Cooper Has Arrived! By Whitney

As many of you know, I have just gotten a new puppy! He is a red tricolor Miniature Australian Shepard, and his name is Cooper. At his first vet appointment he only weighed 3 ½ lbs!

Australian Shepherds are not native to Australia, but actually came from America. It’s the fact that shepherds Down Under use them so much that they were dubbed “Australian”. The Aussie Shep, like many herding breeds, are very intelligent dogs, and are frequently used in the agility ring, (an obstacle course for dogs) and the obedience ring. They also do well in tracking, performing, herding, and just about every other thing that they put their minds to. Because of their intelligence they need mental as well as physical stimulation, which they can get in training.

They are easy to train, but they need to be trained. They need to feel useful and have a job to do. They are not a good apartment dog, and need to have lots of exercise. They are great with children when they have grown up with them, like exercise, (like Hiking) and will catch on quickly to what you are trying to tell them.

I got the news last May that my Pomeranian Vixie had been accidentally killed by a much larger dog, while staying at a cousins house while we were in New Zealand. I was devastated. The owners of the large dog were shocked at what had happened, and wrote out a check for what we had paid for her. With the check, and numerous hours of baby sitting from my Aunt Bree, I was able to earn all the money I needed for supplies, vet bills, and the dog. (Thanks to my Aunt Bree, for the play pen, the stair gate, and the baby sitting opportunities. Thanks to my Aunt Brooke, who also has a Mini Aussie Shep, for the advice. Thanks to my cousin Analese, for the name tag and tennis ball toy.)

I had about a year to study and think about getting a dog before I could actually get one. I did a LOT of research on what breed to get and I have written a 10 page paper on dog care. I went from investigating Brittney Spaniels, to Pointers, to American Water Spaniels, to Bohemian Shepherd's, to Queen Elizabeth Pocket Beagles, to American Indian Dogs, to Golden Doodles, to Keeshons, to Dashunds, to Lochens, (say LURv-shen) to Schipperkes, to Chinese Crested Powder Puffs, to Bishons, to Poodles, to Cocker Spaniels, to Cock-a-poos. (Phew!) But finally I came to the Mini Aussie Sheppard. And since we were not renting anymore, I could get one!
(They shed twice a year.)

Then I went dog searching. Well actually I was looking for unborn litters of puppies that would be born in a certain time frame. I had to get home from the Con-Con first.

I then found a family group of breeders called McPups. So then I set up an appointment to go see the puppies they had that were the right age. They were one month old at the time.

There were three boys and three girls. (I had already decided that I wanted a boy.) All the girls were red merles, and with the boys there was a red merle, a blue merle, and a red tri. (Cooper.) Steve and Daniel immediately wanted Cooper, Janey wanted the red, but I liked the blue. (Ellie liked all of them, and was hysterical when we left with out one!) But we decided that the blue was too big, (He was nearly twice as big as the others!) And the red merle would be a couch potato. He slept the entire time we were there. Cooper was up and about, and friendly. So we decided to take him home in a month. I gave the breeder a $100.00 deposit, and we left him to get a little older.

I found an online web site called Pet Edge that has great merchandise, and good prices, I was able to get most of my supplies from there.

I found an awesome vet hospital that is a very short drive from our house. They have friendly staff and good prices.

He is doing well, training wise and loves people.

We are looking forward to living with him.