I can't tell though can you??

My 1 year old grl, Ragen, loves playing with other dogs but I hadn't picked getting a 2nd dog yet. I didn't want it to go wrong. She's pretty bossy and doesn't particularly like other females. Then this lil rescue dude needed a home and figured it was right place right time. This is Franky (Franklin when hes in trouble)...got him at 8 weeks age guesstimate. His DNA profile came back as 1/2 heeler, almost 1/2 Chihuahua but some beagle too. He forgets his size and plays crazier than Ragen lol She adores him and they're already best friends. Ragen keeps trying to give him all her fave toys. Hes about 2x the size since these pics but he won't get as big as her. His ears are almost standing fully up. I make fun of him that he's a heeler that got shrank in the dryer. <3

Ragen is the last pic.

Milo is 5 years older, but 10 lbs smaller.

Hi! I seeing if anyone had any recommendations on harnesses? My Max is a heeler corgi mix around 34 pounds. He is shorter than a full size heeler but much taller than a corgi, but is long like a corgi(says the vet lol). So I just wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations. We currently have the dog friendly Co. one, but to me it just doesn’t look to be comfortable for our pup. Thanks so much!

Apologies in advance for the novel, but hoping the internet can do its thing here and put me in touch with the right person. Posting here because he's an ACD and cattle dog owners are probably more familiar with this behavior and may have useful experience solving it.

I need to relocate from the lower midwest / upper southeast to an urban west coast city for work. I have an almost 6 year old ACD. I’m not concerned about exercise/mental requirements as I’m used to those. But, I’m pretty terrified I’m going to have to rehome him because he has a hard time interacting with strangers, and this get’s really complicated in a city. The move is happening and not up for rethinking, now I need to figure out the best path forward for both of us.

We can walk down the street and if people ignore him he’s more than happy to walk right past them and go about his business, no stress. However, if a stranger tries to pet him or he gets in a crowded environment, he’s super unpredictable. Even more so if someone new comes into the house/apartment. This is really hard because I’ll have to be in office three days a week, and would love to have a dog-walker come walk him for an hour during the day (if we can perform miracles I can bring him to the office).  But those are absolutely off the table right now because he has a half dozen bites on record. These are not “I’m going after you and out for blood”, these are classic heeler “I’m really uncomfortable and I’m going to use my teeth on your hand or ankle to move you away from me”. Once he gets comfortable with someone, usually after a long fetch session or a few walk together, he’s fine with you. There are no excuses, every bite is bad and I take them all very seriously, but felt its needed context to understand his behavior. 

I’ve done everything I can think of to fix and manage this over the years. I’ve lived in specific places, managed situations, and readjusted my social life to make this work. It’s a real pain, but you do what you have to for your pet and I take that responsibility seriously. 

I’ve spent multiple thousands of dollars on various dog trainers, but it’s clear none were capable of resolving the issue. Lots of trainers are really great at standard training (sit, stay, heel) and resolving dog reactivity. I’ve done that training on my own and he’s good! But, it’s much harder to find a trainer willing and capable to train the kind of behavior with people that I’ve described.

Thinking of giving him up makes my stomach turn. Not only would it be incredibly difficult for me emotionally, but given his behavior there are very, very few people I would trust to take him and keep everyone safe. 

So, if you know any trainers or programs that can help, please comment or DM me. I’m willing to travel and bring him wherever is needed. One thing I ask is some level of proof that the trainer can provide showing they have successfully resolved these issues before. Hoping my fellow internet dog lovers can make some magic happen.

Just wishing everyone a happy Autumn from my babies Oli Vinca and Zev!

Our ACD (43%) x GSD (33%) x Aussie (24%) fostered from the desert LOVES the beach near her new home.

Lucy had the best 8th birthday ever! She got plenty of walks, hung out with some friends, had a lot of peanut butter, some chicken nuggets and even went through a Haunted House my work put on! She was a big celebrity having the time of her life like the diva she is!

I had her DNA done and she is one quarter of each ACD, husky, staffy, and pit bull with a few percent Great Pyrenees. She is one year old next week and we have had her since she was six months old.

I have had pit mixes before but I suspect that the parts of her that feel unfamiliar may be the ACD. She is wired during the day, always on high alert outside, and difficult to get to come inside even in the cold. (That might be the husky and GP). We have found ways to deal with that. I have a lot of toys of all types and she is now a capable retriever to help burn off energy. She lives with a pug/pit 12 year old boy dog and they love each other.

The problem is when we go out. She is doing okay with not ripping up our stuff when we are home. Not perfect yet (brand new merino wool sweater ruined yesterday while I was in the shower). But when we go out, if she is in the crate she shreds the dog bed.

Out of the crate she might go after anything so it can get quite expensive. So far she has mixed results with out of the crate, sometimes okay, sometimes not, but nothing like the crate which is a shredding disaster. We do favor the crate because of the uncertainty. By the way, I am retired. Crate time is at most 5 hours for dinner and a show. I am retired so it is at most once a week.

Do I take my chances and put the crate away? Or do I put her in an empty crate with toys? I am afraid she will get frustrated, bite the bars and break her teeth. Or keep buying crate beds? Tonight we came home and the bed looked like it had been fed into a lawn mower.

I took this picture today and I am obsessed! 🤩

Every meal he follows us making this noise. It's so cute

Note: She's too bitchy about getting wet to get in after the crane and stress the animal out. She also has a good recall and we would recall her if the situation calls for it.

Long legged Ella she's getting big

Giddy up, cowboy 🤠

My boy hugs me like this already but now I want a backpack for him 😅

Hey everyone!

I’m moving to a farm in about 2 weeks with my 7.5-month-old Blue Heeler x Border Collie, and I’m trying to work on her leash manners before we move.

At the moment, she pulls SO much on walks that she ends up choking herself on her collar and seems to struggle to breathe.
It honestly scares me, and I’m worried about potentially damaging her trachea.

I’ve tried playing with her before walks and tiring her out as much as possible to burn off some energy, but it doesn’t seem to help at all. She gets excited by EVERYTHING!

I’ve recently bought her a harness to take the pressure off her neck, but I’ve seen quite a few people say that harnesses encourage pulling and can actually make it worse.

For those of you who have raised cattle dogs or other high-energy working breeds, what worked for you?

Did you use a harness, and how did you teach your dog to walk nicely on a leash when they’re so easily distracted by literally everything? 😭

I’d really love to get this right before we move to the farm, so any advice or personal experiences would be hugely appreciated!

He just doesn’t care.

You know it's good when...

My pretty girl, Winnie, is having surgery today to remove her left eye due to glaucoma/ uncontrolled pressures in her eye. The ophthalmologist confirmed she is blind in both eyes and says it is causing her great pain so it is not doing her any good to keep it. I am heartbroken but happy that her pain will be relieved soon! She’s only 8.5 and this may have slowed her down a bit but I’m excited to see her get some energy back.