Getting a rescue Aussie

[Frostine]

This is my new addition, he will be joining my two shelties here hopefully next week. We are really excited and can't wait for him to be home. :) His new name will be Boomer.

http://www.aussierescuega.com/2008/01/08/blue-merle-aussie-urgent/

I first saw this guy last week when I was messing around on the internet, a shelter worker had posted his pic, and it caught my eye because I love merles. The next thing that caught my eye was that he was marked urgent and scheduled to be euthed the next day. Then I saw where he was located, the county shelter 10 minutes from my house. I showed him to DH and we decided to go get him, but it ended up not being that easy.

I showed up at the shelter the next day as soon as they opened, and he was still there but they wouldn't release him to me. They said he was a stray and un-neutered, and that they didn't have space to process him and get him ready for adoption to the general public, so he had to go to a rescue. I went home and called a bunch of rescues trying to get someone to help me get him. An Aussie rescue emailed me back and said they knew about him and were going to get him, so he was safe.

I was going to let it go at that, but that night DH said, "Why don't we adopt him from the rescue", and that's all it took for me. We weren't really looking for a third dog, we just a couple months ago found a home for a challenging stray we had taken in temporarily, but this guy really touched me. We applied to the rescue and I think the representative hurried things along for us because she knew I had tried to get him from the shelter. We were approved and are just waiting to intro him to our dogs and bring him home. :)

[agilityk9trainer]

Congrats to you! Let us know how it all goes. VERY exciting for all.

[sheplovr]

Ohhh super cool. Good for you to rescue such a pretty friendly looking aussie. I love those dogs great for agility and hard to beat and great for freezebe also. Very fast and presice in its fields it does well if trained properly.

They are fast dogs for aglilty, have watched them and so hard to beat hope you do this with him. That is a wonderful friendly breed, never heard of one being mean or nastey. So cool looking also different that I really take to also.

Wishing you the very best and do keep us posted here with photos if you get it and what you do as they need things to do or might get very bored??:)

[Frostine]

My husband really wants to do frisbee with him. We are going to try both frisbee and agility and see what he seems to enjoy. I found a place that teaches both, but he has to complete basic obedience first, and maybe intermediate too, not sure, so that's what we'll be starting out with.

[Katybud]

Congratulations .Aussies are so smart and beautiful .I showed them for almost 20 years
I still have 5 .It always upsets me when a breeder won't take one back and they end up in a shelter.I bred very few litters and my contracted said they had to return them to me no matter the age or problem .I'v been very lucky that every one still keeps in touch with me that owns one of are fur kids

[cassiesmom]

Awwww, what a sweet face! He looks so happy! Congratulations!

[skunkstripe]

Wow, what a story! First you saved him in the nick of time, and then had to get the rescues involved so you could get him! I think you're right Frostine, if it hadn't been for you, he would not be around, and the rescues probably respect that a whole lot. :thumb:

[Frostine]

The rescue sent me his shelter intake paperwork too, and we found out he was picked up stray after being hit by a car on Dec. 17. He really is a lucky boy.

[Aussiepaws]

Bless you for adopting a rescue ... that is the route I will probably take down the road. I've owned and loved Aussie for 15 years. All three were acquired as puppies. I lost my first Aussie 2-1/2 years ago and my second one will be 13. My youngest just turned 2.

They are a wonderful breed, intelligent, loving and loyal. Frisbee is a wonderful outlet for this breed as well as agility and flyball. They love having a job to do.

Best of luck with him... he looks like a beautiful dog.

[Frostine]

Thanks Aussiepaws. We've had him a couple of months now, and he's really doing great. He's a very smart, sweet dog. Great family dog. He was already housebroken, crate, and leash trained when we got him, so he's been really easy. He doesn't know how to play though, it'll be a while before he's catching frisbees. He caught a ball in the air for the first time just about two days ago, I bounced it and he caught it on the way up. Before that, if I threw it he would just look at me like I was nuts. :)

[agilityk9trainer]

Bouncing the ball is how I taught my terrier mix to fetch. He eventually got the idea and became a great ball fetcher. Hope it works for you new boy too. He sounds wonderful.