The Toby Chronicles : Coming Home

Toby is an Australian Shepherd. He was supposedly born September 23, 2011. I say supposedly because that would make him 17 weeks old when I got him. He doesn’t seem that old. The breeder where I found him didn’t seem all that competent and I think she mixed up his litter with another one. But, I got attached to the fella and couldn’t walk away. Besides, it wasn’t his fault where he was born.

I brought him home on Friday January 6th, 2012. He’s already won the hearts of the kids and even though I’ve spent 24 hours almost every day with him since bringing him home, he already favors Sarah and Jenny… Shrug…

After living in an apartment for a couple of years and missing Sonny and Sweetie, I’d been wanting to get a dog for some time. It was either a Labrador Retriever or an Australian Shepherd for me. Toby (short for Toblerone) the Tobs, the Tobinator, James Tobias Haselden won me over. =)

This breed is apparently quite wary of strangers. Loyal and rewarding to their family, they often shy away from strangers or ignore them completely. They are also herding dogs and were bred to herd sheep and cattle, and so they make great guard dogs as well.

So, Toby is just starting to get accustomed to his new digs. It’s taken some time to get him comfortable in the house. He has learned how to go up and down stairs now. He is getting better at coming into the house. For the first couple of days, I would open the door and step in, but he wouldn’t follow. So, I would call him, wait and when he didn’t come, close the door. Aussies are very attached to their people and the separation anxiety quickly overcame the fear of the new place and he now comes in pretty easily. After a few times of opening the door, calling him and then closing it when he didn’t come, Toby has grasped the concept of “get in while the gettin's good”.