Dinger is the second Australian Shepherd I have been loved by. The breed name can be misleading. The dogs were brought to Australia by Basque sheep herders originally. Australian Shepherd brings to mind an obedient, loyal dog, excellent at herding livestock. There are a few things you need to know before acquiring an Aussie. They are feral velociraptors until the age of two with very high energy, will herd you and everything else around you, bark unless properly trained (and turn two), like to play with you, play in the water, play tuggie, chew up toys in one day. They are also loving, beautiful, loyal, brave and kind and bond with you forever.
My little velociraptor needed to be trained fresh every morning. Dinger knew the commands, just didn’t chose to always obey them. Then magically, a few days before his first birthday, he started to calm down a bit. He is far from perfect and still needs daily walks and training sessions, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not attached to a locomotive.
I hope you enjoy our birthday trip to the beach. Dinger certainly did!
Tessa Bertoldi 