Questions for the Aussie People...

Or former Aussie people....or people who are around then frequently who want to give their opinions....

What are they like to live with?
How are they with other dogs?
How are they with people in general and kids?
What are their energy levels like and do they have an off switch?
What do you do with your Aussie?
How are they with various small pets?
What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the breed?

I am only going to answer for my particular dog and not the breed as a whole, as I've only spent an decent amount of time with a few Aussies and have only myself owned Journey so far (but she will definitely be the first of many).


What are they like to live with? Journey is super easy to live with. She is very busy and likes to do things, but she is also good about occupying herself when I am busy or she just relaxes and sleeps (preferably cuddling with me). I don't find it's even activity that she really needs so much as it is just interaction. She is a very people oriented dog and craves attention and affection like I've not experienced in a dog before. The Dobermans are needy when it comes to attention and affection, but Journey is needy about it in a different way that's hard to describe. All in all though, she is the easiest dog I've ever lived with in so many ways.

How are they with other dogs? Journey loves other dogs. She plays super rough though, so not all dogs like her. And she barks a lot when she plays. She likes to either yell at her friends to slow down or yell at them to tell them to get moving. She's kind of a brat that way, but it's a losing battle constantly reminding her to play quiet. Journey can be kind of bitchy with other dogs sometimes though over things she deems hers. I've seen her lip curl at a few other dogs in the past, but once I tell her that it's inappropriate, she stops and is happy go lucky and everyone's friend again.

How are they with people in general and kids? They should be reserved. Journey is not, and I love it. She loves everyone. Adults, children, seniors, just everyone. But she's good about leaving people alone unless they want attention from her, and for as much as she adores people, she knows who her own people are.

What are their energy levels like and do they have an off switch? I kind of touched on this in the first question. Like I said, Journ is a very busy girl, but I don't find that she needs a ton of exercise. About a half hour a day is what she gets during the week most days, and on weekends/days off I try to get in a good hour each day, but even if we do nothing for days at a time, she's fine. She never pesters me for anything. She is very relaxed in the house and that was just something I reinforced in her from day one. I can't stand living with dogs who pace and can't settle in the house. She naturally has a good off switch too, though.

She does get overstimulated easily and I need to work on a lot more impulse control stuff with her, but I think that's a thing for a lot of young dogs.

What do you do with your Aussie? Mostly? She's a pet. We go for walks, we go for hikes, we play fetch, tug and learn tricks. And sit and cuddle while watching TV haha. I try to get to Agility and/or Flyball practice (where we do very low key stuff) once a week or at least every couple of weeks, but it's not frequent enough that I consider it a huge part of her life at this point until I get my own vehicle. I will show her once she's a bit older, and I want to do Obedience (and Rally) with her. But any of the sports we do are just things that come up periodically throughout the year and things we train for weekly/bi-weekly and are not things she needs. She'd be a perfectly happy active pet.

How are they with various small pets? No idea. I know that she likes to chase anything that is an animal and moves, and she almost caught a bird outside this summer. But if she'd been raised with small animals and learned then I think she'd be pretty safe with supervision.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the breed? The only thing I really don't like is their play style, or at least Journey's and the ones I know. She is very rough and likes to slam into things/other dogs, and it scares me and I also find it to be very rude behaviour when it is done to a dog that is not also an Aussie. I also could do without the barking when she's running and playing. But she doesn't bark at any other times really, so it's not a huge deal. I really love pretty much everything and the things I chose are two really nitpicky on my end. Journey is everything I ever envisioned my ideal dog to be and I hope I can find a very similar Aussie when it's time for my next one, whenever that might be.

And this is why I shouldn't reply to things in a hurry! Totally forgot to put my favourite parts eventhough I have many. Some of them are:

- How super happy she is all the time
- How people pleasing she is and also how motivated by food, play or praise. Makes training super easy.
- How wiggly she is
- How bouncy she is (it's adorable!)
- How easy she is to take places because she's so easy going and go with the flow
- The rate at which she learns. She catches onto things in minutes and remembers. She surprises me sometimes with things that I didn't think she actually knew yet, and turns out she does know.
- How cuddly she is. She's not forceful about it. She's just a super sweet, snuggly girl.
- How easy maintenance her coat is. It never knots or tangles and to me is the perfect length and thickness, and eventhough I do need to trim her ears and feet, the hair doesn't grow nearly as quickly and get at all unruly like Dance's does.

And there are a whole lot more, but there are some.

Pretty much all of the above is what Sawyer is like. LOTS of barking when playing/super excited. I've taught him to keep a ball in his mouth when at the park to try and muffle it, because there's no stopping it. He has a fabulous off-switch inside and can come across as lazy but will go for as long as we're doing stuff. He's coming up on 11 and did an hour and a half stint of constant running, swimming and dashing up steep river banks today.

He's fine with Huck and has lived with other cats, though he will chase bunnies, squirrels and any other small thing outside. Fine with other dogs though jealous of me giving them attention. Loves to control any and all activity, throws shoulders and paws so he's a bit rough (and loud) for some dogs.

His coat has always been wash n' wear, though it's gotten a little more cottony and this prone to catching stuff and tangling as he's gotten older.

TL;DR: they're my favorite breed and I will always have at least one around.

What are they like to live with?
It's hard for me to say. If you asked my husband, he would say she's horrible to live with. In my mind, she's pretty easy. Her issue is that she will follow me EVERYWHERE, jostling into my knees (intentionally and unintentionally) and will often sit or lie across the room and just stare. When she does this, she needs a reminder to go to bed, chill out and disengage. I'm sure a lot of it is my fault for not reinforcing quiet time when she was a puppy. She's definitely more demanding than the chihuahua (lol) but I find her presence much more pleasurable. She can erupt into a barking fit pretty easily when excited to work with you, but alert barking is under control. When she does alert bark, it's for good reason and she is easy to quiet.

How are they with other dogs?
Not great. The aforementioned pushy play style and CONSTANT barking can unnerve a lot of dogs. She also can switch to bratty bully mode pretty quickly if she senses another dog won't stand up to her, and she's easily intimidated by other dogs and has a tendency to lip lift/lash out. However, she loves intact males and will play bow and try to elicit play constantly.

We do loads of dog events, and she's wonderful at them. She has great focus around distractions, and she will keep on task even around other high dogs. She understands that she's there to work and knows that other dogs are working too and won't approach.

How are they with people in general and kids?
She's totally ambivalent around most people (though she has her favourites who she will FLIP OUT for when she sees them), bordering on avoidant. It's easily mistaken for fearfulness, as she'll move away from people touching her, but I think it's more out of annoyance. She's mostly ambivalent towards children too, but every once in a while she'll take a shining to a kid and roll over on her belly for pats. She'll work for kids if they have food on them, which is really cute.

She gets pretty reactive around skateboards, and used to have similar issues with motorcycles, but we've been able to work through the latter. I'm not sure where she stands as far as skateboards go now.

She is very much NOT cuddly. She'll sometimes acquiesce to some quiet time on the couch while touching me, or a good neck scratch between my legs, but if she's resting she'd rather not be touching you. She's not the typical joker type personality. She's pretty serious. I think of her as having a wry sense of humour.

What are their energy levels like and do they have an off switch?
As a puppy, Cohen had a lot of energy. I imagine she was a monster of my own making, as I wasn't working and would spend hours a day walking her. Now, I have a saner schedule with her. On a normal day she gets out for an off leash sniff or run for 15-30 minutes first thing in the morning, and then another 30-60 minutes of activity each night in the form of walking, training, classes, etc. Some days are more quiet than others, and she does okay but gets a little squirrely if quiet times go on for too many days.

I would say her off switch is decent. See above re: staring and following me from room to room. But if told to go to her bed, she's generally good at giving in and doing nothing.

She's always pushing for more though. I've taken her out to all-day events, like performances and trials, where she doesn't sleep a wink and she has to perform periodically. She gets manic when she gets tired, but at no point will she ever refuse work. The dog won't stop before you do.

She doesn't like to swim, but loves to wade. She'll lose interest in ball/disc playing if you're just mindlessly throwing it.

What do you do with your Aussie?
Lots. Agility. Flyball. Obedience. Rally. Performances. Loads of trick training (she's probably got about 100 now -- I haven't counted in a while). We're dabbling in freestyle. I'd like to get into disc, but I'm not very good at it, and I've not been particularly consistent in my training so I doubt she'll ever be a superstar.

At the end of the day, she's a family pet. A very energetic family pet.

How are they with various small pets?
She's fine with the chihuahua. She'll sometimes bowl the chi over, which sucks, but she's good about sharing food and leaving the other dog alone. I imagine she'd be okay with a cat that didn't run or hiss.

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about the breed?
Favourites: She's really reliable off leash. I'm really proud that she's been able to get to this point. She'll walk with me down quiet residential streets and constantly be under verbal control.

Her food drive is crazy. Her desire to work with me is wonderful. She catches on to things fast. She's agile. She always bounces back quickly and doesn't let stuff bother her for very long. She's pretty. Her coat is so shiny & soft. Dirt falls right off of it. It dries quickly. People always ask if she's just come from the groomer.

Least favourites: The barking. It's constant when she's excited. Again, I'm sure part of it is my failing as a trainer. But holy hell, it's something else. She barks while running agility. She barks when you throw a ball. She barks CONSTANTLY in the flyball lane.

I wish she were a bit better with other dogs. I wish she wasn't so obsessed with food as to occasionally blow me off for hidden morsels on the ground. (Again, a training issue.)