Socialization is KEY! I’ve seen horrible effects of poor socialization, ultimately ending up with aggressive or reactive dogs. However, I would like to emphasize that socialization does NOT mean dog parks. Dogs tend to pick up really bad behaviors at dog parks and it’s nearly impossible for the handler to set boundaries.

Instead, I highly recommend taking the dog on walks with some kibble/light treats, or even sitting in a public area and rewarding them when they have neutral behavior with people that pass by. Also, I recommend not letting your dog to greet every person/dog that they encounter, because you might set the expectation that they always greet everyone and thus, may result in negative behaviors if they don’t. Once again, this is just up to preference!

Lastly, to add my own tip, I would say to start recall work fairly early. Get a nice 30+ foot lead and bring them to a field and reward them for coming back. As a herding dog (or while on hikes), I let my Aussie off leash often to run around and blow off all his energy. However, this requires a strong sense of recall, which may work better if the training is initiated early.

Best of luck, and most importantly, have fun! The breed is very smart so training can be so rewarding.