This is Achak. He is a 14 week old Australian Shepherd. He is a late birthday gift to myself now that I have reduced my work week to 4 days a week and negotiated no travelling for work, I view the changes as semi retirement, giving me a lot more time at home. He is a very adorable yet super high energy puppy who just loves to chew on things, me included.
He is very obedient in most things, and was very easy to house break. His one really big issue is that he likes to herd my wife and I, and this includes the typical nipping coming from the breed. I have lost a few pairs of pants working on controlling his nipping behavior. I had raised a number of dogs but none had the same drive to herd that he does, but it is getting much better now. He can sit, stay, and come with about 95% success, but his down is still a work in progress. On my days off we generally go for a hike off one of our local logging roads where he hikes with me off leash mostly, on my working days I usually have a training session and a fetch session where he gets to retrieve a frisbee. Otherwise he mostly just hangs with me, whether I am working in the yard, or at my desk.
I have tried to train him like my other puppies I have had but he is smarter than our past poodles and retrievers, and a bit more stubborn. He has needed a different type of training that I am learning myself, that really involves training him using his normal dog food. He does something for me and I give him some food, not treats just his puppy food. Even if the food is on the floor available for him to eat, he doesn't want to eat it without doing something even if it is just a sit. He does get trained without food as well, in particular recall training because I like to hike with him off leash and I don't want to depend on treats or food to get him to recall.
I tried to keep the hiking, walking, down to 500 meters or 1 km since his bones are still developing but that hardly tires him, we are now up to 5 kms hikes and he would do much more if we let him. Other Aussie owners we have spoken to in this area have noted the same with their dogs, so I think it is normal for the breed.
When he is not chewing on us he is very loving, frequently sitting at my feet patiently waiting for a pat and a back rub and scratch. He has become a full member of the family.