FEBRUARY 2015 DOGS OF THE MONTH
We have two dogs to celebrate in this, the second month of 2015. They are Australian Shepherd littermates, Ace and Rio. Both are handsome boys and both are February Dogs of the Month!
Rio is the big brother in the back, Ace in front, and their good friend, Midas, is photo bombing in the background. These two love to play with each other – and everyone else! They began coming to CB as young puppies. They adore our little pools here at CB, but are lucky enough to have an actual in-ground pool at home in which to drive out some of their excess energy.
Having littermate, high energy Aussies, is not for the faint of heart. These are not quiet, laid back boys. Their clever family has put a lot of time and energy into their training and Rio and Ace did really well in the Canine Good Citizen class. They have moved on to the Introduction to Competitive Obedience Class.
Aussie’s are animated, adaptable, and agile. The Australian Shepherd lives for his job, which still involves herding livestock and working as an all-purpose farm and ranch dog. This breed requires an abundance of activity and a sense of purpose to be truly content. Because of their intelligence and versatility, “Aussies” also excel in AKC events such as agility, obedience, and herding.
Their coats can be black, blue merle, red merle and red with or without white markings. ACE and RIO are blue Merle. Merle is a pattern in a dog’s coat, but is incorrectly referred to as a color. The merle gene creates mottled patches of color in a solid or piebald coat, blue or odd-colored eyes, and can affect skin pigment as well. In addition to altering base coat color, merle also modifies eye color and coloring on the nose and paw pads. The merle gene modifies the dark pigment in the eyes, occasionally changing dark eyes to blue, or part of the eye to be colored blue.
There are many theories about the origin of the Australian Shepherd. Despite its misleading name, the breed as we know it today, probably developed in the Pyrenees Mountains, somewhere between Spain and France. It was named Australian Shepherd because of its association with Basque shepherds who came to America from Australia in the 1800’s. The Australian Shepherd was initially called by many names, including Spanish Shepherd, Pastor Dog, Bobtail, New Mexican Shepherd, and California Shepherd. Although sometimes reserved with strangers, they are definitely “people” dogs that want to always be near their families.
Ace and Rio exemplify all the good characteristics of true Australian Shepherds. They really deserve to be February Dogs of the Month, so be sure to congratulate them and their family!
