Gayle.

Mine don't sleep in crates, just in our room. If one wants to go out through the night, I get a cold nose on my face, and a quiet "woof, grumble, woof" in my ear. The puppy usually follows out one of the big dogs and does a pee at the same time.

I have got an Australian Shepherd here that fits that criteria perfectly. -Temperament like a Border Collie where they are very human/owner orientated She is very, very bonded to me. She will walk over hot coals to be with me and will ignore just about everything else if I am with her. - Happy to be exercised for between 1/2 hour to hour a day Isn't too fussed about exercise as long as she's with me. But loves a walk, loves a run, loves a swim. - Smart and easily trainable Goes with the breed. Smart breed, very trainable. - A breed that is more than likely going to enjoy playing ball and frisbee This is the one thing she loves more than me. The frisbee. I have to keep it locked away until it's time to play or she would obsess over it. But she has SO much fun chasing and catching it. Could care less about a ball though. - Doesn't exessively moult She's entire so twice yearly she does a fairly impressive coat drop, but this would be minimised with neutering. MY male neuter hardly sheds at all and in fact I have to strip his coat regularly to get rid of the dead hair. - Medium sized Yep. Around 22-25 kgs. - Will happily be at home during the day whilst they're at work She never has been but I expect if she'd been alone from puppyhood she'd be fine. She's always had other dogs for company. My boy also fits the bill, but he's a bit bigger at around 30 kgs and is happy to share the love around, although he's decided my husband is way cooler than me. He is also a very, very easy dog to live with. Not as obsessed with the frisbee but will catch one and bring it back, then bark for you to throw it again. He loves to run by a bike and has his endurance title as proof of that. Neither dog is reactive to other dogs and tend to get along with pretty much all creatures including our cats.

Our new puppy tries and snuggles into bed with Dusty but she looks at me in utter disgust, as only my girl can do, like she's saying "Oh for god sakes, get him out of here, he's AWFUL."

He looks like a young Australian Shepherd.

The best book about Australian Shepherds is All About Aussies by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor. Its the definitive guide to the breed and the author and her family have been involved with Aussies since before they were a recognised AKC breed. In fact, they were instrumental in bringing that about. Almost all pedigree Aussies go back to dogs bred by the Hartnagles and there are pics of some of their original dogs in the book, plus stories about them, so it's interesting to be able to see your own dogs ancestors. Only problem is you're unlikely to find the book in Australia unless you find a second hand copy on eBay. I bought mine from Amazon.com.

No, I don't know, it's very possible though. And you wouldn't know either, unless you were purchasing a pup from that particular litter. Yep, it's bonkers.

He looks like a retarded piglet on a leash. I am not handling him though, Silvawillow is, thank goodness. He is very cute but due to the fact that I have been not very well this week, he didn't get the leash training he was supposed to get. He does, at least, go forward now. Up until last week he went every way BUT forward.

My new little man is making his debut tomorrow.

How would you know? And there's a possibility that you already did.

I was talking to an Aussie breeder about this once, and she said breeders should only do it if they are willing to cull the double merle puppies at birth. She said it was very easy to tell them from the normal pups and the mothers usually reject them anyway.

Regarding dogs that bond with one person.....when we bought Benson he was supposed to be my dog. I did everything for him and with him. Fed, groomed, walked, played, trained, picked up his poo, cleaned up his mess...everything. But he decided that although he loves me, he idolises my husband and wherever my husband is, so is Benson. I have to concede my dog to the person the dog wants to be with most. When we got Dusty, my teenage daughter laid claim to her. From the moment we saw her in a photo, aged one day, my daughter decided that this was HER puppy. Dusty came to use aged 8 weeks, and bounded out of her crate, took one look at me and decided there and then that I was the centre of her world. Two and a half years later, that hasn't changed. Our new little bloke, Isaak, is sharing himself around currently but he seems very taken with Benson and therefore spends a fair amount of time around my husband. We'll see. As much as I love Aussies, and as much as they are supposed to be similar to Border Collies, I'll hopefully always own Aussies but have never had any desire to own a BC and still don't. Nothing against them, they simply don't interest me, just like lots of other breeds don't interest me.

To ban or regulate puppy farms, you first need to define a puppy farm. Once you start putting it into words, you'll find a lot of legitimate breeders cross the line, and some puppy farmers/backyard breeders would fall through the cracks. There is a pet shop in Chadstone that has rescue dogs for rehoming. The staff take the details of anyone interested in buying the dog and pass them on to wherever the dog has come from, and those people make the decision, not the shop staff.

I will answer this from Hayley's opening post. My Aussies are my friends. And like good friends, they are easy to get along with and easy to please. And they like being with me and everything about them confirms that. It's a good relationship. I have met lots of Aussies since having them myself and haven't met one I haven't liked. In general, they are a friendly, happy, easy to get along with breed although some take a bit to warm up to strangers. My girl Dusty is one, she's a bit stand-offish but I like that about her as she prefers to make friends slowly, unlike Benson who's never met a stranger and would happily bowl everyone over in his enthusiasm to prove he's your best buddy. I now have three, with our new puppy and I must say, that as babies they are incredibly easy to live with. Only one of mine has been a chewer and even he wasn't too bad...a few shoes lost their straps and a few iPod earbuds were separated from their cords, but on the whole, minimal destruction. Our new little guy hasn't chewed anything, and Dusty never has either. They tend to get along well with other dogs and other breeds, and mine are all very mindful of our old, fragile Lhasa Apso and play differently with her than with each other. Even the puppy picked up very quickly that he can't be rough with her. Like others have said, they are clowns and will definitely put a smile on your face. Benson is the most clownish of mine, he has this cheeky outgoing nature that makes everyone fall in love with him.

Bensons heritage is from some of the original working Aussie kennels in the US. He looks a lot more like their current dogs than what's being currently shown here in Australia.

Benson is bred from mainly working lines. He definitely doesn't look like a Koolie but he also looks different to most Aussies. He is big and broad though, not light framed at all. Working lines is a bit of a misnomer for him. Never done a days work in his life, is terrified of sheep, has been known to leave the obedience ring to play with other dogs and is quite the nicest dog I've ever met.

I have one with a tail and two wigglebums. Much prefer the wigglebums. Easier to groom the rear end and the pants look muchnicer without a tail flattening them. Plus Benson hates his tail being touched so it's hard to keep looking nice.

Since this thread started, I've addded another Aussie to the family.....from the same breeder as my girl but completely different lines. He is a sweetie and like the other two I own, laid back, easy to live with and so far hasn't chewed anything up.

My dogs are all different but I have two brown Burmese cats that no one can tell apart except for my husband, daughter and myself. To us they look completely different....they are boy and girl for a start, and the boy looks like a boy...big, boofy head, solid frame, boyish face...the girl is small and pretty and dainty. I can tell from a distance which one is which, others can't even tell when I put them side by side.

You know you have the worlds best dog-trainer there in Miss Pepper. She sounds like an absolute delight and despite being bossed aroud by Tango, a great role model for him. Are you sneaking her extra treats and cuddles when you can?

Mine don't stay inside if there's no one home. They also don't stay inside if it's a nice day and we are home, they go out and enjoy the fresh air. I would not leave Benson unattended in the house, ever. He thinks too much. I would trust Dusty with the run of the house, she's never chewed anything even when she was a baby. I don't know about Isaak. He gets left inside when we're at work cos up til now he's been too small to be outside, but he's only had access to a tiled entrance and hallway. Tomorrow, however, he joins the big kids in the yard for the day.

The working lines Aussies are smaller, lighter framed and have more random markings and less white. The merles are often all merle with no white at all, self and bi-colours are more common and coats in general are shorter and not as flashy. Show lines tend to be more along the extreme end of the "moderate" requirements of the standard. Heavier bone, longer and thicker coat, more uniform markings. In other words, judges like the pretty ones better.

It's called Buchan and it's famous for some beautiful underground limestone caves there.

On the other hand, Dusty thinks being expected to sleep on anything less than my bed is the utmost in cruelty and every night when I boot her off onto her pile of pillows and quilts on the plushly carpeted floor, she expects phone calls to be made to the RSPCA and the emergency vet clinic with a long list of complaints about how poorly she's being treated. The looks I get, the huffs and sighs, unbelievable. Dogs will be dogs. Some think they are royalty and expect to be treated as such.....and often are......sigh. Others are happy and proud to be tuff guys.

Do you think so? My dogs always seem to be much more tired after a walk, even a short one, than a free run. The walk seems to be exercise for the brain.......although it's slower, they're exposed to more sights, sounds and especially smells. They also have to pay attention most of the time to the other end of the lead and that tires their brain out. The free run tires the muscles, but can have the effect of hyping them up too. A combination of both is good though. Maybe a walk to a fenced area where puppy can have a play off-leash, then a gentle walk home to slow the brain down a bit.

My Aussie Shepherd boy gets choices.....inside on a couch, inside in front of the fire, inside in our bedroom....or outside. Unless it's absolutely freezing....and even then sometimes....he chooses outside. He has a pergola, a wood shed, a garage to choose from outside. In the pergola he has a plastic tub bed and two wooden platforms....no blankets cos he rips them up. In the wood shed he has an insulated kennel. His preferred sleeping spot is stretched out on the grass, the gravel or the concrete outside under the stars. If that's cruel, then so be it. It's his choice.