Australian Shepherd

Australian Shepherds can do well with children who already know how to be calm and gentle. Expect a medium-sized dog that is high-energy, sheds heavily and needs professional grooming on a cycle. The big catch is company: this breed genuinely struggles when the house is empty all day.

Source: American Kennel Club breed standard.

Despite the name, the Aussie is an American breed — developed on western ranches, most likely from Basque shepherds' dogs that arrived by way of Australia, which is where the misleading name came from. It is a true stock dog: bred to work cattle and sheep all day at altitude, and to think independently while doing it. Compared with a Border Collie an Aussie is broader, heavier-coated and a shade more biddable, but no less demanding. The merle coat that sells the breed carries a genuine warning attached: breeding two merle parents together produces puppies that are frequently deaf, blind or both, and no responsible breeder makes that pairing. Ask about the parents' coat colours before anything else.

Day to day. High-energy — this is a dog that needs a real outlet every single day, not a stroll. Skip that and you get chewing, barking and digging, which is not naughtiness, it is boredom. On noise, it is about average for noise.

The coat, honestly. This breed sheds heavily and needs professional grooming on a cycle. A brush a few times a week and the occasional tidy-up keeps it in good order.

Being left alone. Struggles on its own. If your house is empty from the school run until the evening, this is the breed most likely to be unhappy about it — and separation problems are one of the top reasons dogs end up back in rescue.

Training. Eager and easy to train. That makes it a forgiving choice for a family training their first dog, as long as everyone is consistent.

• Someone in the house genuinely wants to run, hike or train most days
• This is your first dog and you want one that makes training feel possible

• Your daily walk is really a quick trip round the block
• Your house is empty from the morning drop-off until the evening
• Nobody has budgeted for a groomer every few weeks
• You cannot live with hair on the sofa, the car and your clothes

Every animal is an individual, and plenty of Australian Shepherds live long, healthy lives. This is here so nobody is surprised — ask a vet, and ask whoever you get the dog from what they have tested for.

Rough running cost: $$ (middle of the pack) — because the coat needs a professional groom on a cycle, and that is the bill people forget, and the breed has known health issues that can mean extra vet visits.

Those are relative bands, not live prices. For real numbers across every pet we cover, see the pet cost study and the cost calculator.

Rescues do have Australian Shepherds and Australian Shepherd crosses, usually adults whose size, coat and temperament you can see rather than guess at.