Remember I told you about one home that was just a few days late in contacting me? She wrote up a wonderful little "I know how it is" to me that I thought I would share - since I do think that people need to understand what I've created and what is out there in the land of Aussies. Obviously Daca's origins are a bit different and she is actually quite the opposite in terms of being reserved from birth (Fury was), but the qualities she's exhibiting now are similar and the advice below are sound.
Posted with permission:
It's me again. I read your blog and felt compelled to share the story of our first Aussie, the one I spoke of in my first e-mail. I think Daca and Tess are two peas in a pod.
We got Tess when she was 12 weeks old as an early Christmas present. She was from a BYB but I can say she was without a doubt 100% Aussie. We picked her specifically because she was the one that hung back checking things out the other puppies were getting into before she would head over. Her first year was pretty uneventful. I took her everywhere I went never leaving her behind. At about 15 months she decided she no longer wanted anything to do with people or other dogs. She was so "bad" she would not even take treats from other people. About 3 months later we started being active in frisbee competitions. She did not like the people but her love of the disc and her wanting to please me outweighed all fears. Starting to be around dog people I got conscientious of what people thought. I signed us up for an obedience class. We were SO bored as we knew all the commands and then some. She acted like a perfect angel in the class, never lunging at or even looking to another dog. She always left people alone anyways. By this time I realized that our bond was so strong that all that mattered to her and I in life was being together. I embraced her "fears" as I saw them as she was being the dog she was bred to be (aside from the dog issues of coarse). In her 6 short years she never come to like other people, she would tolerate them but they needed to know that her space was to be left alone. She never wanted to be with other dogs but one foster that I had for about 3 months she learned to tolerate with work on both of our parts. Quite a few times at events people would "sneak" up from the back of the tent and she would go into protect mode but as soon as the "its OK" command came out she was fine with them being in our tent. I did eventually teach her it was OK to take treats from people and that people were respectful of her. She was a dog we had to manage but I would not take back a second of it. You do not know how many times I was told "I would not have that dog" but my reply was always "I would not live without her". She was very true to the Aussie standard in many ways. I could go on and on about how I managed her but I do not want to bore you :-)
Dogs like Tess and Daca should never be expected to be something they are not. If Daca continues to be so similar to Tess her new family needs to embrace her for who she is. They will get in return more loyalty and dedication than they have ever known. I was glad to read they have signed up for classes and hopefully this trainer has some experience in acceptance and teaching the owners how to make the fears manageable. It is great to try to work the fears away but sometimes we as trainers have to accept a dog for what they are and roll with it not against it. . .
. . . I hope for Daca they do stick with her...it will pay off ten fold no doubt about it!!
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