Our new Aussie pup!

Hi!
This is my first post here, and I was hoping for some advice. We are a family of five (mom, dad, three girls, age 12, 9, and 3 1/2) who just brought home (4 days ago)a darling nine week old Australian Shepherd puppy. He is just a doll, and has bonded very well with my twelve year old especially (she sleeps by his crate), but also with me and my other two daughters. For some reason, he is very wary and timid with my husband, who is the kindest, and most animal loving person one could meet. He has never raised his voice around the puppy, and is consistently very gentle with him. This is very hard for my husband, because the puppy was supposed to be his and the girls.He loves dogs, and has never been rejected by one before. We've already started having him take a feeding each day, and he is the "treat" guy. He has a treat for the puppy whenever he approaches him. So far, this hasn't seemed to help too much, and the puppy is still very timid with him. If anyone has any other ideas or thoughts, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!!!

Ooooo an Aussie pup!!!! Welcome to the boards, viam! Promise to bring us pictures, okay? I always have to ask that before I say anything else... I know I speak for all of us when I say we love pictures. :D

I'm sure you'll get tons of great advice from the people here -- they really know their stuff. In the meantime -- my advice is this: It has only been four days.. and your husband being treat guy is exactly what I would have advised if you weren't already doing it. Remember the pup's a baby and this new home thing is really stressful... Don't get discouraged. Keep your husband stocked with the treats and give it some more time.

My husband (unlike me) has probably raised his voice once in his whole life (but I wasn't around to hear it) -- he's the gentlest man I've ever met... But he's also 6 ft 7 inches tall and can be quite intimidating to little puppies whether he means to be or not. LOL So with our puppies it always takes a little bit longer for them to get used to him than with anyone else in the house... but once they come around they're absolutely glued to him. :D

Good luck. And extra hugs to your husband -- it'll be okay!

4 days new place .... time will pass and the pup will come around....
I would say if the pup is happy with you and the kids. Its the higher pitched voice, your hubby sould try a higher pitched voice get the guys attention play with him using the voice and gradually come back to his normal voice.

I'd try that still very early..

Oh yeah tell your hubby to get down on the floor at pups level.

I appreciate all of the advice. We'll keep trying, and I'm sure the puppy will soften to my husband over time. Any additional ideas would be welcomed! I'll try to post a picture... :)

Thanks!
our pup

Just wanted to say congrats :) Aussie's are sweet gentle smart dogs I sure love them. I have had 3 aussie's great bred I'm sure everything will work out fine, give him alittle time.
What is his name and what coulour is he? can't wait to see pic. I had 2 blue merles and 1 red merle Skyler, Austin and Brodie :)

He is a sweetie. He was very mellow for the first couple of days, and now his "puppyness" is coming out! :) We're keeping him busy and trying to socialize him as much as possible. His mother is a black tri and his father is a red merle. He looks like a blue merle to me, but others who have seen him say that he looks like a red merle, because his coat has a slight reddish tint to it. We don't care either way, but it's nice to know what to call him. Anyway, here's my second attempt to post a picture! :)

omg he is so sweet, the colouring gives off so much caracter.
:thumbs up good pick

Oooooh I'm gonna die!! He is beautiful, viam!! Thanks so much for not giving up on posting the picture LOL Beautiful!! My husband and I were actually looking for an Aussie pup before we adopted our puppy. :) Congratulations!!! Does he have a name yet?

Oh, and his name is Yoki, which is a silly name that doesn't really mean anything, but it stuck with the kids, and eventhough we tried, we couldn't change it, so Yoki it is. :)

He looks like a blue merle to me, but either way he's gorgeous!

Oh - My - GAWD!!! What a cutie patootie! :love: :love: Can I ask where you got him? My obedience instructor is also an Aussie breeder. :)

I don't have much else to offer. I agree with the others' suggestions so far. Get hubby down on his level - on his belly if he has to. Lots of praise when puppy approaches him, and gentle play. Otherwise, ignore him. You & the girls can't coddle him or pet him or tell him "it's ok" when he reacts fearfully to hubby, or he'll think he does have a reason to be scared.

Oh, and you'll definitely want to get this little guy enrolled in puppy classes and, eventually, something fun like agility or flyball. :D You'll be amazed how well he'll do at these games. My instructor has her dogs' ribbons completely papering the wall at our school. :D

Instead of being the 'treat guy', he can be the 'food guy' for a little bit. Have your husband feed him all his meals by hand for a while. Yoki will soon see that when this guy is around good things happen i.e. food, so he can't be all that bad.

What great advice so far! Yoki is starting puppy classes tonight, so we'll see how that goes! I'll have my husband feed him by hand for awhile. He does seem to be more tolerant of him today, so hopefully we're heading in the right direction...

I got her from a gal not far from our house who has a male and a female Aussie. This is her first litter, and I guess she'd be termed a "backyard breeder," which I didn't know anything about before I got our puppy. I did meet both parents (not related) and they were beautiful. The puppies were very well cared for, and she was very protective of them. Our puppy was very close to this woman, who is single and has two young boys. The puppies got a great deal of affection and attention from the family, and were very well socialized. They were inside her house most of the time. However, I think the lack of exposure to adult men may be what is causing our little guy to not be comfortable with my husband. Knowing what I know now, next time I would go with a respectable and established breeder, but we have our boy now, and we love him just the same. Hopefully, coming form this type of a situation will not be too much of a detriment to him... I'd welcome any thoughts on this...

Thanks for all the advice and kind comments!

:pawprint: oh wow!!
he's beautiful!!!


great name too! :thumbs up

Yoki is a blue merle, gorgeous pup! The red you are talking about is called copper marking in the merle. I love both merles but blue is my favorite, here is a pic of my two Aussie's Red Merle is Austin, Blue merle Skyler they are borthers. :)

Ackerama!

So cute!


:love:

one more cute picture :) Aussie's are great :thumbs up
Austin is now 10 years old but Skyler passes away in 2000

Goldenblaze, your Aussies are beautiful! Thanks for the heads up on the coloring. One thing that I noticed about our little guy is that his fur is not as fluffy as his brother's. It is shorter than what I'm used to seeing in pictures. Do you know if this is normal? Thanks!

Austin's coat was not as long as Skyler's, but he had lots of hair Austin's was more wavey too. I think it took about a year or two for his to become long like his brother. I would not worry at all, Yoki will have lots of hair for you to pick up as they do shed alot but worth every hair they lose. :D

Like Golden's it does take time for their thick coat to come in some say 2 -3 years, I'm still waiting for Blaze to get his full coat and he is 17mths next friday.

Enjoy your aussie they truly are sweet gentle dogs are often are over looked. They can be a great family pet and some are now being used in nursing home, I have a friend with a blue merle female China, she is a doll and the older people love her. :angel:

I love the blue merles! He's so beautiful.

I have a Red Tri, and once I got her was very attracted to the colour, didn't think I would be, but I think she's the most beautiful. :love:

I'm glad to see so many other Aussies.