# Blue Merle Aussie- 14 months old!



## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Jasper is a little over 14 months old and 60 pounds. These photos were taken yesterday at my grandparents home in Kentucky. He got to see my grandparents for the 3rd time in his life and run their fields with me. I had one tired Aussie on the 4 hour drive back home.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Hahaha


Practicing his send out. 




Waiting for his command




I love my little man more than life itself! Life just wouldn't be the same without that little Aussie face always watching me.


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## Keechak (Aug 10, 2008)

Aww lovely Jasper! Looking great!


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## kcomstoc (Mar 9, 2013)

OMG he's so freaking cute  one handsome man for sure. you sure are lucky


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## SnapV (May 14, 2013)

That little guy is just gorgeous  Thanks for sharing!


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## RabbleFox (Jan 23, 2013)

Such a pretty boy! I'm sure he loved romping around on the hills of Kentucky! Working hard!


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Keechak said:


> Aww lovely Jasper! Looking great!


Thank you! 



kcomstoc said:


> OMG he's so freaking cute  one handsome man for sure. you sure are lucky


Thank you!  I am very lucky to have him in my life. He's my buddy, never too far from my side unless I am at work. 



SnapV said:


> That little guy is just gorgeous  Thanks for sharing!


Thanks, and no problem I love sharing photos of him.



RabbleFox said:


> Such a pretty boy! I'm sure he loved romping around on the hills of Kentucky! Working hard!


Thanks! He sure did, we even got to round up some cattle (for Vaccines) for my grandparents which thrilled him to death.


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## luv mi pets (Feb 5, 2012)

Such intensity and what a handsome looking dog.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

luv mi pets said:


> Such intensity and what a handsome looking dog.


Thank you!


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## Kei San (Apr 14, 2013)

Looking stunning Jasper!
Sometimes I wonder if Aurora is too skinny. I can feel her hip bones (on her back). She has a waist (not like that's a bad thing). I can also feel the lower part of her spine (I think I shouldn't feel it as much as I can). However her ribs are just right (I can feel them with slight pressure). She has a nice tuck (though her coat hides it). I don't believe the vet when he tells me her weight is fine. This visit was several months ago. I am thinking her metabolism is super fast.


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Gorgeous....the more aussies I see, the more I want one lol.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Kei San said:


> Looking stunning Jasper!
> Sometimes I wonder if Aurora is too skinny. I can feel her hip bones (on her back). She has a waist (not like that's a bad thing). I can also feel the lower part of her spine (I think I shouldn't feel it as much as I can). However her ribs are just right (I can feel them with slight pressure). She has a nice tuck (though her coat hides it). I don't believe the vet when he tells me her weight is fine. This visit was several months ago. I am thinking her metabolism is super fast.


Thank you! I hate telling body condition on a fluffy dog. haha Maybe you can try upping her food just a bit to see if that gets her to where you want her weight. Maybe just add 1/4 to 1/3 cup and see what that does. You could also try a dog food higher in protein and fat, it might help her gain a little and even out in the areas you want her too. Such as Native. Or Victor. However keep in mind that lots of people think that a properly conditioned dog is too skinny.  People are use to seeing overweight dogs daily and think that is the norm. 

Jasper is a little heavier than I want him to be right now. We haven't been getting our 6 hours exercising a day lately because of my overtime at the hospital. I didn't lower his food amount to compensate for the decreased activity. haha I am working on getting him back in condition now. 



SDRRanger said:


> Gorgeous....the more aussies I see, the more I want one lol.


Thanks! They are great dogs, absolutely amazing.


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## Kei San (Apr 14, 2013)

Damon'sMom said:


> Thank you! I hate telling body condition on a fluffy dog. haha Maybe you can try upping her food just a bit to see if that gets her to where you want her weight. Maybe just add 1/4 to 1/3 cup and see what that does. You could also try a dog food higher in fat, it might help her gain a little and even out in the areas you want her too. Such as Native. Or Victor. However keep in mind that lots of people think that a properly conditioned dog is too skinny.  People are use to seeing overweight dogs daily and think that is the norm.
> 
> Jasper is a little heavier than I want him to be right now. We haven't been getting our 6 hours exercising a day lately because of my overtime at the hospital. I didn't lower his food amount to compensate for the decreased activity. haha I am working on getting him back in condition now.


You're welcome! He has changed so much over those few months I didn't see pictures of him! I wish I could take a trip around the US to meet several Aussies and their owners. I do feel her up A LOT. Everything feels fine but it just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe I am too paranoid (aren't we all when it comes to our kids). I guess if she was too skinny, her stomach would be growling non-stop and she would be horking up bile. Though she could definitely eat until she pukes. The chance I have to truly see her body condition is when giving her a bath but she arches her back up and isn't relaxed. Aurora has been switched to a raw diet since Oct 10th of this year. I switched her because every month she would have a bout of diarrhea (it happened but with her pup and adult food). Aurora use to have 1 cup of kibble for breakfast and 1 can for dinner. She started to eat her breakfast later and later. Soon she started eat it right before it was time for her dinner. If she did eat her breakfast early in the morning, she would have diarrhea the next day from her dinner (because her body was not use to it anymore). I hated to have to do clean up because she is a walker (thank goodness for hardwood floors). I would have to take her to the bathroom several times throughout the day. I had to wipe her butt and butt fur clean. Give her pumpkin and pepto bismol then hope it would calm her digestive system. I was done and didn't want to do it anymore or waste money. Raw has been the best change for her and she loves it to no end. Two things I am thrilled about are no more diarrhea or smelly poops! She has benefited so much from the change. It costs much less than her other food. Especially when brought in bulk. 

Sorry for the long story.

I think Aurora would love to exercise for 6 hours a day. Though she does at least get 9 hours of play with an hour of down time (at my job). However she still has energy to spare when she arrives home but she is tired. Aussies are energizer bunnies. Have fun getting him back to the norm. Is the herding classes still going on? Does he enjoy water? Not baths but water he can control.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Kei San said:


> You're welcome! He has changed so much over those few months I didn't see pictures of him! I wish I could take a trip around the US to meet several Aussies and their owners. I do feel her up A LOT. Everything feels fine but it just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe I am too paranoid (aren't we all when it comes to our kids). I guess if she was too skinny, her stomach would be growling non-stop and she would be horking up bile. Though she could definitely eat until she pukes. The chance I have to truly see her body condition is when giving her a bath but she arches her back up and isn't relaxed. Aurora has been switched to a raw diet since Oct 10th of this year. I switched her because every month she would have a bout of diarrhea (it happened but with her pup and adult food). Aurora use to have 1 cup of kibble for breakfast and 1 can for dinner. She started to eat her breakfast later and later. Soon she started eat it right before it was time for her dinner. If she did eat her breakfast early in the morning, she would have diarrhea the next day from her dinner (because her body was not use to it anymore). I hated to have to do clean up because she is a walker (thank goodness for hardwood floors). I would have to take her to the bathroom several times throughout the day. I had to wipe her butt and butt fur clean. Give her pumpkin and pepto bismol then hope it would calm her digestive system. I was done and didn't want to do it anymore or waste money. Raw has been the best change for her and she loves it to no end. Two things I am thrilled about are no more diarrhea or smelly poops! She has benefited so much from the change. It costs much less than her other food. Especially when brought in bulk.
> 
> Sorry for the long story.
> 
> I think Aurora would love to exercise for 6 hours a day. Though she does at least get 9 hours of play with an hour of down time (at my job). However she still has energy to spare when she arrives home but she is tired. Aussies are energizer bunnies. Have fun getting him back to the norm. Is the herding classes still going on? Does he enjoy water? Not baths but water he can control.


Thats good news about getting her on a raw diet. I'd love to but just don't have the room to store a lot of frozen meat right now.  I was having the same problem over a month ago with Jasper. I put him on a LID Venison food and now its all better. Maybe in the future I can put him on raw. He's allergic to chicken so I couldn't use that meat source. They truly are the energizer bunnies! lol Jaspers herding classes have ended. We are herding around 3 times a week helping bring in neighbors cattle and such. We will be doing a few refresher courses in the spring. He loves water, except for when it comes out of the hose. haha He has even learned to love the bath, hops right in the tub. He doesn't like the force blow dryer however.  We are working on flyball, rally obedience, and the beginning stages of carting right now.


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

He is so handsome! I absolutely love the merle coats on dogs!


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

jade5280 said:


> He is so handsome! I absolutely love the merle coats on dogs!


Thank you!


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

So there is a blue merle australian shepherd boarding at work right now who looks strikingly like Jasper, except both of his eyes are ice blue. I'll snap a picture tomorrow night and post it up, it's kind of creepy how similar they look! He's 11 months old too, but he's huge!


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

SydTheSpaniel said:


> So there is a blue merle australian shepherd boarding at work right now who looks strikingly like Jasper, except both of his eyes are ice blue. I'll snap a picture tomorrow night and post it up, it's kind of creepy how similar they look! He's 11 months old too, but he's huge!


Thats great! I look forward to seeing it.  How big is he? Jasper is around 23" tall (give or take a little) and 60 pounds. I am 5'2" and when he stands he comes up above my knees. lol

There is a little girl aussie about 5 months old that boards at my work from time to time that looks just like him. He loves her and her brother a red merle aussie.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Damon'sMom said:


> Thats great! I look forward to seeing it.  How big is he? Jasper is around 23" tall (give or take a little) and 60 pounds. I am 5'2" and when he stands he comes up above my knees. lol
> 
> There is a little girl aussie about 5 months old that boards at my work from time to time that looks just like him. He loves her and her brother a red merle aussie.


He weighed in at 46 pounds today, but he was previously at 53, so I don't know if the scale was off today or he lost some. Not sure how tall he is though, his name is Riley. We have another aussie boarding at the same time, a red merle named Riesling who's 7 months old. I'll post a picture of her too, just because she is too adorable.


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## SydTheSpaniel (Feb 12, 2011)

Best I could get tonight since it was dark outside, I'll get a few more tomorrow!
It took me forever to get him back inside too, I had to grab him with his own leash just to coax him inside, he's so nervous.


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

He is gorgeous! I'd take him in a minute. lol HE does look so much like my little fluffy butt.


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