My name is Cashew!

Meet Cashew! Cashew is a nut of an Australian Shepherd, currently in Northern Virgina. At 16 months, he is pure teenager, and looking for a family that he can play with and learn how to be a gentleman.

Cashew is rough and tumble, and very mischievous. He grew up with big and small dogs, as well as with cats and has definite preferences – and boy, does he let you know! Cashew is house trained and crate trained and is also, not destructive. He is an Aussie on steroids; LOVING, rambunctious, opinionated, and pushy. He gets along very well with my male Aussie who is a bit larger than he is, and usually ignores the cats. However, he does have significant prey drive and does need to be monitored with cats who run.

Cashew is a lovely companion dog and likes nothing better than to hang with his people. He is a good office dog. He is absolutely not aggressive to people and enjoys both men and women. No stranger danger here! Cashew loves to play with our resident Aussie and plays hard.

He would do well with another larger mellow, stable dog who is balanced in dominance/submissiveness. He is a NO on small dogs and has proven to be dog reactive and dog aggressive on walks. The reactivity is a training issue and any potential adopter would need to continue working on this, as he can re-direct (accidently) on his human. He is also reactive to trucks, but rapidly improving. We are walking him on a front lead harness which helps with control. When there are no distractions, he walks easily and paces with you. However, if a large truck comes rumbling by, he will lunge and bark. He is amenable to distractions and treats in this case. With dogs, not so much. He will lunge and bark until he can no longer see the dog. He calms then. If a dog comes running up to him, he will attack him. For this reason, I do not recommend him to a family with children. All children should be older (ie over 15).

Cashew’s reactivity to dogs is his only negative trait. He is a Velcro dog with his person, but loves the entire family. When I leave the room, he follows. He loves to cuddle and can be demanding for attention. He will shower you with kisses and flop over so you can pet his belly.

Cashew is high on the energy level. He is fine in the car and has no fear of thunderstorms. He is food motivated which makes training easier. He also wants to please, and he is SMART.

Cashew is athletic and fun to watch – he is starting to love his toys, will retrieve and loves to wrestle with larger dogs that he knows. He does like to bound around. Cashew has recently been neutered and is a very healthy dog. He is up to date on vaccinations and preventatives.

In summary, Cashew is a teenage Aussie who is people oriented. He will need an experienced Aussie owner who will train him in his reactivity and impulse control. He would love a certain sort of dog pal to work off his energy in play, but would also do well in the home as an only dog.

If Cashew sounds perfect for you, please fill out our application:

https://www.australianshepherdsfurever.org/adoption-application

There is an additional $20 microchip fee which includes registration and transfer to his new family. All adoption fees are used for future rescue efforts.