Aussiepoos (All Sizes) Puppies

One cross, three sizes

The Aussiepoo crosses an Australian Shepherd with a Poodle, and because the Poodle comes in three sizes of its own, so does the cross. This page gathers the standard, the mini and the toy so you can compare them side by side instead of one page at a time.

The sizes differ in how much ground the dog covers and how much house it takes up. What they do not differ in is temperament, coat type or the amount of thinking the dog wants to do in a day, and that is the part worth reading before you pick a number.

Two working breeds behind it

Neither parent is a companion breed by origin, and it shows in the best possible way.

The Australian Shepherd was developed in the western United States rather than Australia — the name travelled with Basque shepherds who reached California by way of Australia, and it stuck to the dogs instead of the country. It is a ranch stock dog, bred for stamina, focus, a long working day and an eye for whatever is moving.

The Poodle is German in origin, a water retriever whose name comes from pudeln, to splash about, and it was refined in France until it became the national dog there. Even the famous clip started out practical: hair left over the joints and the chest for warmth in cold water, and the rest taken off so the dog could swim freely. Poodles are among the most trainable dogs in the world, and the reason is that they were bred to work with a person all day.

Put the two together and you get a dog that watches you, learns fast, and wants a task. That is the Aussiepoo, in every size.

The standard Aussiepoo

Built on a Standard Poodle, this is the full-size version: commonly forty to sixty-five pounds and standing somewhere in the range of eighteen to twenty-three inches at the shoulder, athletic, light on its feet, and slightly longer than tall.

It is the size for a household with room and a routine that already gets outdoors daily. A standard Aussiepoo makes an excellent hiking, running or trail companion, takes to agility and scent work readily, and appreciates a long weekend outing on top of the ordinary daily one. Teach leash manners early, because a dog this size learns them once and keeps them for life.

See the standard Aussiepoos

The mini Aussiepoo

Built on a Miniature Poodle, the mini usually settles somewhere between about fifteen and thirty-five pounds and stands roughly twelve to eighteen inches. It is the size most households end up choosing, and for good reason: it fits an ordinary house and an ordinary car, it is easy to travel with, and it keeps every bit of the working temperament.

Minis are quick and neat on their feet, which makes them very good at agility and rally, and the smaller frame is a real advantage on tight turns. Everything in the shared section below applies to them in full.

See the mini Aussiepoos

The toy Aussiepoo

Built on a Toy Poodle, the toy is the smallest of the three, typically around ten to twenty pounds and ten to fourteen inches at the shoulder. Because there is no recognized standard for the size, expect more variation here than in the other two, and ask about the parents behind a particular puppy rather than trusting a printed figure.

A toy Aussiepoo needs far less distance on a walk and fits comfortably into a flat or a small yard, but it arrives with the full herding personality in a very portable body. Set the house up for a light dog — a set of steps up to the sofa, a harness rather than a neck collar, plenty of time on the floor rather than in somebody’s arms.

See the toy Aussiepoos

What every size shares

The mind does not scale down. This is the single most useful thing on the page. Breeding a herding cross smaller reduces the amount of dog, not the amount of drive. A toy Aussiepoo is as bright, as observant and as keen for a task as a standard one, and the households that get on best with the small sizes are the ones that planned for exactly that.

Providing the mental side is quick and genuinely enjoyable. Twenty focused minutes settles an Aussiepoo of any size more thoroughly than an hour of unstructured yard time: a training session, a scatter feed in the grass, a scent game, a food puzzle, a new trick each week, or a walk that allows real time to investigate the hedge. Give the job somewhere to go and you have a very easy dog to live with.

The herding eye comes as standard. Aussiepoos notice movement and want to organise it, which is why a puppy of any size may start circling running children or a passing bicycle. It is instinct, and it has a simple answer: teach the puppy that something moving fast means go and fetch a toy and bring it to a person. Reward that from the first week, redirect early, and the adult ends up doing it without being asked.

The coat is the same in all three. Expect something on the wavy-to-curly range, closer to the Poodle in texture, that sheds very little and keeps growing rather than dropping out. A coat that holds its hair wants combing rather than brushing, so work a comb down to the skin in sections three or four times a week and follow behind with a slicker. The places to concentrate on are behind the ears, under the collar, in the armpits and down the back of the legs. Book a groomer on a regular cycle — most owners settle into every six to eight weeks — and agree a length you can keep up between visits.

Somewhere in the second half of the first year the puppy coat gives way to the adult one, and for a few weeks the two textures grow through each other and want combing more often. Keep the routine going through that stretch and it settles on its own. Start handling paws, ears and muzzle in week one so the whole business is ordinary by the time it matters.

The colours come from both parents. The Australian Shepherd side brings black, blue merle, red and red merle with white markings and copper points; the Poodle side brings solids — apricot, cream, silver, black, chocolate and café au lait. Merle and solid do not blend so much as take turns, so one litter can hold a marbled blue merle and a plain apricot side by side. Eye colour follows the Aussie side and can be brown, blue, amber, one of each, or a single iris marbled with two colours.

And the warm-weather routine is the same. In a Florida or Tennessee summer the early and late hours are the pleasant ones for both of you, with shade, water and a cool floor through the middle of the day.

Come and compare them

Adult size is an estimate in any crossbreed, and coat texture and colour vary between littermates as well, which makes this a cross that rewards a visit. Three sizes in one room sort themselves out in about four seconds, and a good many people arrive certain about which one they want and leave with a different answer.

Our Aussiepoo puppies come from our network of licensed breeders, and our team can tell you what a particular puppy’s parents looked like and how it has been getting on with people. We have a store in Orlando and one in Nashville, and you are welcome to sit on the floor with a puppy for as long as you like before deciding anything. Find directions and hours, and ask about financing while you are here. Every puppy here goes home with its vet records, its vaccination history and a health warranty, and our team will walk you through what those cover.