Description: Describing the Aussiedoodle is somewhat hard, as individual puppies in the same litter, may have a more dominant look of the poodle, or they can have the look of the Australian Shepherd. The good thing is that you have the choice of which way you wish the dog to look, but it is not 100% guaranteed. This dog is also called the Aussie-Poo and is a cross between the Australian Shepherd and the Poodle. This is more likely to be found in the USA than in Australia. This is not a large dog, and you can get this new dog in mini. The Toy poodle will have naturally smaller puppies than the Standard Poodle. The size can vary but you should plan for a dog that is about 14-23 inches and the weight about 25-70 pounds. This dog will be fairly muscular, with a slim build overall. They have strong bones. If they take after the poodle then they have a straight muzzle, oval shaded eyes and have a square look to the body and face. Ears are close to the head and long and flat. The tail is high. If they take after the Australian Shepherd then you can have triangular ears or a mix of both being rose ears. Both have oval feet that are compact and have arched toes. The coat is the biggest difference but even here there are some similarities. The Poodle coat is curly or corded, thick but soft and sheds little to none, whereas the Australian Shepherd coat is straight or wavy, medium in texture and medium length. Here you can have a moderate mane and frill about the neck, more in the dog than the bitches. So some care has to be taken in looking at the breeds blended, and what you may get. There is no set colour and a great choice is available within each litter. The life expectancy is 12-15 years.

History: The history is only just forming for the Aussiedoodle and so in some ways you can be part of this new journey. We do know that to have a Hybrid or Designer dog the parents of the puppy must have documented purebred ancestry but this is only in the first line of the breed. Then you see backcross puppies 25% purebred and 75% purebred called F1b This is the most likely to be allergy friendly than any doodle cross. As you can see history is in the making here, but like all purebred dogs it has to start somewhere, and it is now.

Temperament: The Aussiedoodle is a mix of two good intelligent dogs so you know that you will have a dog that is a quick learner and can be trained fairly quickly. They are loving and sociable, wanting to be with their owners. This dog, like all dogs, needs kind but firm rules and a good pack leader, that has a gentle but calm nature, to enforce training and rules of the home. This dog maintains the herding instincts from the Australian Shepherd and so will need to be trained not to do this, as nipping ankles on family outings is not desirable. Both the parents of this dog are working dogs, so you will need to keep this dog energy channelled on constructive things and not allow it to get bored. Training is important both for the dog, and owner, to establish the owner as pack leader and the dog to fulfil the need to work and use their intelligent brains. They make great companion dogs and can often be found lying at the feet of their owners. The Aussiedoodle gets on well with other pets. They are high energy dogs and will need at least long walks daily.

Health issues: As this is a new breed the health issues have not yet, if any, been seen. It is known that both breed’s can suffer cataracts, the merle in the Australian Shepherd can be blind-deaf and this may need checking in the Aussiedoodle merle. Skin allergies happen in the Poodle and so can happen in this breed if they take after the Poodle.

Grooming: The coat type will dictate how much grooming is required for this dog. The Poodle coat needs a lot of care from brushing daily to having the fur cut every 8 weeks and bathing about the same, Whereas the Australian Shepherd only needs weekly brushing and bathing should be only done if very necessary.

Living conditions: Here we have one dog that is unsuitable for apartment living and another that is happy with apartment living. The answer is to make sure you have lots of time to really exercise this dog and also use their mental energy and this will allow the dog to be more settled. The Aussiedoodle will need a medium size garden.

If you can't find a local breeder in your area don't worry, many breeders are using the major airlines like American, Delta, Continental and Northwest airlines for shipping their puppies.

At this time the airlines will ship puppies to the following States: Alabama AL - Alaska AK - Arizona AZ - Arkansas AR - California CA - Colorado CO - Connecticut CT - Delaware DE - Florida FL - Georgia GA - Hawaii HI - Idaho ID - Illinois IL - Indiana IN - Iowa IA - Kansas KS - Kentucky KY - Louisiana LA - Maine ME - Maryland MD - Massachusetts MA - Michigan MI - Minnesota MN - Mississippi MS - Missouri MO - Montana MT - Nebraska NE - Nevada NV - New Hampshire NH - New Jersey NJ - New Mexico NM - New York NY - North Carolina NC - North Dakota ND - Ohio OH - Oklahoma OK - Oregon OR - Pennsylvania PA - Rhode Island RI - South Carolina SC - South Dakota SD - Tennessee TN - Texas TX - Utah UT - Vermont VT - Virginia VA - Washington WA - Washington, D.C. - West Virginia WV - Wisconsin WI - Wyoming WY - Hawaii HI.