Tell me about them! Temperament, how biddable they are, are they noisy, etc. Thanks!
I'm very interested in these special breed but am scared to get puppy mill dog. And my next dog has to be under 40ush lbs. My last dog was a pit/weihmanner mix 15years, 17years with my Sheppard/collie mix. Appreciate any info. Thanks maxBiddable: yes
Noisy: YES!!!!!! You will know if the mail man is coming, trash is being picked up, your neighbors are outside, or a leaf falls in your yard, if they smell something new and strange, etc ... LOL.
Temperament: That can very a bit, but as a general breed, MAS are loving and affectionate with their people, but have "their" person in the family they like most, but they do like all the members of the family. Their Temperament is very much like the aussie, since that is where they came from, they have a suspicious nature and early socialization is a MUST as in you have to do it. Some, like mine never really "like" strangers, as in, he will never seek them out willingly, but I am pretty confident that I will get him to accept interaction from strangers with a "can take it or leave it" attitude. Most well socialized MAS I have known are like that, they will accept petting and attention from strangers, but its "meh take or leave it" with them.
The "boing": If you like a dog who always has "4 on the floor" than a MAS is NOT the dog for you, I swear they were born with springs in their paws because they are always boinging around like furry pogo sticks haha. They have a certain exuberance and enthusiasm about life in general that is just (for me) awesome, they are very much "yay I dont know what we are going to do and I dont care as long as I am doing SOMETHING with yoooooou!!!!"
Separation anxiety: Sadly, that wanting to be with us has its down falls, SA is one of them, to combat this, you must get your puppy used to being alone, I would put Lincoln out in the fenced yard, at my folks ranch or when we were in flower mound, on the porch by himself, without our other dog (because they can experience SA with other dogs, too) They must learn to "stand alone".
A good breeder: This is so so important, I cant stress this enough, if you are really serious, I know good breeders all over the country, you can PM me for more information, you can also find me on FB (though I will give my info under PM only since I dont want it out there on the public forum haha). There are a lot of breeders who, to get their dogs smaller faster, bred toy blood into their lines, most of those people stayed with "mini aussie" registration, and for the most part, should be avoided.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Oh, that's good to know. Are MASes good for first time dog owners?No furminators for double coats.