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Australian
Cattle Dog
Australian
Cattle Dog
The Australian Cattle Dog is also
known as the Blue Heeler. The Australian Cattle Dog are
a tough, hard working dog who can cover immense
distances. The Australian Cattle Dog are a versatile
herding dog and can work with horses, goats and even
ducks. Considered a working dog who is fearless and
determined, the Australian Cattle Dog has been carefully
bred to what it is today through use of Dalmatians, wild
Dingoes, Collies and other breeds. A one-person dog,
they are rather aloof with strangers, but to their owner
the Australian Cattle Dog are eternally loyal, gentle,
alert and can easily be trained. The Australian Cattle
Dog are easy going with people they know, and can get
along with children, although they may try to herd them.
The Australian Cattle Dog, can be stubborn and
independent. Puppies are born all-white with coat
coloring appearing a few weeks after birth. The
Australian Cattle Dog are medium sized dogs with a quick
gallop and a quiet temperament. The Australian Cattle
Dog have natural prick ears and are sturdy and compact.
Muscular and strong, they have almond shaped eyes and
come in colors of blue, blue mottled, blue speckled or
red with or without black, blue or tan markings on the
head. They have a long brush tail and smooth double
coat. Agile and intense, the Australian Cattle Dog is an
excellent herder and watch dog.
In the vast plains of the
Australian desert, unruly cattle would often veer off
and cause trouble for the shepherds. These European
settler shepherds needed a dog that could control the
group without barking, as barking seemed to make the
situation worse by spooking the wilder cattle. Not only
this, but the Black Bobtail breed which was being used
as a herding dog at the time, "bit like an alligator and
barked like a consumptive", said Robert Kaleski, author
of the written standard of Australian Cattle Dogs. The
Black Bobtail, and other breeds such as the Smithfield
Collie, would run and bark after the cattle, scaring
them and working the meat off of them, and essentially,
working themselves down to nothing. Surviving in such
intense heat was difficult for a breed from a different
country. Thus, shepherds took what dogs they had and
bred them with others to develop a more efficient breed.
Developed in Australia around the early 1800s, the
Australian Cattle Dog was used to cross great distances
in herding cattle. Since records were not well kept it
is only with speculation that their ancestry is known.
First, breeders bred the Smithfield Collie to the Dingo,
an efficient wild hunter dog that was silent in work and
conserved energy well. The result were Timmon Biters,
dogs which no longer barked at the cattle, but
intensified the biting of the cattle, which was not
good. Second, a man named Thomas Hall in 1840 decided to
breed his smooth-coated Collies to Dingo dogs, producing
Hall's Heelers. Thirdly, the Dingo, Timmon Biter's and
Hall's Heelers were rolled into one breed. Mr. Allen
McNiven conducted more breeding programs and bred a wild
male Dingo to his Blue Merle Collies, and came to the
conclusion that it takes 12 generations to obtain a good
AuCaDo (Australian Cattle Dog). Finally, the Dalmatian
was added to the mix and created the speckled look, as
well as the reason why puppies are born white. This
added loyalty to their master as well as an affinity
with horses. To infuse toughness, some Bull Terrier
blood was added, but not well received and thus bred
out. And later a cross to the Australian Kelpie was
made, thus creating intense heeling capabilities. The
breed was "perfected" in 1893, but it wasn't until 1903
that they were known as the the Australian Cattle Dog.
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