That's right, the fictional breed that is apparently becoming an "in" dog to own. The author talks about breeding the 4th ever UK litter of minis. There's a little problem, though. Her bitch is an ASCA registered Australian Shepherd. As in, not a mini! In fact, the ASCA is against AKC recognition of the mini as a breed. As far as I'm concerned, all she's done is breed an undersized dog to another undersized dog in an effort to shrink an existing breed.
She does agility with her dogs, which is fantastic. But don't you think that having your "mini" measure into the tallest jump height would be a clue? Okay, rant over.
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I had the pleasure of working with a little female red Aussie-mix tonight at the shelter. She was a petite girl, maybe 35 lbs, and the sweetest dog. I took her into a pen to burn off some energy, but all she wanted was to curl up in my lap as I sat in a chair. No interest in the toys, agility equipment, or even in chasing me.
As we sat there, I found golf-ball-sized knots behind each of her ears. That cannot have been comfortable! I got help cutting the worst of it out, then spent at least a half hour brushing and combing her. The poor thing badly needed the attention. I must have gotten an entire dog's-worth of fur off her, and didn't even finish! I completely cleared out behind one ear, but ran out of time for the other. At least it should be much better for her.
A curiosity about this dog was her food preferences. I train with Natural Balance, as it's easy to cut small chunks and goes down fast. However, I wanted to give this pup a special treat for being so good about the grooming, so I found her a spoon covered in peanut butter. And she refused it! Not even an exploratory lick. Strange little dog.
I've decided that I should sneak her home as my snuggle dog. Maxwell is my amazing work/play dog, but doesn't do laps. She can make up for his terrible deficiency!
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