BTW, to clarify a few things. I rescued my little guy. He came from a pet store somewhere in Florida (sad, but true and common I'm sure) and was driven to Ca. where the owner moved and could not keep him. I've had him since he was a scrawny looking puppy. He has since grown into himself quite nicely!
He eats better food than I ever do, and is very well loved. NO regrets, so please don't misinterpret my post.
Thanks! =)

I suggest walking your dog before you go out, a good 15 m- 20 minute walk or playtime at the dog park will help your dog to be less distructive. You need to be carefull about plant chewing - it can have deadly consequences. Go get your dog a kkong or other treat filled toys which will occupy him while you are gone. Good luck

mazer,
I live on acreage and he gets plenty of exercise, especially when I KNOW I'll be gone for a short while. Just came home from the store and he decided to chew up a trash can I use for debris. arg.... He doesn't like the kong toys, but I give him lots of braided toys, etc... He's a stinker. The chewed plants were 6' tall palm trees, banana trees and many other vine plants that we'd hoped would cover the fence. Oh and did I mention all of my rose trees??!! Yeah, those too! =) He loves sticks of any kind and I guess he thought they would do.
He is a lap dog too. Although he doesn't sleep on the beds, he has his very own with a double pillowtop. Pretty pampered friend. =)

Does he look like my tri-color Aussie.. This is him at around 4-5 months. One of his brothers was black and white like a border collie, the other 5 sisters and one brother were all merles which most people associate all Aussie to look like which isn't true. They are varied and they even have two distinct head type/shapes. I like em all

this was his brother

Here's the rest of the same litter

I didn't answer your question about is he unpopular.. I don't think so, I like all of the varieties but look at the one I picked LOL

The reason I got him was because I had/have two border collies and my eldest 14.y.o. died last September, the 6 y.o BC was literally in the dumps over it so I got this little buy to snap him out of it and it worked. The 6.y.o keeps him really busy outside but I still have to take them both daily to the dog park to really poop them out plus a couple of walks daily to the neighborhood park where they can sort of run around a bit off leash, not supposed to but nobodies every around.

I agree with Mazer. Even though your puppy has lots of exercise from all your acreage he needs stimulation which is what I think Mazer is trying to say.

Aussie's are a super intelligent breed, as you must already know. Dogs get into trouble when bored. Yours is a puppy that needs basic training - Aussie's LOVE, LOVE, LOVE training.

Since you say you are home 95% of the time, I would just crate/contain the dog when you leave. Apparently he's having a little separation anxiety. Keeping him enclosed will hopefully break the bad habit. Give him something to chew on when you leave, and something that he only gets when you leave. For mine I always leave treats in a kong type bone. The only time she gets it is when I actually leave the house. So she looks at it as a treat for me to leave.

After you have crated for a few weeks let him stay out and see if he has stopped. Still give him his special treat/toy. If he still destructs then I would go back to caging for another week. I would also bring the dog to the scene of the crime and scold the dog with "a bad dog" routine. Your trying to get him to associate that Mom will be an unhappy camper and he will be confined if he can't quit destructing.

They also make motion activated sprinklers to supposedly keep deer and raccoons out of ponds, etc. They aren't cheap, but that might be another alternative if he's only bothering a particular area or plant.

We have a mini aussie that is about 3 years old now. We crate trained her when she was a puppy to save our house, yard, etc. Aussies can get into alot of trouble if let alone for long periods of time. Ours has since calmed down and we can actually leave her out when we are gone and aside from an ocasional chewed up crayon (not eaten mind you) she had been very good. We recently got a aussie-poo puppy that is keeping her busy! I highly suggest crate training. She will go into her crate and lay down when she wants to just be left alone and rest, o get away fron the puppy!

cjmdwyer,

Thank you for your post.
Do you have any pics to post of her???

I recently bought a round Kong for him since he didn't like the other shapes I had gotten him. =)
I think I have him spoiled, well I know I do!
He now loves to be sucked up with the vacuum nozzle and when he hears the blow dryer he comes running.
What type of food do you feed your Aussie?
I switched a few times and now he is picky. Never had this problem before.

Have a great day!

Can you possibly get some agility equipment. I wish I had done that with my psycho high energy sheltie.

Carla

I don't have a mini aussie, but the few I have meet have been highly strung and *very* busy little dogs. Significantly more so than the full sized aussies I know.

I do live with a highly active 2 year old Border Collie and work at home. It's a crazy combination some days. What has saved us is having a set routine with lots of variety throughout the day: activities like frisbee, dog park, agility, etc and quiet time.

I wrote up a schedule for us, set timers and stuck to it religiously for 2 week. I used the crate to start with, then a baby gate on the kitchen, and now he has his bed and free roam of the house. I say "quiet time" and he runs for his bed because he always gets a big treat or kong for 'quiet time'.

By day 4 he was anticipating our late morning play session at 10:30 and running to his bed for his lunch time quiet time with kong at 1:00. It's really made a difference. I can work without constant interruptions and he is happier knowing what his job is.

In fact right now he is downstairs watching for squirrels in our yard peacefully. :) That's what he does late morning until 12:00 when I'll log off and take him out for a walk and play session.

As they say, there are no days off living with a herding dog. :)

I would recommend putting your hyper active pup through obedience to be followed by agility. Obedience works the brain and body therefore exhausting your pup quickly in a rewarding way. It also lays the foundation for agility, which is a high energy, though-requiring activity that helps bond you and your dog, as well as boost confidence and burn off energy. You have a teenager at 17 months... he's going to rebel, he's going to chew on stuff (they all love potted plants but be careful, many are toxic), and he's going to test you. You may also enroll him twice a week in doggie day care. this will also increase his independence, as well as burn off the energy. He'll come home from the first one and not move for the next full day (promise!).
Check out day cares in your area, Petsmart is putting them in more places now. Petsmart.com will allow you to seach for a Petshotel in your area.
Good luck!

Thank you all for your suggestions!

I think I needed to vent. I bought a small round Kong that he actually "likes" and it is helping when I'm gone.
He's decided to rearrange the plants in our small man made pond! I can smell his fish breath and it's a dead giveaway! =)
He has started playing with the neighbors full sized Aussie so he has interaction besides people.

Thanks!

Hey Bookert,

We have two full sized Aussies, brother and sister. Aussies are a working breed and need a 'job'. If left to their own devices, they'll create their own 'job' .. which mean destroying your house, yard, etc. ;) They are very smart dogs and very willing to please their people .. their physical, as well as mental energy just needs to be focused though. Obedience and agility training are both great suggestions, not only do they burn off energy, have mental simulation, give the dog a job, but they help form a great bond between you and your Aussie. Aussies are very 'velcro' dogs and their's nothing they like better than spending time with their person.

We roller blade with our dogs almost everyday, plus they get a walk in everyday. My DH is also a contractor and builds log homes. The Aussies often go to the job sites with him and serve as job site formans, which they love. They meet lots of new people, see lots of new things and expend a lot of energy keeping everyone in line. :)

As far as colors, they do come in a wide varity of colors, shapes and fur lengths. Our Aussies are from a working line, so they aren't quite as fluffy as some of the Aussies I've seen bred from show lines. Our female is a solid red with copper and white trim. Our male is actually a ' mis-marked' Aussie. He is supposed to be a red merel, but he carries the E Locus Yellow gene, so he's a Yellow and his merling is 'masked'. You can only tell he's a merle because of his eyes, which are blue and green marbled. Because of this it's important he was neutered so his genes wouldn't carry on. He's a pretty guy and wonderful as a companion animal, but if someone mistakenly didn't understand he was a merle and bred him with another merle, it could cause problems with the pups.

I think all Aussies are beautiful in their own rights, they each have their own unique look and personality.

Here's my DH rollerblading our's :

Taz our male at work with Dad :

Talula our female at work with Dad :

I've gotta learn how to rollerblade. All that Aussie and Border collie pulling power I'm letting go to waste. We'd be the two miles to the dog park in record time and totally green doing it. LOL

can anyone recommend a good breeder for mini aussies

There are no "good" breeders for mini aussies, just like there are no "good" breeders of "silver" labs. Breeder who specialize in a color or size do not have the best interest of the breed in mind while breeding (any more than doodle and poo breeders do) and cannot be considered "good" breeders

When you're looking for a dog, please consider a breed rescue - they often have puppies available!

Here is a link that might be useful: MARS