Will my life suit a cattle dog?

[rainbowdreamer]

At the shelter I met a very well mannered, calm and happy (maybe half trained) ACD mystery mix, 1.5 year old male and we hit it off. (see my other post for pics, white with brown eye patch).

Of course I would love to bring him into my life and I am doing all the readings, but I would love some comments on what you all think of my situation in terms of ACD compatabilty.

I have a campervan, and so enjoy active weekend adventures at least every third week camping, hiking, exploring with friends on the East Coast of Australia.

I surf and in summer spend every other afternoon or morning at the beach, I live 5 mins walk from a dog beach, and eventually would love my dog to be able to entertain himself on the sand while I surf (I see a few locals have trained dogs to do so).

I work in an open warehouse/office with a large outdoor unfenced area, 4 of my colleagues have dogs and they run amock every day together having a ball.

I have a big grassy yard (25m x 10m) and an undercover patio where I will put his kennel, its right next to my room.

I understand there is a lot of training and work to be done, but this dog will be with me 24/7 with plenty of exercise opportunties and social interaction. So far so good.

BUT what if I want to go overseas for a few weeks, or even a month? Or want to spend a day in a national park and would have to leave him in the yard? Is this completely out of the question because of the possibility of him developing a seperation anxiety disorder common to ACD's?

Apologies for the novel!

 

[mickiel]

@rainbowdreamer My ACD mix is a sweet sweet boy that loves to go on walks and plays, but also sleeps 18 hours a day. He’s 5 and loves to nap

 

[lavender]

@rainbowdreamer Wow sounds like sog heaven for the potential activities but when your gone, your dog will be sad. They need to be with at all times unless when I'm feeling tired and ill fall asleep on the couch and my acd decides to ditch me so she can sleep on my bed. What a b!

 

[johnnie1600]

@lavender Mine too

 

[cgdtaylor]

@rainbowdreamer I recently adopted an ACD mystery mix. He is surprisingly low maintenance for an ACD. We think he’s mixed with German shepherd and gets his chill from that. But he does LOVE walks and running in the yard. He’s vocal like an ACD when he needs something. The moaning, groaning and yapping! So long as you’re available to exercise him everyday, then he’s a perfect dog for you. If you’re interested in traveling, be positive you have a family member or friend who would be able to take on his requirements when you go away. But trust me when I say that you’ll find it hard to leave him once you’ve bonded. ACDs are the best. They make our hearts so happy

 

[wstorm]

@cgdtaylor Omg he sounds just like my little girl rescued her a year ago and I’ve been with her 24/7 I have gone to the the dr and my son’s house but haven’t been able to take her with me yet because she’s scared of cars but I go to the dr once in a while and my sons house for no more the 2-3 hours average of every 4 months going there. As far as energy she sleeps all day almost and only plays in the evening with runs around the yard and a few short walks a day then she’s done We do spend hours outside watching squirrels she won’t go out with out me and I’ve learned to love being outside

 

[zotis]

@rainbowdreamer We rescued an ACD at about this age also seemed very chill. He was terrified. Trained out most of the dog reactivity, but he may never play with other dogs the way you might be used to. When we go to the park, he avoids them and hangs with us. We were never able to socialize him THAT well, but it sounds like the activity level you suggest would have them in contact with the same people, so that could work. He's 6 now and we have a toddler and another baby on the way. We are VERY picky about boarding him. He can be left in the house for 2 hours left to his own devices, but more than 2 hours he needs to be crated otherwise he finds trouble (mostly the kiddo's snack drawer he figured out how to open. ) We found a boarding place that we love after we moved. The first one would let him wander with the owner while she did chores or have him hang in the puppy room. The owners and most of the workers had ACDs at home. The one we found here has an owner who has an ACD. The last time he was there for 5 days. One day they had 6 cattle dogs. They were all put in the same play area and none of them interacted all day. Mine and one other chased shadows. A month would be a crazy amount of time for us to leave him, but he's basically my furry toddler. He and the boy both are at my feet all day. I know he could do with more activity and exercise, but he's getting older and I think splitting the PB&J with my son is a fair trade for him. I think your activity level is great, but once you get attached to these guys it's hard to leave the zip code, let alone the country. He basically has the intelligence of a 3 year old, and I feel like he's my first kid in a way. If I had to board him for a month, I'd be a wreck! I vote get the dog.

 

[rainbowdreamer]

@zotis Thankyou for the input! And for the positive vote

 

[voicesfree]

@rainbowdreamer Mine wants action every two hours, starts going a little crazy until she can blow off steam, 5 mile walk will kill her for awhile but back to wanting more by end of day, she also wants to be where the action is and doesn't like being left out, currently looking at getting another dog to see if I can lessen her dependence on human attention. She also Will find something to destroy if left alone for a couple hours and not put in a kennel.

 

[rainbowdreamer]

@voicesfree May I ask how old your dog is? Thanks for the heads up!

 

[voicesfree]

@rainbowdreamer 10 months, will probably slow down a little at two years

 

[paidiske]

@rainbowdreamer Your life sounds pretty amazing for an ACD.
They can be pretty needy but once they settle into a place, they become less needy so once it's used to your workplace shouldn't be an issue with hanging out with the other dogs.

As for the separation anxiety... I work shifts and my ACD (9F) is left at home, in the back yard while I'm out. It doesn't seem to bother her, we just set up a signal (give her a small treat when we put her out and say, 'guard the house ') so she knows we're leaving, as opposed to putting her out for just a wee. She doesn't cope well with being left many other places though, so when we travel we get dog sitters at our place.

We've tried leaving her at a friend's place but that's when she gets separation anxiety, so it's easier to have a sitter come to our place.

Good luck!

 

[rainbowdreamer]

@paidiske Good to hear an ACD can be trained to stay in a yard! This guy is a mix so hopefully that part of him will come through in that scenario. Thanks for the input!

 

[mathetes66]

@rainbowdreamer They can, but that doesn't mean they should. I think there's a lack of enrichment and social connection going on there that isn't ideal for an ACD. They want to be with their people, needed/involved, and they want to use their brains.

 

[paidiske]

@mathetes66 I'm not sure if it was intentional, but I feel like you're insinuating that we don't provide enrichment or social connection for our ACD.

The reality of owning any dog is that there will be times when they have to be left somewhere, and it's ok to train them to be on their own sometimes.

You need to factor in how often and how long, and an ACD probably wouldn't suit a 9-5 worker who has a long commute where they'll be left for 9-10hours a day.

However with our shift work, it means she's rarely home alone for more than a few hours, with the occasional stretch of time where shifts clash that she might have to spend 8 or so hours alone one day.

I've mentioned before that when this is looking likely we'll do a big hike the weekend before so that she doesn't mind a day of down time.

Whilst you definitely need to have an appropriate lifestyle for an ACD, but based on how OP is describing his lifestyle it sounds like an ACD would be an appropriate choice. But there's a lot of misconceptions on this sub that they can never be left alone, which is just not true. With the right lifestyle and training they can absolutely cope if they have to be left alone when you need to go somewhere a dog can't go, even on a semi regular basis.

 

[mathetes66]

@paidiske I wasnt insinuating anything about you and your dog, as i don't know you or your situation. Im sure you are attuned to your dogs needs and it sounds like a very loving home. However, someone, like OP, who sets out to get a dog that can be a "backyard-only" dog, and who has never owned an ACD, may have expectations or ideas about what a pet dog is and needs that you aren't aware of and may not agree with. In fact its almost certain they do. Its best to give them as much information as possible.

 

[paidiske]

@mathetes66 OP didn't say that...he intends to have the dog with him pretty much all the time.

We're in Australia so in terms of having a dog outside to sleep in a kennel (with appropriate shelter options available) rather than crate training is perfectly normal and acceptable in Australia.

 

[allbutnone]

@rainbowdreamer Well, you've listed a couple of considerations:

1) is it sociable. if it burns the bridge with the colleagues dogs, what else can you do?

2) separation anxiety is a thing, and can be bad since they're so darned smart and sometimes are velcro dogs. How can you set him up for success? I send mine to doggy daycamp one day a week just to be apart. When I'm working at home, I practice having him wait on different floors, or do activities in other rooms. My dog has picked the mudroom as his happy place and can spend 8 hours in there. You'd HAVE to build time apart into your routine, and it's hard as a single person.

3) He can't be roaming free on the sand while you surf unless it's the dog beach. You could bring a tether, but he would probably also want some shade if you're out for hours.

4) kennel. Is it for overnight sleep? They'd rather be with you. If it's just for when you're apart, that's probably alright.

 

[rainbowdreamer]

@allbutnone This is great advice and a good point on him being sociable.
How many hours a day were you dedicating to training?
Yeah the kennel would be where he sleeps, he was an outside only dog in his previous home (on a property with a bunch of other random dogs) so I'd hope to retain that, but of course hang out with him inside at times.

 

[relationshipwithgod]

@rainbowdreamer So I have an ACD rescue, and I will say that he seemed like a super calm dog when I first got him…just because that was his stress response at the shelter. After about two weeks, he was noticeably dog reactive and had severe separation anxiety. With shelter dogs it’s a roll of the dice what behavior issues they may have once they decompress. Separation anxiety is most common, statistically, in male rescue herding dogs. For me, it literally took 6+ months of NEVER LEAVING HIM ALONE except for during short training sessions. I did that with dog daycare and dog sitters, plus I was able to work remotely since I got him during the early pandemic. Would you be ok with that possibility? As for your other questions at the end, that’s when you hire a dogsitter to watch your dog. I usually pay about $70/day for a sitter since my dog is on the needier side and I want the sitter to be at the house overnight (some sitters charge less but spend less time at the house). If you can’t afford that then you can’t afford to travel while having a dog.

I would say that if you want a dog that can go with the flow and is happy with being with a lot of other dogs, I don’t think a herding dog is the right dog for you. I would go with a sporting retriever dog like a lab. Gundogs are literally bred to be happy waiting, be calm with strange people and dogs, and to be obedient.