Mary Allen
The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog has been known on its home continent since the 19th century. Find out everything about behavior, character, activity and exercise needs, training, and care of the dog breed Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog in the profile.
The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog has been known on its native continent since the 19th century when efforts were being made to breed a dog to herd cattle. There are two versions of the origin of the breed. One says that an Australian named Thomas Simpson Hall crossed northern English herding dogs (Smithfields) with dingoes around 1830, creating the “Hall’s Heeler”. According to variant two, the “Stumpy Tail” goes back to a drover named Timmins, who mated a Smithfields bitch with a dingo in the same year and named the red offspring “Timmins Biters”. A smooth-haired blue merle collie was later crossed. The breed was given its current name in 2001.
General Appearance
The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog got its name from its short tail, which, although undocked, has a maximum length of four inches. His body is well proportioned and rather square, he appears very robust. The eyes are oval and not too large with an intelligent expression. The neck must be strong and powerful. The blue or red speckled coat is short, straight, and rather harsh, while the undercoat is dense and soft.
Behavior and temperament
The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is a “worker” through and through. He carries out his driving work on the cattle with dedication and great zeal. The breed is considered brave, alert, and intelligent, as well as being very alert. He is reserved and rather suspicious of strangers.
Need for employment and physical activity
The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog wants to do what it was bred to do: work on livestock. He is a born cattle dog and should have a herd available so that he is fully utilized in a manner appropriate to the species. If you want to keep him as a pure companion dog without herding duties, you should definitely do enough dog sports to keep the hard-working fellow busy – otherwise, he will wither away.
Upbringing
The “Stumpy Tail” is not a classic beginner’s dog, it makes too high demands on its owner to be properly exercised. Nevertheless, with consistency, patience, and loving nature, he is very willing to be raised and thus becomes an obedient and easy-going companion who fulfills his tasks with a lot of joy and zeal.
Maintenance
The rather harsh coat, which is not particularly long, should be brushed from time to time. This easy-care breed does not require much more care. When changing the fur, the owner should use the brush a little more often to remove the dead hair from the dense undercoat.
Disease Susceptibility / Common Diseases
As a pure working dog, the breed is therefore very healthy and robust. Perhaps the problem of the merle factor should be considered since this also occurs in the breed.
Did you know?
Like the Australian Cattle Dog, the “Stumpy Tail” is born white, but no later markings are necessary because, unlike the Australian Cattle Dog, Kelpie was not inbred.