double merle aussies

Jewlieee

When did they get her? sooner than 8 weeks and I would stay away.

She's very cute and I doubt she is a double merle. They say that she is half border collie. Keep that in mind.

I would go look at her personally. If you don't like her and if she was taken from the litter too early then look in to rescue.

If you want an aussie I can help hook you up with our canadian counterparts. I'm picking up red merle male aussie puppy to foster myself  next week. So, pups come around pretty frequently.

i'm not sure where they got her... and i agree that anything sooner than 8 weeks is NOT cool.

(OK! i totally forgot that she was part BC when i was inquiring about the double merle!!! lol i get it!)

i would love to go look at her, but she's not exactly next door :S  she's about 2-3 hours drive from here.

i've always been looking into a rescue, but i want a puppy. mainly because i know it would be easier for Zoey to deal with a puppy, AND especially with a high energy breed i want to be involved with his/her basic training and setting up discipline. are there many pups that go into rescue tho???

maybe getting me into contact with a canadian person, preferably out on the east coast (which is proving slightly harder to find. it's all mostly ontario)

also, if i have a female, is it better to get a male or female second dog???  

 I understand wanting a puppy. That is why I am fostering puppies and young dogs. It is easier for my resident dogs to accept. And yes, I would get a male if you already have a female. It's not always the hard and fast rule but it will probably work out better in the long run.

 Don't just keep your search to Canada either. We have some canadian adopters getting dogs from us in MI. Transportation can be arranged. It's just that home visits and such are harder to do at that distance. Where there's a will there's a way though.

Click on this map to see what's available for you:

http://www.aussierescue.org/AdoptFromARPH/AvailableAussies.aspx
 

Btw, it's important to get your adoption app in even if you don't see a dog that you like online. How it works in MI is that we have an Approved Adopters database and dogs that are ready to be adopted are offered to them first before they are put out on the state wide, pet finder and national websites. So, it's very likely that there are dogs in the system that have not been posted for everyone to see yet. So, get your app in.

Border Collies can indeed be merle and there's a lot of them in Eastern Canada because sport breeders (those who breed agility or flyball dogs) like what we call "candy colors."  But, if the person said the sire was black and white, most likely it was because he was black and white.

They're always 'on' -- they always want to be herding something ... other dogs and humans included.  

Actually, that's not true.  Well, not Border collies anyway, and the Aussies I've had here have all had an off switch too.  The difference is that with a working bred dog, you've got to give them a routine, a schedule of events, or they start making stuff up.  My mature dogs, and even my baby dog now that he's taken a role in the working day, have long periods in the day when they do nothing but lay down whereever I happen to be.  Now that the temps are close to the hundreds, they work very early and then we have about thirteen hours when they do - nothing!

It is never appropriate for a herding dog to "herd" a human.  That's like saying, when your Golden Retriever picks up baby by the neck and brings him to you - "Oh, well, those crazy Goldens, they always want to be retrieving something!" And I don't let them harass other dogs either, that's just rude no matter what the breed.

Good luck in your search.  I have an Aussie/BC here now who's looking for  a home, too bad you are not closer.  Oh, and looking for an adult. 

thanks for the wonderful advice/info brookcove :) it was really helpful !!!!! 

i'm still looking (casually) for now. we're not in a big hurry or anything. in fact our neighbours are getting a puppy TODAY (i'm so excited for them, they've been waiting for over a year to get him from a breeder out west)... a little weim called stewie! so i think that will take care of the urge for a puppy for the next little while :P

i've only ever owned jacks (i growing up and one now), so i'm slightly worried about this second dog. my boyfriend has had a multiple dog house his whole life until we moved in together, so i know he'll know what to do... he wants a dog like his old one that died a few years ago. we're not quite sure what she was... some kind of really slim lab mix. really short hair, all black with maybe a smidge of white. i've told him already if he can dig up a pic of her that i'd put it on here to see what my forum-peeps thought she was lol

thanks to EVERYONE who's been giving me info on the breed. we really appreciate it :)

~V~ 

 I can see a herder with a JRT. Emma does just fine with the herding dogs she plays with. Of course, Emma is ridiculously socialized. I understand wanting a puppy to start out with. I'm the same way. I'm willing to do the puppy-work, but the making-a-pack-out-of-two-adult-dogs thing? Too much, for me.  My dogs have all been female. I don't know WHY. In general, I prefer males. I always end up with girls. Go figure. Now, I have one intact and one spayed female. If things go as planned, E will stay intact. She's a show prospect. In my house, it's been good, bad, and ugly. I crated and rotated for years. People say it's better to have a male and a female than two of the same sex, because of the general pack order. There's an alpha dog and an alpha bitch in a pack. Everybody else falls in line. By keeping a male and a female, you don't have as many dominance disputes.