RE: OT - Jimmy all
Christine,
he is sooooooo adorable. What a handsome dog!!!! Oh my, how did the time fly by, it seems like yesterday when you got him.
By the way, I think you look very beautiful on the picture. I can't wait to meet you in person!!!!!
Karen, Aussies in general are very family oriented dogs, very kid friendly as long as they come from a reputable breeder and are socialize properly from a young age.
I have 5 (yes, you read right FIVE, yes, I am a nut case) Mini Aussies. When I got my first Mini Aussie, Scooter last year in April, someone told me that Aussies/Mini Aussies are like potato chips, can't just have one
My dogs are basically the same as Christine's Jimmy, just in a smaller, more compact package. If bred right, they have the same character traits and high energy as their bigger cousins.
I totally second what Christine is saying about Aussies being a velcro dog, own an Aussie and wave good-bye to privacy in your bathroom. I have 5 dogs sitting in front of me or around me whenever I shower or use the bathroom. Definitely not a breed for everyone.
I am out with my dogs 2 to 3 hours at a minimum every day, hiking, dog park, throwing balls/frisbee, agility, walking/runing, any less than 2 hours per day my house will be destruction central.
There are some couch potato Aussies, the male that my little girl Pepper was bred with and had puppies was the quintessential couch potato, Pepper is somewhat lazy, she will do whatever I ask her to do, but she is perfectly happy just hanging out next to me on the sofa. Unfortunately, those couch potato character traits didn't rub off on their puppies
She had 7 puppies, so far one of them has turned out to be a little more laid back, I kept 3 of the 7 pups originally and ALL of them are HIGH energy.
Aussies/Mini Aussies come in all kinds of colors (black tri, red tri, blue merle, red merle and all kinds of variations). Christine's Jimmy is a black tri-color. I have 4 black tri-colors (which is my personal favorite) and a red tri-color. The other pup I kept was what is called a blue merle, Maverick, but he now lives with my dear friend Virginie.
If you go on my picture trail you will find all colors except of a red merle.
If you are looking into getting an Aussie, talk to people who have one, as Christine mentioned, they are extremely smart and you ALWAYS have to be one step ahead of them, for them to be the best they can be, they will NEED a job, be it bringing the morning paper, waking up the kids (as they do in my house
), agility, retrieving balls or frisbees, search and rescue, herding, whatever you can think of, if you don't do that, they will find a job and it usually isn't something that you want them to do, digging, barking, redecorating your house, redesigning your backyard ....... If you don't have 2 hours a day to devote to them, it won't be the breed for you.
They are BEAUTIFUL dogs, just look at Jimmy, they are extremely smart and easy to train, BUT they need and want to be involved in every aspect of your life. If you can't handle that devotion, a constant companion at your side, and the enourmous amount of exercise, it is not the dog for your family, the dog won't be happy and you won't be happy.
Aussies have become almost as popular as Labradors now, but if you go to a shelter you will find a huge amount of Aussies up for adoption, because a lot of people don't know what they are getting themselves into. It's not a low maintenance dog.
I have owned Labradors and German Shepherds before, I like them but I would NEVER ever get anything else than an Aussie (well, a Mini Aussie in my case), they are my kind of dog!
Sorry this was so long-winded. Sorry, Christine, didn't want to take away from Jimmy, as you know, I am just very passionate about that breed and I get easily carried away.
Big hugs to the Jimmster!!!!
