home


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## NorthernRedneck

Lol. We try to avoid drinks and food for the dogs prior to  riding in a vehicle.   Marley is fine in a car and will fall asleep within minutes. Thunder needs to be kenneled in the vehicle as he gets very nervous and will throw up. 

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk


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## jwstewar

We have 3 dogs (well, I think they are dogs, not big enough to be what I consider dogs. 2 Chihuahuas and a Mal-Shi (Maltese/Shih Tzu mix (designer breed FKA as a mutt). The 1 Chihuahua (Sissy - we didn't name her, she was 7 and already named when we got her) and the Mal-Shi (Lilly) love going bye-bye in the car. Both get in the car and can ride without issue. They will lie on the seat or on someone's lap until you stop, then they stand up and look out the window to see if it is time to get out. When they see us packing the camper they both go inside the camper and sit to make sure they get to go. Now the other Chihuahua (Sprinkles, my daughter loves cup cakes with sprinkles and it is her dog) is scared of everything. Someone comes to the house, under the couch. She feels most comfortable sitting on my lap in the chair or sleeping beside me. She absolutely hates cars. Can finally make short trips in the car now without getting sick, used to be we couldn't take her to town without getting sick. But she has started this thing where she "clicks" when she is in the car. I think she is actually panting where she is scared, but it sounds like someone clicking their finger nails or something. It is annoying as hell, but I have to tolerate it because the older 2 kids bitch about it and upsets my youngest daughter so I have to set an example.


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## bczoom

My dog (Aus. Shepard/Black Lab mix) had a slow start wanting to ride in vehicles.  She'd puke in the truck even on short drives.  It took a few years before she was interested in riding but now if I even walk near the truck she'll be right beside me looking at the truck door waiting for it to open so she can get in.

She also loves to ride in the car, on the ATV (Rear cargo cage area) or in the RTV.

She now has no problems going for long trips without incident.  Haven't put her in a car for 16 hours but she does perfectly fine on 5-6 hour trips.


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## bczoom

Hey Bob - it's been awhile.  How's the dog doing?


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## EastTexFrank

bczoom said:


> Hey Bob - it's been awhile.  How's the dog doing?



I was wondering too!!!!!!


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