Many people choose a specific breed of dog because of their appearance or temperament. More often than not, people tend to gravitate towards a breed that is a lot like them. That saying about being able to match a dog to its owner definitely has some truth to it. You'd be surprised how accurately they compliment each other. Go to a park and watch for people with their dogs. You'll understand what I mean.

All of this seems a bit off topic, but I assure you, all Australian Shepherd owners and the Aussies themselves are cut from the same cloth. You have to be to live with one of these amazing dogs. The people to most likely get along with this breed are active, intelligent and loyal. All of these traits are found in the Australian Shepherd breed.

You can't help but notice the intelligence behind their eyes as you can see the cogs in their head working out every situation. They pick up on your mood as soon as it changes and match their behaivor to yours. They are capable of learning anything, no matter how complex as long as they have the right teacher.

You need to keep them well exercised or you'll end up with unplanned holes in the yard or destruction in the house. This breed is perfect for its purpose. Herding. Just like they can pick up on your mood, they also can read the movements of the flock or herd its directing, making lightning quick adjustments to get the job done.

They are unfaltering in their loyalty to the person the attach themselves to. They'll sleep at the foot of the bed and follow you to any location and station themselves nearby. Going to the bathroom? So is your shadow. Want some privacy? He'll wait right outside. Ultimately, this dog is your unconditional best friend for life.

If you want to be able to explore doggie sports, you'll have no better luck than with an Australian Shepherd on your team. These dogs excell at herding, frisbee, agility, dock jumping, flyball, search and rescue and anything else you want to teach them. They've been helpful to the handicapped as seeing eye dogs, guide dogs and overall companions. Sometimes, they can be too smart for their own good. Learning to open doors, turn on lights, and get the mail are just some of the things your dog may pick up.

My own Aussie knows about 100 words/commands.  I can ask him if he needs to go out and he'll perk up, and from there I can determine what he needs to go out for whether it be to play, pee or poop by his reaction to my questions.  It's almost scary how much he understands.  He also does a bunch of tricks - most of which he picked up in a couple days of showing him what I wanted.

Austrailian Shepherds come in an array of colors. I don't believe any two aussies match. They typically come in blue or red merle and a tri-color. The merles are a splattering of grey or red-brown and black with tan and white mixed in. The tri-colors are a little less exotic looking with a solid coat and tan, black and white points around the face and feet. They can also have blue eyes or eyes with two colors; these are more common in the merle genes. Be careful picking out a puppy with blue eyes or a mostly white coat; the genes that give the dog that type of coloring also come with a hearing defect or blindness.

I personally favor the merles just because they are so colorful and unique. My own dog is a blue merle with hazel eyes. He is blue merle on the top but if you move his hair in the wrong direction, he's almost a red merle!  He is gorgeous!

 No matter what task you set for your Australian Shepherd (ex. companion, herder, agility master) he'll do it loyally and with everything he has.  You can't get a more versatile dog with any other breed.  Check out a local agility or frisbee tournament and you'll see firsthand, the amount of energy and spunk these dogs have!