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OMGzzz! what a handsome little man!! He is definitely a full Australian Cattle Dog, and a really cute Blue one at that. I reeeaaally want an ACD, they're wonderful pups. However, they can be quite stubborn and reserved ~ but he looks like a total sweetie. He actually doesn't look big at all to me... more like 30-40 lbs at the most.
:) I'm very happy that you're considering adopting him now... it might've been destiny that you weren't able to return him to the shelter ~_^! Please, please do think this over lots though. You'll have this dog for atleast 10-12 years, through thick and thin. He will need at least 8 weeks of Obedience, that is the bare minimum though. I suggest you go through Beginning and then Advanced classes with a good OB school right away, it'll help you and your hubby bond better with him and it will teach you a LOT about him and how to control/train him. aww, that sucks that he isnt a ball-dog.. it makes exercising much easier when they'll just chase a ball back and fourth for hours. To make him ball-addicted, dont leave them around the house and only give him access to a ball during play-time. Act like its the best thing in the world and tease him with it for a while... maybe he'll end up being a ball-addict once he realizes how fun they are :D!
Cattledog.com has a lot of info/resources about ACD's, as does the ACD Club of American website =0)
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What a handsome fella! I hope I don't make it worse for you when I say that I feel it's a sign. Things happen for a reason (the parvo). He'll probably just need patience. I know with Logan, I had no idea what her issues were, dispite having an open adoption and speaking to her previous owners. (The SPCA called her for permission for me to call, but she doesn't know who I am or where I live). She was housebroken but peed inside the first day (fear) and pooped once when I didn't realize she wanted out. It took some time to readjust her to our ways, but by the end of the first week, she was a different dog! Still have some things to work on, but she;s blossomed! Of course, I only have the one dog, but you sound pretty fantastic at training so far, so I pray things work out.
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Secretly glad you are giving him another shot - he is a looker...... won't be long before you won't remember a time when he wasn't part of your life :D
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He is a very handsome boy! I am glade you gave hoim a second chance. I am sure your girls will come around to him.
I just wanted to let you no try www.freecycle.org and join the group in your area and post that you are looking for a crate many time some one will have on they dont want anymore....and best of all its a free crate!
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He looks pure bred ACD to me too ;). Erica gave some great advice, give him a job to do, planty of mental and physical exercise. These dogs were bred to work cattle all day in all weather, they need to be kept busy.
Goodluck i hope all goes well.
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What a cutie. I'm sorry things didn't work out but hope they do no matter what decision you make.
You have received some gret advice.
Did you ask the shelter about the parvo outbreak? Is there a chance that he could of gotten it?
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He's a great looking dog. He reminds me of my Diamond especially the ears.;) When we got Ebony Jada didn't like her at all. It was pretty stressful the first few days but things are great now. It takes all the dogs a liitle while to warm up to each other.
I feed Ebony in a different room from the other two, i probably always will. The ACD are super smart dogs. Diamond is so smart she is such a good dog. I bet he will be too!:D
I wish you all the best with him, i hope it all works out and you get to keep him.
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He is a handsome boy. I'm glad it looks like things are settling down. I grew up with ACDs, and they are great dogs--very intelligent and loyal. They do take a lot of work and exercise, though.
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You guys are great and all the nice comments and well wishes are awesome. :) It is going much better everyday but I am still keeping a close eye on things. I took him out today and threw the tennis ball with him, but with his coat and this awful heat and humidity, he wants back in fairly quickly. He slept awesome last night. I took him out for his walk at about 10pm and when we came back in he fell asleep and when I finally went to bed at <gasp> 4am he came into the room with me and laid down on his blanket next to the bed and was out until I woke up not to long ago. Yes I was in bed this late, this is what I get for working around the house all day yesterday and not going to bed until 4am. He never once came to the side of the bed to wake me up. :) I am going to go and get the Kong I have and see what I can stuff in it for him. Thanks again everyone. :D
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omg gemini what a gorgeous gorgeous dog. I'm a wee bit partial to ACDs, since the blue merle Smooth Collie seems to have played a big part in the making of that breed.
Totally agree with everybody on the exercise both physical and mental. One thing I noticed with my Smoothies was if I just did standard fetch they lost interest in that pretty quick. If I made it more about catching though, they'd hang in playing that for quite awhile.
I started out with mine catching Soft stuffies and once their catching skills were really good, I increased the difficulty to balls then frisbees. You can really give'em a good workout with frisbee and you don't even have to move much.
Anywho, since yours is a herding breed too, maybe try more catching then fetching.
Par...
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WOW, sounds like he's turning into a real couch potato! I knew he'd grow on ya. :D Herding dogs can and will be lazy pups in the house, as long as they get plenty of exercise outside during the day.. Gonzo is crashed out in my giant beanbag right now ~_^ after flyball practice.
I totally agree with Par... some pups are not interested in monotonously running back and fourth with the ball. Gonzo gets waay more excited when I throw the ball, then when he gets it and turns around I run the other way. Try that, and try just rolling a frisbee or ball past him.
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Wow, it sounds like he bonded with fast! He sure is a cutie!
