Gayle.

Or Tibetan Terriers for those who want a slightly larger fluffy. I have an elderly Lhasa, she is around 16 years old, she's a real character and always has been. Not the sharpest tool in the shed (we used to refer to her as our resident dumb blonde), but really friendly and funny.

That's actually funny to me b/c I always found the cat more uncomfortable than the dog. They have a habit of curling up in the most awkward places and I get claustrophobic. Much prefer the dog. Our cats got turfed out of the bedroom at night for this exact reason. I could never quite understand how a 12 inch long Burmese could take up an entire queen size bed. Not only do they take up more bedspace than a dog, they have a nasty habit of stretching their claws in the middle of the night and aiming for the most sensitive body parts.

If we meet a cat on our walks, my dogs get most offended when the cat hisses at them and hightails it in the opposite direction. They think all cats should be nice and friendly like the ones they live with.

It's not there, I think Jed removed it. Maybe ask her to put it back up so you can read it, it's absolutely fantastic.

You need to read Jed's story of the Lithuanian Goat Catching Retriever. One of the best pieces of literature I've ever seen on explaining how a type of dog becomes a purebred (and no, it's not always by cross breeding), and a Dogzonline legendary story. Not sure if it's still up though.

I love being a breed snob and I don't care what people think. At least I know what my dogs are going to grow up like and mine have relatives that I can meet if I want to. How many dd's have cousins, half-siblings, aunts and uncles etc. that you can pinpoint and compare? In the Aussie thread here on DOL at least half of the dogs there are loosely related to mine and some are closely related.

They are choosing them because they are readily available, and the oodle breeders have good marketing skills. The pups are being bred purely to make a buck, so those producing them are advertising in all the "right" places and putting the pups where people will notice them. Ethical breeders, on the other hand, are breeding selectivley to improve the breed and not necessarily for the money. They hand pick the homes the pups will go to and often only advertise in dog-related places (DOL, breeders publications, breed websites etc) if they even advertise at all. Some don't need to as they have buyers waiting patiently for their pups. They are selling to people who are looking for a well bred pedigree pup, not someone who is buying on an impulse. There are already quite a number of moderate, friendly, healthy, low shedding small companion dogs available as purebreds, no need to create more. Havanese, Maltese, Shih-Tsu, Poodles, Lagotto, Cavs and pugs (OK, not low shedding but they tick the rest of the boxes). All nice little dogs, all with great pet potential.

I have 3 cats, 2 Burmese and a Maine Coon. They are all indoor cats and get along great with the dogs. The dogs greet the cats when they come it, rub noses with them and just say hello. The boy Burmese teases the dogs and tries to get them to chase him, which they're not allowed to do. We don't have any fights between cats and dogs, they are all friends.

Yep, ours all come to bed with us and they all have their place. Our 16yo Lhasa has a bed and a pile of blankets in the corner of the bedroom and she puts herself to bed after she has dinner. She digs in the blankets til she makes a nest then settles down and stays there all night. Benson sleeps on the floor by my husbands side of the bed, although on hot nights, he just heads for the back door and asks to be let out. Dusty sleeps on the end of the bed. She takes up a lot of it and if my husband gets up during the night, she quickly moves into his warm spot and doesn't give it up easily. I never wanted dogs in the bedroom and until we got Benson, dogs slept in the laundry.

There might be one way to assuage both the desire for a purebred Aussie and the guilt of not rescuing a dog in need. And that is to approach Australian Shepherd breeders and enquire about dogs they've sold as pups that have been returned to them. Since I bought Benson, his breeder has had two adult dogs returned to her as the owners fell on hard times and could no longer keep a dog. One was around 5-6 years of age at the time, the other was Bensons gorgeous blue merle brother who came back at around 18 months. The breeder then had to find suitable homes for them, and I believe she did. These are dogs that could have potentially ended up in rescue had the breeder not made a point of letting all her puppy buyers know that the dogs she sold could be returned at any time, no questions asked. I have heard of it happening with other breeders and I expect it will happen again and again. It may be a path to pursue.

When my dad comes to visit, the dogs get turfed outside. My dad is old and frail and although he loves dogs, mine are a tad boisterous and might jump on him and injure him. The dogs don't suffer by being outside when dad is here, but my dad might suffer if I let the dogs stay inside while he's here. I wouldn't want my dad not to visit because of the dogs.

My dogs are herding dogs. Why do I prefer them over a woolly oodle? They were bred to work side by side with people, horses and other dogs. They are intelligent and biddable. They have easy care coats. The breed in general enjoy good, robust health. I have their pedigrees which go back to the start of record keeping for the breed. I know what they'll look like when they grow up. I knew when I bought them what the traits of the breed were and if they'd be a good fit for us. There are very, very few show up in pounds and shelters. We have lived in suburbia the whole time we've had the dogs. We work fulltime, we live a busy lifestyle but knowing what our dogs would grow up like meant we could tailor parts of our lives to suit them. The same could not be said of a pup with unknown heritage bred from two or more non-complementary breeds who probably haven't been tested for any heritable diseases and whose body parts don't fit together correctly.

We got our girl when our boy was just under a year old. They get along great and have done right from day one. They totally adore each other. But.......my girl would walk over hot coals to be by my side. She would do ANYTHING to please me, she lies next to me each evening, she sleeps near my feet, in the mornings she snuggles with me in bed, she's always ready to go for a ride in the car with me and no matter how much she loves her doggy brother, she'll ditch him in a heartbeat to be with me. And our boy is the same with my husband. He won't come to bed until my husband does, then he sleeps on the floor by his side of the bed. He follows him all around the place and he simply adores him. This is despite the fact that my husband never feeds him, grooms him, trains him, walks him. I do all the doggy maintenance but each dog has decided for themselves who is their important person. And it's lovely.

The state breed clubs tend to take care of the rescue side of things. I know that when an Aussie in a pound has been posted on the AusShep email list, there have been great lengths gone to to locate the breeder, remove the Aussie from the pound and find a suitable home for it. There are Australian Shepherd clubs in Vic, NSW and Qld. Not sure about other states, but those ones do a sterling job of looking after the unloved Aussies. Hell would have to freeze over before I'd choose a pound or rescue mutt over an Aussie. I have 2 already and plan on adding a third maybe later this year, all going well, but it will be well researched and absolutely no one will guilt me into anything else.

What about a Bernese Mountain Dog. The few I have met at dog shows are truly beautiful. Laid back personality and very people orientated. Not sure about their exercise requirements but being a heavy build, I would say they'd be moderate. Have you ever seen a Boston? They are really tiny. Not sure how you got from that to a large sized breed, but then I went from wanting a Boston or French Bulldog to an Aussie Shepherd, then two Aussie Shepherds! Amazing how these breeds can morph so drastically.

The mis-marked Australian Shepherd in the movie Rogue. The movie was crap (about a killer croc in NT) but the dog was awesome.

Here is a link to a Bermagasco breeder in Australia. According to the website, they bred the first ever Australian litter so you might very well have met one of the pups. They look exactly like you describe. http://www.mungadelbergamascos.com/index.htm?reloaded=true

I think there are more than 9 Beardies in Australia, and if there aren't then most of them go to my obedience club. I met a Polish Lowland Sheepdog at a show one day. Her name was Diva and she was the most divine little girl. I just adored her and if there wasn't a 5 year waiting list for a pup, I'd have my name down. Polish Lowland Sheepdogs are quite small though. They would only be half the size of a Bearded Collie and a hell of a lot smaller than an OES.

Oh my goodness, that is one adorable dog!

Bergamasco? http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bergamasco.htm

Awwww, that's gorgeous. Better than being enthusiastically jumped on and showered with sloppy kisses. Why can't she keep dong it?

I don't intend to breed, but Dusty (2yo Australian Shepherd) isn't desexed and isn't going to be in the foreseeable future. I want to keep my options open regarding showing her, but also I don't want her coat to go to crap which it can when they're desexed. When she's older, I'll re-evaluate but for now, my plans are for her to stay entire indefinitely. But....if I were looking for somewhere to board her, I would not expect to be grilled on my reasons for my decision, and I would also NOT want people to make massive assumptions as in the above posts.

I love the gangly stage, which in Aussies can last for over a year! I adore the long legs, the "not quite right" fit of the body, limbs and head and I love the strange ear sets that change from hour to hour. It seems to last forever and then one day, you look at your dog and see a well conformed specimen who's parts all fit together neatly, with a beautifully shaped head, ears that look like they're supposed to and a gait that's smooth and flowing......and you think "Oh, where did my baby go???"

I loved the baby days! Benson kept us up for a few nights, and he was very active and bouncy after the first few days but overall he was a good boy and sooooooo cute! Dusty was just adorable. She was the perfect little Miss.....no night time crying, no chewing things, no puddles inside.....she was the easiest baby I've ever had in the house. They don't stay little long enough for me.

Congrats to Dotty and Peach for their Minor Puppy in Show at the Aussie Spec today. Awesome stuff!