Give your pup a bath every 2-3 months, but don't overdo it or you may risk irritating and drying out their skin. Use a dog-safe blow dryer to fully dry their fur and leave them feeling spiffy. Don't forget the nails—keep them comfy by trimming the nails regularly. Long nails can cause foot pain in dogs.
The Australian Shepherd has a double layered coat, which is on the higher maintenance end of the scale. Your Australian Shepherd should be groomed at least once every week. Grooming helps to remove debris and dead hair, and spreads the natural oils in the dog's coat throughout the fur, keeping it soft and silky.
Professionally groomed Aussies should easily be able to be maintained with only monthly grooming, even if you choose to never brush your dog between grooming.
Shaving your Australian shepherd's coat could expose its skin and increase its risk for getting a sunburn. Always leave about 1⁄4–1⁄2 inch (0.64–1.27 cm) of your dog's coat when you're trimming it to protect its skin.
Time to full size/weight: 1-1.5 yrs... although they continue filling out up to 2.5 years. By 9 months you'll know roughly what dimensions they will have, at that point they stop growing and start just filling out.
Miniature Australian Shepherds are incredibly smart. These dogs will typically catch on to new tricks and commands in no time. However, this also means that you should be mindful of what you teach your dog and if you slip them any table scraps because your Mini Aussie won't soon forget.
Your puppy should be taken outside at least every two hours. Once they hit 20 weeks, they may be able to hold it for four hours. Don't plan on leaving them home for much of the day when you first adopt them. It simply won't work.
The only time you should shave or trim a Miniature Australian Shepherd is at your vet's recommendation, usually due to a health issue.
It is a well-balanced, medium-sized agile dog. Ideally, males should be 14 to 18 inches tall at the withers; females, 14 through 17 inches.
This thick wooly coarse coat will trap heat and will not protect from the sun, thus exposing your pet to warmer climates and making them warmer and increasing their body temperature in the heat. Shaving can damage a dog's ability to regulate its temperature or protect their skin.
The quick answer is, no, you shouldn't shave your dog in summer. And this doesn't just apply to super-furry Northern breeds, but to other double-coated breeds as well. Herding breeds like Aussie Shepherds, Border Collies and Shelties are double-coated.
Australian Shepherds will bark at strangers, loud noises, and other animals as a way of getting rid of all that excess energy. More so, they can display the same type of behavior towards squirrels, thunderstorms, or even a passing car.
About the Breed
The Miniature American Shepherd shares many physical traits with its forebear the Australian Shepherd'¿only on a smaller scale. Females stand between 13 and 17 inches at the shoulder; males range from 14 to 18 inches.
According to Whistle, which manufactures GPS trackers for pets, Australian Shepherds are the 15th most likely breed to run away, with owners losing this breed an average of . 09 times per month.
In addition to heritable joint conditions, some mini Aussies are predisposed to a variety of genetic eye conditions that can cause blindness, including progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), cataracts, detached retinas, Collie eye anomaly, and more.
They, like some other animals, have their one chosen person, which is probably you if your dog sits on you all the time. When the Australian Shepherd chooses their person, they begin to exhibit loyalty towards you, even to an extreme degree.
Do NOT shave this breed, as it messes up the delicate balance of the coat, which insulates them from heat and from cold by holding a layer of temperate air close to the body. The coat may never grow back the same if this breed is shaved.
Most Mini Aussies usually have medium-length coats with fur that can be straight or wavy. There are some short-coated Mini Aussies that have shorter, flatter, less feathery fur, but they are less common than long-haired Aussies.
Some other pets that are more allergic can show patches of hair loss all around the body. Once again, secondary infections can happen to make it all worse. This kind of allergy makes your puppy extremely itchy and you should be noticing your Aussie scratching all the time, even waking you up during the night.
The bottom line
You should never leave an Aussie alone for more than four hours at a time, and try to make the most out of every day to prevent boredom and loneliness when they're left to their own devices.
As a rule of thumb, remove the food and water bowls about two-to-three hours before bedtime. So, if your lights-out time is at 11 p.m., a puppy should have no food or water after about 8–8:30 p.m. This gives you a chance to take him out for a one last potty break before settling in for the night.
You generally don't need to wake an older puppy up from sleep to pee. This is with the exception of when they are ill. Ensure that your puppy has taken their meal at least two hours before bedtime. This article will give more insights on how to housetrain your puppy at night and give them a peaceful sleep.