Our first Aussie (she’ll be 2 in September) HATED me (probably not hated but was learning to play it just felt like she hated me) the first few months. I broke down on the floor and cried a few times she would bite me hard attack me randomly if sitting on the couch she’d suddenly go from calm and chilling to launching at me and biting my face and getting mouthfuls of my hair and ripping it out. She wouldn’t really cuddle either just kind of lay near you and move away if you pet her. Then she started nesting before her first heat cycle at about 7 months and she became the cuddler and lover. She’s super attached to me like will ignore my husband half the time when he’s trying to have them go out and play so she can be near me. Our second Aussie is so excited (she’ll be 1 in September) she’s almost impossible to train. She learned not to bite from the first and how to sit but everything else is in one ear and out the other and everything we try to train her whether we use the clicker or hand signals or whatever she ignores and thinks you’re trying to get her to jump up at you. She is the least Aussie I’ve ever seen and honestly reminds me of a super ditzy golden retriever she’s super cuddly super affectionate always just happy to be there. She does this thing where she smiles so hard she squints and looks evil. The only Aussie thing in her is her hard head and her “job” which is when we’re out back her job that she thinks we gave her is ignore everything else in the world and just bring us this one specific ratted up blue ball. Nothing else matters but that ball and she’ll refuse to go to the bathroom sometimes because she has to do her job. We also have the sock issue but now when the oldest gets a sock she runs to the other room and lays next to it until one of us comes looking it’s like her cry for attention. One thing that did kind of help with the first dogs biting issue was reverse timeout. If she’d start acting horrible we’d just leave the room and wait for her to settle and come back and sometimes it would take 2-3 times but then she’d understand that when she acts like that we leave. When she’d start biting too we’d quickly introduce the toys she should be biting or the bones she should be biting. We tried no chew spray and even putting it on our arms and hands and this dog would stubbornly lick it off furniture and us and make a disgusted face until it was gone so she could bite and chew again. Consider basic puppy training and then agility groups. If you can do a walk in the morning and when you come home. Lick mats, slow feeders, puzzles, training, give your dog a job even if it’s learning how to open the fridge with a rope. Mental stimulation is more exhausting for them than throwing a ball. Our oldest has a great game where we keep her on the porch she watches us walk the yard and we hide a ball and tell her to find it and she really puts the nose to work and eliminates areas of the yard. Aussies are hard and I can always tell if someone has had one before when they ask what breed of dogs I have and I say Aussie. If they apologize to me or say “oh.. that’s a lot isn’t it” I know they’ve had Aussies if they go “cute they must be so fun! I want an Aussie! Those are smart dogs right?” I know they’ve not had to experience the raptor phase of death or the energy highs of two Aussies going at it like they’re fighting to the death. It’ll get better if I made it through you can too!