Aussie Lovers

09/03/2026

For those that had difficult to potty train puppies. How old were they when they finally got it? I’ve had my puppy since she was 8 weeks and she’s now 14 weeks and it doesn’t seem like it’s clicking. I thought she would start getting it after 6 weeks.
I work from home, take her out every 30 minutes, crate train at night, use a pen right next to the back slider that I leave open for her to get to the yard. I’ve never used p*e pads. She doesn’t go to the door or make any indication she has to go when she has to go, but if I stop paying attention for just a little bit she will have an accident. She does pretty well most of the time because I’m really on top of taking her out, but when will she let me know she needs to go and/or just go out by herself and potty. I tried the bell for two weeks and she was just scared of it.

09/03/2026

What does everyone use to maintain allergies? my 14 week old aussie will not stop biting and scratching at himself. I use an oatmeal and aloe shampoo for him bc i assumed he had dry skin and i asked the vet and he said it’s environmental allergies. I currently feed him the purina puppy chow chicken and rice (maybe he has a chicken allergy) which i plan on switching to purina one puppy sensitive skin and stomach but for now we’re using puppy chow because that’s what the animal shelter had him using. Any advice would be so helpful!
Pic of my sweet pup to boost

09/03/2026

New baby
Hiii i just got this little guy 3 days ago (8 weeks, M) is it normal for him to never want to leave my side? I know he’s still a very young baby but I put him in his own bed and he still just wants to nap under my feet, nighttime is alright he does sleep in his own bed, but in the daytime he’s always next to me. I previously owned a border collie male also, and we could share the same room but he liked his own personal space… I’m a first time Aussie owner and I don’t want him to become codependent with me specially because I do like hanging out with my friends (don’t worry I live with other 3 people he’s not on his own), so I need him to become dependent, but if I push him away he gets all sassy and bark and whine, he’s a master manipulator but such a cutie😩😍and he’s so smart already learned to sit and potty outside

09/03/2026

My sweet boy has left me
After a nearly 3 month battle with Lymphoma (check my post history if you wanna know), he no longer had anything in him. You honestly wouldn’t even know he had cancer. He was completely fine until last week. I only expected him to live the estimated 4-6 weeks post-diagnosis, but he gave me so much more than that, and I’m so glad we spent it in the best possible ways. The last two days he was completely checked out, wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t stand up on his own, and that was enough for me to schedule euthanasia. It was peaceful and I’m so unbelievably sad, but there’s a sense of happiness underneath it all, knowing he’s at peace with all the other animals that have been in my life, and that I’ll eventually be able to look back and be so enthralled by what an amazing creature he was, my best friend..

09/03/2026

My baby died today. She was 9 years old. I miss her so much.
I still can't believe I'm writing this. One moment she was right here—snoring softly in my arms like she always did, her warm Australian Shepherd head pressed against my chest, completely at peace. The next moment... she was gone.
Now my house feels unbearably quiet. The kind of quiet that screams her absence. Her favorite spot on the couch is empty. I keep catching myself listening for her heavy breathing, the little sigh she'd make when she finally got comfortable. Every corner of this home still belongs to her.
People say, "it's just a dog."
But if you've ever loved a Australian Shepherd, you know that's never true.
She wasn't "just" my Australian Shepherd.
She was my heart with four paws.
My shadow.
My protector.
My comfort on the days I didn't think I could keep going.
Australian Shepherd love with their whole bodies and their whole souls. They don't hold anything back. She gave me everything she had—every goofy grin, every head tilt, every moment of unconditional love—without ever asking for more than my presence.
And now she's gone… just like that.
I still expect her to follow me from room to room, to nudge my hand when she wanted attention, to curl up against me like she's doing in this photo. Instead, there's only silence. And that silence hurts in ways I didn't know were possible.
If you've ever lost a Australian Shepherd, you understand this pain. It's deep. It's heavy. It's the price we pay for loving a soul that pure. They never stay long enough, but the love they leave behind lasts forever.
Run free, my sweet girl.
Thank you for choosing me.
Thank you for every moment, every memory, every heartbeat we shared.
Until we meet again—
over the rainbow bridge. 🐾

09/03/2026

We just rescued her and she needs a beautiful name🥰

09/03/2026

Is there something wrong, or am I crazy?
So my girl is freshly 1 years old, and the first 10 months were… mental. I was at the point where I had no idea what the rest of my life was going to look like
Fast forward to her first season 6 weeks ago, and the dog that’s come out the other side (she’s now 1 as of two days ago) is completely different.
For home life context, we’re a couple household with no children, and we both work from home, so we’re always here. We went away for a week 4 weeks ago and she stayed with my mum at our house, and we’ve come home to a completely different dog (my mum adores her so nothing happened, it’s seems our girl is just fundamentally different now). When we got home from holiday, we changed her from crate sleeping at night to sleeping in our room.
So whereas before she was absolutely nutty at all hours and we often had to enforce naps, she’s now the polar opposite. She now would nap around the bedroom at night for 12 hours if I let her, and then she’s up for her breakfast and a quick play before napping again. She again wakes up for her walk time, then when we’re home she naps again until dinner time. The hours of a day that she’s asleep seem to be racking up to 18 hours a day?! And it’s often a deep sleep.
I feel like she’s just always tired and wants to sleep, and this just doesn’t feel right. She still plays hard when engaged, and she still has bouts of crazy on her walks, but I feel like those moments extinguish faster than the used to.
Am I crazy, or is something wrong? I’m worried I’ve been walking her too hard (on a forest for 1-1.5 hours once a day) and have given her hip dysplasia? Is that crazy? She sometimes lags at about the 75% mark, so I’m terrified that I’ve overdone it with her. She’s just so well behaved and just sleeps hard all the time that I can’t help but feel that something is wrong.
We took her to the vets for the lack of energy about two weeks ago and we were given dog ibuprofen after her season, which I feel like helped a little, but she’s still just so fatigued and I am stressssssed about it.
Once thing of note is that when she runs at full whack, her back legs move together, then as soon as she slows down a fraction, she’s back to alternating trot. I’ve ended up in a stress hole thinking that’s not okay.
Someone please help either calm me down or tell me to go somewhere I feel like I live at the vets with how often I take her for something, but she’s literally my entire world.
EDIT: When we’re out and about, she’s not falling asleep anywhere and doesn’t settle; it seems to only be when she’s at home that she sleeps all the time

09/02/2026

Update on the Aussie I trapped the other day! He was in fact dumped by the people who his owners rehomed him to. His name is Tobias and he’s safe with TAGG Animal Rescue! He’s not their usual intake but they were willing to help him get a home!
Tobias’s dad who is on deployment in Poland right now reached out to us finally and said that he’d rehomed Tobias to a random family in the Walmart parking lot. He said he wouldn’t be back until May and if we could find him a loving home that’s all he could ask for.

09/02/2026

Someone did something so cruel it’s hard to understand. 💔
A tiny puppy was sealed inside a garbage bag and thrown into a dumpster — discarded like she didn’t matter, like her life had no weight at all.
Inside the darkness, she trembled.
Her small body shook from cold and fear. Her stomach was empty. The air was thin and suffocating. No light. No comfort. No familiar voice coming back for her.
She wasn’t barking for attention.
She was crying to survive.
By the time rescuers found her, her body felt almost frozen. Even the veterinary team wasn’t sure she would make it through the night.
But she kept fighting.
Even after being treated like trash, she held on — as if her fragile heart was begging the world for one more chance.
They named her Miracle.
Because that is what she is.
Today, she is safe. Warm. Loved.
No longer alone in the dark.
No longer waiting for someone who never came.
And somehow, despite everything, she still chooses trust.
Some souls endure the unthinkable… and still believe in love. 💔🐾

09/02/2026