Guest Post: All About Aussies!

[Heidi & Milton]

Welcome to my very first guest blog post by my good friend, Thuy, the proud owner of an Aussiedoodle (see picture below)!  Thuy and I met via the popular doodle forum, Doodlekisses.com, and since we both live in Texas, friendship was just plain easy!  After a bit of persuasively cajoling from me, Thuy graciously wrote a fun and informative post on Aussiedoodles.  Please do read on...!

Milton & Heidi, Hops & Thuy

Hops sitting pretty.

Thuy:  Two months before Hops came home with me, I had no idea what an Aussiedoodle was. In fact, I had no idea what an Australian shepherd (Aussie for short) looked like! I was completely obsessed with the idea of getting another dog, and for over a month, I spent each and every day researching and looking at pictures/videos of dogs. I initially wanted a Havanese, then a German shepherd, next a Pomeranian, after that a Labrador retriever, and finally a goldendoodle. During my search for a goldendoodle, I was introduced to Aussiedoodles. I tried to educate myself by searching the Net for information on these babies. I didn't find much. The pictures showed that Aussiedoodles all look so different from one another, and most pictures do not do this hybrid breed justice.

So what are Aussiedoodles? These amazing dogs are half Australian shepherd and half poodle. The Australian shepherds are herding dogs, coming in three different sizes - toy, mini, and standard. The standard is considered medium-sized, so 10-20 pounds lighter than a Labrador retriever. They are probably most known for their stunning colors, particularly the blue or red merles. Here's a picture, courtesy of Wikipedia, of the different colors of the Aussies:

Hops's father looks almost exactly like the third one from the left, and his mother was a standard black poodle. I do not believe that there are many non- first generation Aussiedoodles out there. It appears that the F1 Aussiedoodles have more consistency in their coat textures than other F1 medium/large doodles. I haven't seen (online) many Aussiedoodles with extremely straight or extremely curly hair, but they definitely do exist.

From reading about doodles, Hops seem to have a lot in common with most labradoodles and goldendoodles. He has the intelligence/trainability of the poodle, and the energy and playfulness of the Aussie. A friend of mine who recently stayed with us for a weekend noted that the best thing about Hops is that he, "always just wants to please people."

One of the first few e-mails I got from the breeder had a description for each dog, and I love reading it over once in a while. Her description of Hops still holds true, and it makes me smile reading it.

Hops (far right) & siblings at five weeks

"Cage is a lot like his dad. He's a goofy puppy, but in maturing, he will amaze his human family at what all he'll learn. He's the biggest baby, but def not the bossiest." -Jane

Heidi:  Well, Hops and Milton have hit it off, just like we suspected they might.  The boys have had a couple of playdates so far, but more are in the works for the future.  With as much fun as these two have, I am a bit envious of a dog's life!

Just a couple of doodles rolling around

Milton convinced Hops that you don't necessarily need to "swim" in the pool

"Wading" in the pool is just as much fun!

 Thank you for the magnificent guest post, Thuy, and I hope to have more of the like in the upcoming months!

To read more about Milton, visit www.goldilocksandherdoodle.com

[Thuy & Hops]

I think Aussiedoodles are probably a lot like Goldendoodles in terms of shedding (since one parent has long hair and the other has poodle hair). Hops sheds VERY little. I wear black pants to work almost everyday and I don't have to worry about him getting his hair all over me before heading out the door like I used to with my Lab.

[Sue Z. + Finley]

Hops is such a beautiful boy! Do the Aussiedoodles shed? We had a blue merle Australian Shepherd for 12 years. We really loved the breed, but the shedding was out of this world. Our Goldendoodle Finley sheds a little which is okay and the main reason for the switch to another breed after our Aussie passed away. I would love an Aussiedoodle if the shedding was minimal.

[cheryl & oliver]

Heidi, we had 2 aussies for many years, almost 16 in total.  We had a black tri, and and a red Tri.  when we lost the black tri, Token, our other aussie, the red tri, was devastated.  we got our goldendoodle Oliver because I wanted him to have a friend again.  Oliver was a wonderful friend to Renny, they were great together.  We had to put Renny down this past March, and Oliver misses him terribly...I would love to get another doodle friend for him, and when I see this aussie doodle, my heart does flip flops...I guess it doesn't matter what kind of doodle, I would love any of them, but because I had the aussies for so many years, and they were both wonderful animals, very smart, but very loving.  My Token, the black tri had a much stronger herding instinct, he would herd people and kids into groups, lol. Both Aussies lived to be 16 yrs old. I know we can't divulge names here of breeders, but maybe u can send me the info privately.  I love the blogs u do about Milton...He is just adorable. I try to follow all you write about Milton....Thanks, Cheryl

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I've been impressed by Hops since that first training video you posted....and he's turning into a very handsome "big boy".

[Lynda Kamrath]

I'm convinced that an Aussiedoodle is my next dog.  I fell in love with Hops the first time I saw him.  And what a great combo.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Great to see friendships forming through DK. Great blog and photos.

[Thuy & Hops]

Thanks for putting this together, Heidi! Hops and I are so happy we met you and Milton. :)

Nancy - Thankfully, Hops does not have any herding tendencies!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Your a guest but you are welcome to join if you haven't already. We love all things doodle.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Hops is gorgeous! Isn't it amazing how quickly we fall in love?

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

Very nice post and Hops is stunning, I just love his markings.... so cool.  And of course Milt you are just so precious, I am glad you two are buddies :)