10/08/2026
This was on another post for Aussies, but is applicable to most other breeds as well. Think…. Before you get a dog… what will your dog need for a harmonious relationship in your family.
YOU SHOULD NOT GET AN AUSSIE IF:
• You like personal space. Seriously. Your personal space is now our personal space.
• You have no realistic way to keep them physically and mentally active. A backyard is not an exercise plan.
• You're looking for a dog that's perfectly happy being ignored most of the day.
• You're unwilling to train consistently. Aussies are extremely intelligent, and an intelligent dog without direction will find its own job. You probably won't like the job it chooses.
• You're getting one because they're beautiful, fluffy, have blue eyes, or you saw one on social media. Those are terrible reasons to choose a working breed.
• You cannot or are unwilling to teach your children how to behave around dogs. Pulling, grabbing, climbing, riding, cornering, chasing, or taunting a dog is not something the dog should be expected to tolerate.
• Normal puppy biting and teething is going to make you immediately think you have an "aggressive" dog.
• Herding behavior is going to drive you insane. Chasing, circling, staring, controlling movement, and occasionally trying to herd people or other animals didn't appear by accident.
• You expect a puppy to magically know your rules. Housebreaking, chewing, jumping, barking, recall, leash manners and boundaries require actual training.
• You aren't prepared for adolescence. That adorable little puppy eventually becomes a teenage athlete with confidence, energy and selective hearing.
• You think "high energy" just means taking a 20 minute walk around the neighborhood.
• You don't want a dog that notices everything. Aussies tend to be highly aware of their environment, routines, people, animals and changes around them.
• You aren't prepared to socialize them properly. Intelligence and sensitivity do not automatically produce a confident, well adjusted adult dog.
• You want a dog that loves every stranger it meets. Some Aussies are social butterflies. Others are naturally more reserved. You need to be okay with the dog you actually get.
• You're going to punish the dog for displaying breed traits you specifically purchased.
• You don't have time for grooming, shedding and finding Aussie hair in places that should be scientifically impossible.
• Your solution to unwanted behavior is simply "wear them out." Physical exercise matters, but so do training, problem solving, enrichment, impulse control and learning how to settle.
• You think having another dog means they'll entertain each other and you won't have to do as much.
• You're unwilling to puppy proof your house and then get angry when an unsupervised puppy makes a terrible decision.
• You're unwilling to research the breeder, health testing and temperament because you just want an Aussie now.
• You're not prepared for the possibility of 12 to 15 years of having an extremely involved roommate who follows you into the bathroom.
• You think “high energy” means they need to be run into the ground every day. Aussies absolutely need exercise, but they also need mental work, training, enrichment, impulse control, and most importantly, to be taught how to settle and do nothing. If your only strategy is more and more physical exercise, you may just create an incredibly fit athlete who still has no idea how to turn themselves off.
An Aussie can be an absolutely incredible dog. That's exactly why you should be honest about whether you're an incredible home for an Aussie.
Loving dogs isn't enough. Wanting an Aussie isn't enough. Having owned dogs before isn't necessarily enough.
Choose the dog that fits the life you actually live, not the life you imagine you'll start living after you bring the dog home.
Love you all
God Bless
Name: OshKosh B'gosh
Short: OshKosh
Species- Velocistralian Sheptor
Loves: Toilet paper tubes, carrots, riding in the truck, and playing with his brother Smidgen.
