I, a cat mom, adopted my first dog.

The love of my life and soul cat, Boris Katloaf, passed away in early July at 13-years-old. The month before that, my roommates' 13-year-old senior dog who I loved dearly, Cake, also passed. My father got sick at the end of July and we all gathered to say our goodbyes (some good news, he ultimately pulled through). It has been a very harsh summer.

My sister and my niece decided to go to the animal shelter to pet some dogs after leaving the hospital for the day. Take all of our minds off of everything for a while. Dogs specifically because I was in a vulnerable place and I didn't want to end up adopting a cat from grief. I would never be in danger of adopting a dog... Not because I don't love them, but because they're a lot different than cats.

I saw this face smiling at me, covered in mats, and I knew he was the one I wanted to pet. I took him into the play yard and he ran about like a maniac, smiling the whole time. 14 you say? He and I then played for about three minutes, and then I cried. And I knew there was no way I was letting them take him back to the kennel.

There was hardly a thought in my head other than, "I can't leave him here". From the very first moment, we were friends and not strangers. For a few days I jokingly called him my trauma response, which holds much more truth than joke. I read up on Aussies and things I should know, lurked this subreddit, asked Google numerous questions... And we were off.

I've got him all brushed out (which has taken me almost a full month). Lightly trimmed him. He did some terrible mats that had to be cut out on his bum and ears, but I salvaged nearly all of his undercoat and he's looking and smelling great! The first vet appointment was mostly excellent. He's become protective of me (and reliant on me) and when the vet tried to see his teeth he leaned into me and showed her his teeth while growling). But he was pleasant the rest of the visit and the vet was completely unfazed (and a self proclaimed Aussie mom, for which I was grateful). He even walked back with her on a lead with zero issues. We agreed to take it all very slowly. She trimmed his nails up a little but not great. Well enough and it was low stress for him. She did manage to get the blood and urine, so it's a win. The full senior panel came back great. There are a minute amount of urinary crystals which we are monitoring.

So here we are, a month later, and both of our adjustments have been surprisingly smooth. He's amazing and gives me somewhere to put all this love. It's better that he's a dog in a lot of ways, I still find it hard to pet kitties for now. He adores (and herds) the roommates' kitty. He has me, three adults, and a 7-year-old who all adore him, pet him, love him, play with him and take him outside.

He's well-trained (I am so lucky), unaggressive (except when the vet grabbed his mouth), and just an absolute beacon of joy. A lighthouse on a dark night.

Meet DJ.

Deegee Luigi.

DJ Wigglebotham.

Piggle Wiggle.

The new senior addition to my family. ❤️‍🩹

It's time to celebrate because we're spotlighting the Australian Shepherd as our Breed of the Day today on our Facebook page, Instagram stories, and website! We publish a new breed each day to educate our followers to make informed decisions when choosing a dog while providing the history and hard work that our parent clubs do to preserve their breed. Celebrate with us by sharing what you love about your Australian Shepherd!

She looks so goofy when wet and I love it haha

Cobber is the smartest dog I've owned. He's 5 and has yet to figure out doors. Won't push. Won't try to squeeze thru. It can be cracked 5" and he'll just sit there.

He'll bark at me to let him in. Scratch on the bedroom door. But push it open? Nope.

Anyone else's wigglebutt baffled by doors?

I feel like I have tried so hard to get my dog to behave on walks and it is so tiring. She jumps and bites the leash when she gets excited or bored on walks.

I have tried a martingale collar but we now use a harness that has an attachment in the front which helps when she’s pulling a lot and a back attachment which is typically what I use normal neighborhood walks.

This dog goes almost everywhere with me. We just moved to Colorado and have been doing all kinds of outdoorsy stuff. It’s really hard to see all the other well behaved aussies walking by their owners without a leash when I cant even get my girl to be chill on a leash.

I bring her favorite treat with me on all walks now, when she jumps or I can tell she might get excited I try to quickly get her to sit and look at me. Then I will usually give her a treat and attempt to get her to walk calmly next to me by holding cheese at eye level in front of her and usually she will for a moment. But then she’s back to jumping and we does the same thing all over again. I’ve been solidly using this method nearly every day for several weeks but I still feel really defeated that she doesn’t just walk and behave. I know they have tons of energy and yes, when she’s actually exhausted she is better behaved but does that mean I have to wear her out totally before I can take her on a walk.

This past weekend we went on a 2 mile hike and I had to use the front chest attachment to keep her from pulling me ahead of our group the entire time. She wants to be in the front. And then she jumps because she’s irritated that she wants to lead and doesn’t get to.

Then I had my daughter take her for a walk and she nearly pulled her into the little creek in our neighborhood because she loves water so much.

We do go to the dog park sometimes, but not every day because the closest one has a bunch of rattlesnakes in it which is really unfortunate because it has tons of running area. But at the dog park she is generally living her best life but can sometimes get a little too crazy and playful with some smaller dogs because she just zooms and runs and spider monkeys all over.

TLDR: need training advice for aussies who jumps and pulls on walks

I just wanted to thank everybody who gave me advice on how to introduce them, live day to day with them, and what to expect!

Bailey is still a little bit cautious of our new little guy, she keeps her distance but also is curious of him too. Lots of sniffs and little head licks but she mainly just ignores him except for our nighttime TV time, which is all I can ask for.

Anybody else's dog snap at flies? Cobber not only snaps, but catches them. Horseflies and deer flies too. Which is great by me. Rarely need to break out the fly swater.

This baby has been stealing our heart and food for 2 years😂

Hi everyone meet Bean! We got him about a month ago. ☺️ he’s current 14 weeks. First time dog owner here. I’ve noticed other Aussie puppy are already so fluffy and have so much hair at a really young age. It seems like Bean isn’t as fluffy? He has long silky hair. Both mom and dad are 100% Aussie. Just wondering if anyone else’s Aussie had a similar coat as a puppy?

Got here and set up at Appleton Lake in Brighton, MI and took these two for a walk after everything was in order. It took them both about 3 minutes flat to pass out once we got back to our spot. What a life.😂

Edit: This spot is absolutely huge! Girls have plenty of room to run around and lay where they want. Going to the lake tomorrow morning!

Adopting a sweet 12 week old girl on Saturday and couldn’t be more excited. I’d love to hear your best advice and tips for giving her the best home and life possible. Thanks!

My boys 4.5 months and it’s 21lbs. What do you guys think his adult size will be

She’s the most perfect little Ausshole 🥰

My husband and I have a 5 year old Aussie girl that we are obsessed with and want to get a second dog. We’re so torn on whether to get a second Aussie or possibly an “easier” more chill dog? Like a golden retriever maybe.

We had a hard time training our girl, had to bring in a private trainer and she is great now. (Problems were biting us, not walking well on a leash, overall being bad). We have 2 cats (9 years old) and I’m worried another Aussie won’t be as good with them.

We raised our girl from a puppy and I won’t kid myself - it will be a lot harder than I even remember. I’m hoping a second dog could be easier with having our current dog to play with and can tire each other out.

How many of you guys have 2 aussies? Was it easier or harder than you thought??? TIA

I know the reasoning behind training dogs in other languages, I was just curious how many people actually do this with Australian shepherds?

Did you train your dog in English or a different language?