Mary Allen
The hardworking cattle dog from Australia impresses with its athleticism and colorful coat markings. However, the Australian Cattle Dog is not a dog for beginners – because it not only has a lot of energy but also a lot of character.
#1 The story of the Australian Cattle Dog begins with an Australian cattle farmer named Thomas Hall.
In the 1830s, he kept a huge herd of semi-wild cattle on an unfenced area of several thousand hectares. In order to be able to keep these gigantic herds together on the extensive pasture, he needed independent working dogs with a lot of energy. Using two imported Northumberland Drovers dogs (an ancestor of the Border Collie) and his own dingoes, he started a new breeding program.
#2 Dingoes are feral domestic dogs that live in the wild in present-day Australia.
The Drovers Dogs from England brought the blue speckled color into the breeding line. In 1840 this new breed was first referred to as "Hall's Heeler", but a stud book was not yet kept.
#3 Due to the many dangers such as Australia’s hostile fauna, the risky work with the large cattle and the tough selection by human hands, only the smartest, most capable and most willing animals survived.
After Hall's death, both blue and red Australian Cattle Dogs were bred by other farmers. Gradually the hard workers found their way to the rest of the continent.