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[Eagleon]

So, to my profound excitement, tomorrow evening we'll be picking up an Australian Shepherd puppy from a breeder a friend introduced us to. Yes, I know, animal shelters are full of loving dogs waiting for their new home - we've been to several in the area. Due to our randomly fluctuating work hours, there's not much chance for us to adopt anything but older dogs (which I don't want to deal with for various reasons) and pitbulls (which I'm consistently allergic to, not even going into other possible issues). We trust our friend, and we trust this breeder.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a first-time dog owner. I grew up with and took care of three dogs (one of them an aussie), all of them wonderful friends. But this is the first time we've had an actual, young (2-mo old) puppy to take care of. Fortunately we have a safety net - my parents have agreed to foster him if he becomes destructive/unhappy. I'd rather it not come to that.

We've puppy-proofed the kitchen (pulled gas knobs off, stowed everything but cans in doored pantry, locked fridge) and connecting bathroom (chemicals also stowed in pantry), which is where he'll be for a while (6-8 hours) when we aren't home. My brother lives in the area, so he can potentially come sit for us. Puppy food, toys, and collar/leash is bought, dishes placed, newspaper is stockpiled, yard is ready. What else? As excited as I am, I'm also nervous about attachment issues, boredom, potential accidents I might have overlooked, etc. etc.

Any advice, bay12 dog-owners?

[Caz]

Breeders are the evil. You should've picked up a dog from a shelter.

Train it well. A dog's behaviour is only a reflection of the owner. Clickers are valuable tools in training too.

[LordBucket]

I think my advice would be to not get a dog from a breeder, and instead simply ask around, friends, neighbors, etc. My own personal experience with pets has been that animals that are purchased for some reason tend to not be as good pets as animals that are born behind someone's couch and given away.

I'm not entirely sure why that is. But I've found it to be very consistent.

[UristSwiftstrike]

I imagine you're adopting this puppy for breeding purposes. Breed the dogs, them skin them alive and eat them.
Soon you will have a wonderful industry based around puppyslaughter.
Oh wait... God I've been playing too much DF

EDIT: A wild PETA activist has appeared before you! Beware it's red paint!

[eerr]

The non-inbred animals tend to have less health complications.

They might be filthy but they probably won't have a bad back...

[forsaken1111]

Get a kitten. Less work, more cute.

[Tellemurius]

Less work

Are you high? catsxplosion  anyone?

[Neonivek]

Breeders are the evil. You should've picked up a dog from a shelter.

Not all of them.

[forsaken1111]

Less work

Are you high? catsxplosion  anyone?

Just buy a male or female, not both

[IronyOwl]

Just remember proper training etiquette- specifically, make sure you let it know when it does something wrong and try to show it what to do right (leading it outside to go to the bathroom, for instance). This applies for all animals at all ages, of course (humans included), but it's generally easier to start them off right than suddenly realize you've had enough of it eating your shoes six months in.

Also remember that, where possible, it's better to train it to not do bad things, rather than just deny access to them. A dog that knows not to eat shoes is a lot better than a dog you don't leave shoes within reach of, for instance.

Otherwise, not much to say. Try to make sure it gets plenty of exercise (healthy for you as well) and remember that the defecating inside and chewing on things phase(s) are relatively brief.

[forsaken1111]

Place puppy on treadmill at least once a day. Not only does it exercise the puppy, it can be hilarious. My aunt's puppy loved running on the treadmill but never quite got the hang of running straight so it would sometimes just fall off. I think it liked that even more because it would pop back up and jump on the thing again. It would whine if we didn't let it run on the treadmill at least once a day.

[Caz]

Breeders are the evil. You should've picked up a dog from a shelter.

Not all of them.

Too many dogs about to be euthanized to put up with people breeding them for profit, imo.

[lordcooper]

Place puppy on treadmill at least once a day. Not only does it exercise the puppy, it can be hilarious. My aunt's puppy loved running on the treadmill but never quite got the hang of running straight so it would sometimes just fall off. I think it liked that even more because it would pop back up and jump on the thing again. It would whine if we didn't let it run on the treadmill at least once a day.

You sir, are a genius.

[Tellemurius]

Place puppy on treadmill at least once a day. Not only does it exercise the puppy, it can be hilarious. My aunt's puppy loved running on the treadmill but never quite got the hang of running straight so it would sometimes just fall off. I think it liked that even more because it would pop back up and jump on the thing again. It would whine if we didn't let it run on the treadmill at least once a day.

was it sad that i read that as puppy mill?

[Duke 2.0]

 Goddam it people, it took until IronyOwl to get an actual answer? And still this silliness of dodging the question to address an issue that was already addressed and excused? Doesn't matter where the puppy came from.

 Uhhh, from what I remember you generally don't want them to stay outside for too long at a time. Takes them like, six months or so to build up an immune system? Just be mindful of its weakness to disease. And be vigilant about training at around 3-4 months old. Habits formed here will really stick with the little guy.