Miniature Australian Shepherds are 14 to 17 inches tall and range in weight from 10 to 30 pounds.  Toy Australian Shepherds are under 14 inches tall and weigh up to about 20 pounds.  The Miniature and Toy Australian Shepherds are a small dog with more of a big dog personality.   The little Aussies make fantastic house dogs and traveling companions.  They are very smart and easily trained.  As with all puppies they can be destructive until they get out of the puppy stage.  During this time the puppy is best kept in a crate when you are not home or cannot watch.  You wouldn't leave a toddler unattended would you?  The same goes with puppies.  They are an energetic fun little dog.  They can race through the fields then come into the house and be content to be a lap dog.  They can easily turn off their energy.  They don't have as strong a herding instinct as the full size Aussies but they do have some.  They sometimes like to herd cats and other dogs, especially if the other animal runs.  They are usually good with children.  They can sometimes be shy of strangers and strange situations, even the most outgoing ones.  Never aggressive towards people.  Many don't even bark at strangers so those are not much of a watch dog.  They may bark at another dog.  See a list of reference letters with pictures from satisfied owners of Anadee Aussies Toy & Miniature Australian Shepherd puppies (now grown dogs) at References 2008.

The females are more moody and more inclined to want to fight other female dogs.  They are definitely more bossy than the males.  My males are my best ones!  My best buddies!  They are much less likely to get into a fight with each other than my females are.  For those concerned about a male dog lifting his leg, I recommend leash walking the puppy/dog so you can direct where he eliminates and teach him.  These are very smart little dogs and usually learn quickly.  Hyperactive is an individual thing and not gender based.

Our dogs are fed a high quality all natural holistic brand of dog food called Canidae "All Life Stages".  What make Canidae different from a lot of all natural dog foods is the digestive enzymes and beneficial bacteria (like yogurt has).  Some of the better dog foods have one or the other but not both.  If dogs were running free in the wild they would get these from their prey.  You can read about the food at www.canidae.com.  Their website has a list of stores.  The other foods we use are Artemis www.artemiscompany.com or Nature's Variety www.naturesvariety.com.  We feed our puppies the regular Artemis “Adult Fresh Mix” since too much protein in the puppy food can make their ears stand up.  You can also order Artemis from their website.  These are quality foods that tend to be reasonably priced.  The price will depend on where you purchase the food from.  As adults our dogs eat about 1 cup per day.  Some of the larger Mini Aussies eat 2 cups per day.

Vaccinations and Other Health Care

All of our puppies go to our veterinarian at 8 weeks of age for their first vaccinations and check up.  We provide in our puppy pack their vaccination record from our vet and articles about the hazards of over-vaccinating and how to avoid it.  Many cancers and other illnesses are being linked to over-vaccinating in dogs, cats and people!  We prefer the every 4 weeks schedule of puppy vaccinations at 8, 12 & 16 weeks and then again at 1 year 4 months.  Since we do not like to give a puppy vaccinations and then send them out the door, we may hold the puppy a few extra days.  Many veterinarians push for vaccinations every 3 weeks so be aware of this.  The Toy and Miniature Australian Shepherds (Aussies) can have a severe reaction to Ivermectin which is in many of the Heartworm Medications.  Interceptor is the only safe (so far) Heartworm Medication for Aussies, Collies, Border Collies and many other breeds.

Below is litter of puppies in one of our professionally made whelping boxes
 where they are born and raised inside of our home.

Below are Higgins & Kina (9 week old Toy/Small Mini Aussie puppies) and Thelma our cat