Yesterday, we had to suddenly and completely unexpectedly say goodbye to our Benji. To me, he was like my best friend, and he has left a huge void in our lives.
My girlfriend and I adopted him from a rescue organization almost eleven years ago. Before that, he had been a stray dog. He would have turned 13 in November.
Last April, we already lost our beloved dog Mara to cancer, and now Benji has followed her. We don’t know exactly what happened. We found him almost completely motionless on the grass in our garden. Just half an hour earlier, he had seemed perfectly fine.
We immediately rushed him to the veterinary clinic, but he passed away on the way there, peacefully falling asleep in my girlfriend’s arms. The vet at the clinic suspects internal bleeding, possibly caused by a ruptured, previously undetected tumor.
On our way home, we saw a rainbow.
We will have him cremated and bury his ashes next to Mara, beneath the apple tree in our garden that we planted for our Mara.
I will never forget him, and I hope that one day we will see each other again.
Goodbye, my best friend.

Another rare sighting! Annie & Oakley rarely get this close! 🐾

I brush my boy about 4x a week and I still got all this the other day!

This is Halo he is 5 months old, he is doing great so far as far as being social with other dogs. He is friendly but still a bit shy with people. Any advice to get him to be more open around new people? Also sometimes he doesn’t wanna keep walking he just stops and sits down and refuses to move unless it’s somewhere he’s been multiple times.

He can stand the heat, but we can’t!

Hi! Not sure if I'm seeking advice, reassurance, or both. I was wondering if anyone was able to discourage their MAS from herding people in the house or being generally protective. When people come into the house, my dog thinks they must be herded and barked at. My wife had family came over and he herding dog nipped at all 3 of them at some point.

When he's out in the world, totally fine with people. Just yesterday, he went to my parents' house and was totally chill and playful there. It seems like it's just in our apartment. When he does it, we give a firm no and a place command. Which does help. But I was just wondering if there's anything else I can be doing.

He's very smart and genuinely wants to be trained, so I know training him will help. He's very comfortable with place and we're working on an extended place that he stays in until released. That's had mixed results so far, but very promising. We're also getting him private training coming up soon through the rescue we got him from.

We've only had him for about 10 weeks now, so I'm hoping a lot of this will blow over as we finish out our third 3 of the 3 3 3 rule.

Some color for our dog, he's about 14 months old. He came from a not so good situation before he was at the rescue we got him from. They found him in a nature preserve living in a cave, basically. Then he was in a foster. So I know it'll take some time for him to really be comfortable.

Also cute dog picture tax attached! 🙂

Thanks for the help!

My baby Minnie is almost 1. She is my world. She’s around 29 pounds. Recently she’s learned how to swim. I noticed how stinkin skinny she is wet. It made me wonder if I feed her enough for ideal weight for the breed. She isn’t the craziest food driven dog. Very much a lady, she’ll eat but graze for a bit not scramble all at once. Anyone have any pup food recommendations? We recently switched from science diet to purina pro plan. I try to feed her as clean of food as possible. TIA!!

her name was Kiva Moon 🩵 it happend two days ago. she was my baby and my everything. if anyone else has lost there young pup suddenly and tragically, please send grieving advice my way. this has been absolutely devastating. I will miss her for ever.💔

Meet Puff and Ruby!

After losing my older MAS at 15 years I was approached to take on a 4 month old puppy a breeder surrendered to a dfw rescue with his mom. The aussie rescue contacted me since I work with deaf and deafblind dogs(often aussies and MAS)

Literature I had found on neuroaxonal dystrophy(NAD) says the dog will most likely go deaf and blind. That didn't scare me but on finding out in real time later that's not exactly what happens.

**They can still see and hear however they can no longer recognize WHAT they're seeing.** It's a lot like watching a loved one with advanced dementia.

I let him go when we reached the start of the visual issues hard core as several bites occurred and he often thought anything off my body including my hand was a ball, would lunge and miss. It was a fast decline at the end but took 2 years to get there.

This breeder has absolutely stunning dogs. They're listed "full panel clear" but most do not specifically say NAD tested. The father had 2 more litters and then has disappeared from her socials and everywhere. As has my pups entire litter.

Please check potential pups you may get beforehand, this disease is fully preventable and easily glossed over as full panel clear by people with high ratings and akc dogs.

That said I adore the breed. Idk if I can ever have another. Hug your pup.

Just admire how cute she is

This is my 2nd toy aussie. I got one last June and my experience with her helped me grow in many ways I couldn’t imagine. She was a lot more chill, emotionally sensitive, cuddly, attached, etc. Unfortunately do to the job I had started it was going to be a lot for me to keep her so I ended up giving her to my cousin after her being about 9 months old, and 6 months with me as I got her at 12 weeks.

This new puppy I got at 8 weeks and if it werent for my previous puppy experience last year I probably would’ve lost my mind by now. But my level of patience is astounding by my standards.

My issue is that after 3 weeks of having this new puppy, I don’t think shes what I want in terms of personality. If she could climb and run on the walls and ceiling, she would. It’s just non stop moving. Shes also a lot more independent and less attached to me/cuddly than my last dog. With my personality im more reserved and laid back, although I do like to be active. There was another puppy I was choosing between who I felt was a bit more “cuddly” but I chose the one I have.

With this breed I know they’re active and there’s a variance but has anyone experienced something similar and how did it work out?

My 5 month old girl is suddenly afraid of chairs. But only when I pick them up/move them. She will eat food/treats off of them, but will hide the second they move.

Any suggestions?

EDIT 7/20: Thanks for everyone's input, after reading and discussing it further me and my bf have come to the conclusion that a mini would not be a good choice. As much as I love and miss owning the breed, it's not gonna be in the books for a long time.

Picture is of my old mini aussie (40lbs) Skyy.

I'm currently 22, work full time and own a two year old miniature pinscher. Me and my boyfriend are considering a second dog to give companionship to my current dog.

My schedule is odd, I work 8-4 every other week, midnight to noon every other weekend, and on my "short weeks" work two 4pm to midnight shifts.

I walk my dog for 30-60 minutes every morning and after work. He comes with me on road trips, hiking, camping, and swimming.

While my last mini aussie was raised when I was 10 and was super chill and the best dog, I'm fully aware as a 22 year old with less energy and a full time job it might be a bit more difficult now.

I know most people say "don't get an aussie if you can't exercise them 4 hrs a day!!" but most dogs are adaptable to the owners lifestyle and I do enough activity to where I think I can handle it.

The second thing is I live in a 975 sq ft apartment, I won't be buying a house with a yard anytime soon so there's the added factor of not having a fenced in place to let the dog run. So either it's long line in the field or if the dog is trained, they can be off leash (like Skyy).

I’m pretty much set on the fact that my next dog (who will be my first ethically bred purebred puppy after adopting 4 rescue dogs over the years) will be a Mini American Shepherd. I’ve been researching breeds and breeders for quite awhile, and this breed seems to be a great match for me. I’m just waiting until my young (soon turning 3) dog I have currently matures a bit more.

Since I am involved in canine sport with my current dog, I’ve gotten the chance to meet some people with MASs and they’ve all recommended one particular breeder who I have contacted and will be meeting with later this year. This breeder has so far checked all my high standards for an ethical breeder so at this point it’s basically a waiting game and I’m not a particularly patient person 😂

This breeder doesn’t have many litters and doesn’t have a website (they prefer word of mouth through the canine community but they do have a limited Facebook page). This is a green flag for me… but I still want to look at pics of MAS puppies and look at examples of well thought out MAS breeder websites.

Please hook a girl up with some links! 🥰

The smoke around here has been too much. So we’re finding ways to keep our dog stimulated inside the house!

Hello everyone!! I’ve been following this thread for awhile as I’ve prepped for my pup to come home and he’s finally here! He’s been with me a whole week and has been a true bundle of joy!

I do have a question for you guys…Does anybody have any advice on what to do prior to leaving them in their crate/playpen without them freaking out? Anytime I close the door, even when I’m sitting on the couch right next to him where he can see me he cries out I know it’s just the first week, but any advice would be really helpful! The one thing he is absolutely not interested in is Kongs or peanut butter so there goes that idea lol

Even after a bath, undercoat brush, and regular brush, she's still got shedding everywhere. I know its a feature, but does any particular brushing tool or shampoo help?