Donna, I just take them for walks and to the dog park EVERY day. That means, I have to get up a 4 am every morning - I live in AZ, it gets HOT in the summer
They do agility, not the last few weeks though, Pepper is preggers and no agility for her right now
I am a big proponent of Cesar Millan, I know he is controversial but a lot of his advise works well for my dogs. They do have herding classes here every once in a while and that maybe something that you may want to look into, because it channels their energy into what they are supposed to do and they learn to listen to your hand and voice commands.
I have never had the problem that they would herd the kids, but I have to say, as much as I love them, I am very strict with them - the dogs that is (well, the kids too
). I have two cats, one of them is pretty smart, he realizes, the dogs won't do anything unless he starts running, then, all hell breaks loose. So Nemo, just walks around, my other scardy cat, Tinkerbell, will run every single time. Pepper won't do anything, she stays right where I am at, but Tuxedo and Scooter will run and "herd". Tuxedo I can control, he listens to voice commands even when in middle of running, Scooter won't hear anything if he feels the cat shouldn't be running. I had to drive after him and caught him 10 blocks away - with the cat on the tree - no, Scooter wasn't on the tree, just for clarification
. So Scooter is staying on a leash, the other two, I don't really need a leash, voice command is enough.
Scooter, my first mini aussie, is just full of V&P, very INDEPENDENT, if you know what I mean. He won't nip or herd the kids, but cats and birds is a different story. He doesn't hurt any creature, but he feels they need to stay where they are at and he makes that one pretty clear. He is an awesome dog, sit, stay, down, agility, now problem, but heaven forbid another creature is running. So what I do is put him on a leash, and have the cat in front of him or even have the kids chase the cat (yeah, I know, no sticks and stones, but he has to learn), I keep him on a long leash, he starts running, I pull the leash and say "ahah" and have him sit.
Keep in mind, dogs are not born as well-behaved dogs, you'll need to work with them, you'll need to teach them what is expected. It's like, you wouldn't expect your baby to be out of diapers by 3 months old
A herding dog, however, needs his/her energy channeled, if you don't give them a job, they WILL find a job and it's not going to be a job you would want them to do
My dogs' job is to get ME out of bed in the morning and exercise, and get the kids out of bed (which is more difficult
) and they do it on command, they jump up on the bed and lick my kids' faces, pushing them out of bed. It's a ritual EVERY morning. We do vary it, because otherwise the dogs get bored (Aussie trait, they need lots of variation).
Christine, I am not sure about the show stock vs. herding stock. Pepper is a show dog, but she also was a "working" herding dog, I have less of a problem with her. I think the problem with show lines is, that most of the Aussies from show lines is, that their chest is very broad and they have quite a bit more "fur" which makes it difficult for agility, as well as dogs from a real working farm are much more intune to voice/hand commands and their temperament is different. Just my experience.
What I really liked about the breeder that I got my dogs from, is, that their dogs are show dogs (or at least the parents) but they are also from a working farm, herding horses. So they can perform in a show ring (not that I would, I did it once and tripped over my own feet
) and do a hard day's work. Pepper was almost 2 when I got her, so she had been a working herding dog - HUGE difference and it seems like she is passing it on to her pups, at least in her first litter she did.
I think Aussies, or Mini Aussies for that matter, are terrific dogs, they are NOT for everyone. They are not a couch potatoe, they expect a lot, but they'll give you back a hundred-fold. I can honestly say, I love my dogs to pieces and they saved my life! Don't know if you read my response to the girl on the binge eating thread. I am not rehashing it here, but just take my word for it, they DID save my life and I will be forever grateful.
I know there has been a lot of discussion on this forum about rescueing dogs, etc. and I am all for resueing pets. But my dogs "bought" from a terrific breeder did save my life and I will be forever grateful for that. Those dogs, aside from my kids, are the best thing that ever happened to me and they are my everything. I have owned many dogs in my life, but nothing compares to those guys. Allrighty, now I am getting all teary-eyed and I am going to stop it
nuff said!!
Christine, don't know if you got my last email about my parents possibly bailing out. I will keep you posted.
Have a great day everyone
Carola
