Mary Allen
These hardworking herding dogs were primarily bred for cattle. At the same time, until the 1980s, they were little known outside of their native Australia – unless they were exported as working dogs. By pinching the animals in the shackle, the dogs keep the herd together. Enormously bright, extraordinarily eager, and lively, this breed of dog is currently setting the standard in obedience and agility training and is becoming increasingly popular as a pet.
Australian Cattle Dog – breed portrait
The hot climate of Australia’s outback requires an extremely hardy and tough dog. The first imported herding dogs, which probably resembled the ancestors of the Old English Sheepdog in appearance and were brought over by settlers, were overwhelmed by the harsh climate and the long distances they had to travel.
In order to breed a dog suitable for the conditions described, ranchers experimented with a number of breeds. The Australian Cattle Dog descended from a mixed heritage that includes the Smithfield Heeler (now extinct), the Dalmatian, the Kelpie, the Bull Terrier, and the Dingo (the Australian wild dog).
This high diversity of breeds created a capable dog that seems to live for work. A breed standard was recorded as early as 1893. The dog was officially registered in 1903, but it took another 80 years to get it known outside.
Followers of this breed praise his intelligence and willingness to learn. These good qualities make the Australian Cattle Dog an exceptional working dog, but also a demanding family dog.
Like the Border Collie, the Australian Cattle Dog needs a lot of exercise and mental stimulation: it loves to work. What this “work” does depend on the owner. Whether engaging the dog in agility or obedience exercises or simply teaching him a series of intricate games, the Australian Cattle Dog will learn easily and enthusiastically.
The Cattle Dog as a house dog is usually a typical one-person dog but is also very devoted to its family. He is suspicious of strangers and should be trained to accept new people and other dogs from a young age.
Blue Heelers or Queensland Heelers: Appearance
The Australian Cattle Dog is a sturdy, compact and muscular dog with a well-proportioned head, clear stop, and black nose play.
His dark brown eyes, which are oval in shape and of medium size and neither protruding nor deep-set, show the typical distrust of strangers. The ears are erect and moderately pointed. They are set wide apart on the skull and tilted outwards. Its coat is smooth, forming a double coat with a short, dense undercoat. The top coat is dense, with each hair straight, hard, and lying flat; therefore the hair coat is impermeable to water.
The fur colors vary between blue – also with black or brown markings – and red with black markings on the head. Its tail, which reaches approximately to the hocks, has a moderately deep-set. In the animal at rest, it hangs, while in movement it is slightly raised.
Australian Cattle Dog breed: Care
The Heeler’s coat doesn’t need much maintenance. It is pleasant for the dog if you brush it once in a while to remove the old hair.
Cattle dog info: temperament
The Australian Cattle Dog is very intelligent and willing to work, even-tempered, rarely barks, very loyal, courageous, obedient, alert, optimistic, and active. Its properties can be traced back to its origin and initial use. When properly trained, the Heeler does not tend to hunt or bark, always alert but never nervous or aggressive.
Alert and brave, the Australian Cattle Dog has always been fearless. Due to his inherited protective instinct, he protects his house, farm, and family, as well as the herd of cattle entrusted to him. He shows a natural distrust of strangers but is still an affable, docile dog.
Blue heeler dog breed info: upbringing
The Australian Cattle Dog is a clever and intelligent dog that has a high willingness to learn and loves to work. His upbringing should therefore be rather simple. However, if you don’t pay enough attention to this dog, it will become dissatisfied.
Agility is a sport suited to this breed. But it can also be fly-ball, agility, obedience, tracking, Schutzhund sport (VPG (all-round test for working dogs), SchH sport, VPG sport, IPO sport), or other games that you can keep the Australian Cattle Dog busy with. By intensively dealing with this dog one achieves that he remains very balanced.
A bored Australian Cattle Dog can become tiresome quite quickly. He then sets out on his own to look for a job, which doesn’t always have to go well.
Compatibility
The Australian Cattle Dog behaves excellently with fellow dogs, other pets, or children. A prerequisite for such behavior is, of course, that the dogs are well socialized and acclimated.
Movement
Animals in the breed group that includes the Australian Cattle Dog need plenty of exercise and activity to keep their bodies in good shape. So if you are looking for a lap dog that you don’t have to do much with, this dog is the wrong choice.
Particularities
The puppies of this breed are born white, but spots on the paws give an indication of the coat color to be expected later.
Story
Australians refer to their cattle dog with respect and admiration as “man’s best friend in the bush”. The Australian Cattle Dog holds a special place in the hearts of Australians. The dog from Australia has many names and faces. He is known by the names Australian Heeler, Blue or Red Heeler, but also Halls Heeler or Queensland Heeler. Australian Cattle Dog is its official name.
The history of the Australian Cattle Dog is closely linked to the history of Australia and its conquerors. The first immigrants settled in the areas around today’s metropolis Sydney. Among other things, the immigrants also brought the cattle and the associated cattle dogs with them from their homeland (mainly England).
The imported dogs did their job satisfactorily at first, even if the Australian climate took a toll on the dogs. It was not until settlers began to expand north of Sydney across the Hunter Valley and south into the Illawarra District that serious complications arose.
The discovery of a pass in the Great Dividing Range in 1813 opened up vast grazing lands to the west. Since a farm could even cover thousands of square kilometers, completely different animal husbandry was offered here.
There were no fenced borders and, unlike before, the cattle were simply abandoned there, unlike before, the cattle were, so to speak, abandoned and left to their own devices. As a result, the herds became increasingly feral and lost their familiarity with humans. The dogs were rather tame animals that lived in tight spaces in well-fenced pastures, used to being driven. This changed.
Known as “Smithfields” or “Black-Bob-Tail”, the dog from England was used by Australia’s early drovers for their herd work. These dogs didn’t cope very well with the climate, barked a lot, and were slow on their feet with their clumsy gait. Smithfields were one of the first dogs used by ranchers for herding. However, they didn’t always get along well with the terrain of Australia’s Down Under.
Timmin’s Heeler Dogs
John (Jack) Timmins (1816 – 1911) crossed his Smithfields with the Dingo (the Australian wild dog). The idea was to take advantage of the characteristics of the dingo, an extremely skilled, courageous, tough hunter who is optimally adapted to his environment. In order for the settlers to be able to use the vast areas of Australia for cattle breeding, they had to breed a suitable dog that was persistent, climate-resistant, and worked silently.
The dogs resulting from this crossing were called Timmins Heelers. They were the first Australian Cattle Dogs, very agile yet calm drivers. However, due to its obstinacy, this crossbreed could not prevail in the long term and disappeared again after a while.
Hall’s Heeler
The young landowner and cattle breeder Thomas Simpson Hall (1808–1870) imported two blue merle Rough Collies from Scotland to New South Wales in 1840. He achieved good results by crossing the offspring of these two dogs with a dingo.
The dogs resulting from this crossing were called Hall’s Heelers. The collie-dingo mixes worked much better with the cattle. These dogs were highly sought after as they represented a major advance on what had previously been used as cattle dogs in Australia. The demand for puppies was justifiably high.
Jack and Harry Bagust, the brothers tried to improve the dogs by further crossbreeding. First, they crossed into a Dalmatian to increase affection for humans. Additionally, they used Black and Tan Kelpies.
These Australian sheepdogs brought even more work ethic into the breed, which benefited their intended use. The result was an active, compact dog of a slightly heavy dingo type. After using the Kelpies, no further outcrossing was done.
The Australian Cattle Dog developed into Australia’s most important herding dog breed over the course of the 19th century. The blue variety (blue merle) was exhibited for the first time in 1897. Breeder Robert Kaleski established the first breed standard in 1903. The FCI recognized the Australian Cattle Dog in 1979.