Breed Advice for Next Dog

If you've got your heart set on a certain size (and breed) AND you want a puppy, I think your best bet is to o to a breeder. That said, blue merle mixed breed puppies with tails are ALL over petfinder- it's just that size can be really tough to predict in a pup that could be part Aussie- or could be part great dane or catahoula. You just don't know. If you're set on the size and breed and rescue, I'd go with a young adult or 'teenaged' puppy.

The merle breeds I can think of are: Aussie, Collie, BC, SHelties, Cardigan Corgi, Great Dane, Dachshund, and Catahoula Leopard Dog. There are merle chihuahuas, poms, poodles and cockers, but I very, very much doubt that any of those are purebred, since the colors have juts popped up in the last 10 years and... yeah.
 

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I'm having fun researching these.

The tail thing with him isn't so much that he doesn't like the idea of actually docking tails, its more he wants a dog that will wag its tail when happy. He doesn't like the idea of a wagging dock tail. It's strange, but he has as much say as I do and I can't change his mind. I would probably have my aussie by now if I could, lol.

I'm not sure about breeder or not still. Talking to some friends I did hear about a BC breeder that is about an hour away and is supposed to be reputable. I would need to look into that more myself though. If I do go through a breeder they will have done absolutely everything they should as far as clearances and such. Otherwise I would be just as well off with a rescue dog.

DH I think wants a border collie as of right now. We have a friend with one that he really likes so I think that is probably why.

HI!  I have three Border Collies, my two youngest are 21 months old---Maverick is traditional Black and White and Skylar is a red merle--you can see their pictures in my profile...  We got our pups from a breeder in TN, www.allaroundbordercollies.com   my pups are great active, smart, velcro dogs, with great on an ff switches.  You DH will love them, they have the most beautiful talks.  My breeder also has some beautiful blue merle pups as well!

Needless to say:  I LOVE MY BORDER COLLIES!!!

Linda   

You have beautiful dogs!! Thanks for the website, I will take a look. Now I'm not sure which coloring I like better, blue merle or red merle. The red is beautiful as well.

Thank you!!  They truly are wonderful boys!  I have a very well-balanced pack at home!!!  They really have beautiful tails!!!  Very loving velcro dogs!!  We were outside racking the rest of the leaves in the back yard and cleaning everything else up before winter sets in--they were so cute and fun!!!  What we we do without our dogs!!!

Have a great Sunday!!

Linda

AllAround BCs has pretty dogs but they don't trial, show, or health test, and from their pages, it looks like they just buy offspring from titled dogs and breed them, rather than having a real planned  breeding program of their own. Ick. I'd go elsewhere.     

 Don't get too hung up on color right now. I was very set on getting a tri-colored aussie but when I went to see the pups, one blue merle stood out to me by personality and looks (Neiko). I just fell in love and forgot all about getting a tri-colored. So go in with an idea but don't be surprised if you change your mind. (of course I say all this and want my next dog to be a red merle so take it with a grain of salt haha)

Aussie is what came to mind for me too.  I know Pyrnean Shepherds are becoming more popular in agility, but I don't know much about their temperment. 

It's a shame your DH doesn't want a tailless dog.  It's so nice to be able to put drinks and stuff on the coffee table w/o having to worry about a tail swipe. 

It sounds like a aussie or bc would be perfect for you folks! When I was looking for a dog, I found quite a few young aussie mixes with tails in our area shelters. I ended up getting a purebred from a breeder, though. (The health guarantee made me feel better & I wanted to start out with a puppy instead of a wild, neglected teen.) Bandit has so much personality. He loves running and playing ball, but is just as happy to snuggle up on the couch with me for a movie. He's my constant shadow and feels it's his personal duty to protect the house. He gets along great with our outdoors cat and Mom's toy poodle.

That being said, we had my aunt's female bc for about 5 months as my aunt was recovering from a major accident.  Jazzy was pretty comparable in energy and cuddliness to my dog. The main difference we noticed was that she loved EVERYONE. My aussie is pretty aloof around strangers until he decides they're ok. Then he pretty much expects them to be his friends for life.

Another random suggestion is the Belgian Tervuren. Our trainer has one from show lines. She said they're a lot like aussies energy & personality-wise. He & Bandit got along GREAT from the very beginning, like two long lost brothers. They've very pretty, like plush GSD's. Probably not quite as common as aussies or bc's, though. Just an idea.

In my area there are tons of Aussie mixes in shelters and rescues, most of them still have tails, so if you are considering a shelter dog, I don't think you'd have any trouble finding one that fits what you want. Besides BC's, maybe a Catahoula? I met my first one last week and I was impressed. I have a blue merle sheltie and he would fit your requirements too, except for size, even though my shelties are oversized they are 24 and 27 lbs. If you are willing to go smaller though and don't mind hair, you might consider them.

I don't remember where you said that you are from but I saw this on the Aussie email list today:

Date:    Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:07:24 -0500
Subject: UPDATE Aussie Mom and pups in GA

Kim Johnson asked me to post this as she is not on the list.
Kim Litz
Aussie Rescue FL
Thanks to the response from the Aussie L our stunning blue merle mom and her
six day old pups are now safe and sound.

Luckily a former volunteer and breeder in GA saw the post and responded to
help this girl and her pups out, along with several other Aussie people who
offered to help out.

Our blue mom (still trying to decide on a fitting name) and her six puppies
left the shelter today, we learned that she and another aussie, a cattle dog
and an Aussie mix were all turned in last Friday, she gave birth to her pups
at the shelter on Saturday (so we will have a birthdate for them! )

She is heartworm negative and her fecal is negative, she is in desperate
need of a bath and getting out a lot of mats but is a loving, gentle and
sweet girl.

Thanks to everyone who took a look at her picture and emailed about wanting
to help her.

Her foster mom is quickly falling in love with her, and I've been told the
pups are cute as can be.

Keep a watch out for upcoming pictures on this happy family



Kim Johnson

GA ARPH Rep
 

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I removed the email addy to protect the person but if you want it I will PM it to you so you can contact them. Or you can contact the GA ARPH on the web. I'm sure that these pups won't have their tails docked and since they are so young they won't be ready to go to homes for several weeks, giving you time to get prepared. 

Thanks Jewlieee,

I'm in Maryland so Georgia is a little far, but not out of the question. I will look them up on the web.

Edit: On looking at map quest this will probably be too far for us. It looks like we do have a closer chapter though so I will keep an eye on that site.

We took a look at this girl tonight. She told me about a breeder that may have some blue merles, but I really loved this pup. The breeder seems very qualified. They have lots of health clearances (hips and elbows, collie eye anomaly, eyes with CERF, thyroid, etc.), the breeder competes in agility and herding and her dogs have some titles, and she also answered all of my questions. I was very impressed. She thought this pup would be a good agility prospect. She was planning on keeping her as a working dog (she has sheep), but she said she doesn't really have the time right now to do all of the training required. The only thing she said is that the pup has a little more white on her then she would really prefer. All of the other puppies had more black and tan on them. We met the mother who was very well tempered and she showed me a picture of the stud dog and told me about his health stuff.

 The pictures don't really do her justice. It was too dark and she was too active to get a good ground picture of her. She is 6 1/2 weeks now so there are still a few weeks before we would be able to take her home it thats what we decide. The breeder said she normally sends them home at 9 weeks. Her back has a lot of black and a tiny bit of tan coloring so she is a tricolor.

I love her, and DH really wants a border collie (and loves her too), but the breeder told us to take some time to think about it before we decide on anything.