australian cattle dogs

[Farmhand]

We have a red and a blue heeler. They are wonderful dogs. Have never trained them to work cattle. They just seem to come into on their own. VERY intelligent dogs. Son uses the blue for 4H also. She is very easy to teach and loves to work in the show ring about as much as she loves working cattle. Other son is thinking about using the red for 4H this year. The red isn't a year old yet and hasn't had any training yet so will have to see how that goes. One mistake we made with the last red was tone of voice. When he was riled up about a stranger being on the place, we used a soothing tone to try to settle him down. Turns out with heelers, you need to use a firm tone to let them know you are in charge of the situation. Guess I was just to use to the lap dogs I had as a kid. Once I figured out Heelers will take control of a situation if I don't, everything was fine. The next problem I need a solution to is - how to keep them from killing my ducks and cats. Any ideas out there?

 

[purecountry]

All we have is Molly - 110 pounds, 32" tall, 1/2 Irish Wolfhound, 1/2 Great Pyrenees. She's our 'Yote Patrol. Great with the kids, they ride her around and hang from her ears. But when dogs come around, wild or domestic that try and brace her, you see a side of her come out that's just scary. Friend of mine works rigs and has this German Shepherd cross thing always ridin' in the back of his truck, like most riggers do. Seems to be a symbol for toughness with these guys or somethin'.

Well, his dog jumped out of the truck and went at Molly, and before we could spit she had that dog by the throat, shaking her up and down like she was flippin' a gopher around. Anytime they come by now, that dog just stays in the truck. :lol: I'll post a pic sometime if I can remember to take one.

 

[LaurenE]

I have never owned a heeler, but we have friends that have one. She is a great dog, but was never taught how to really work or come off cows. She will try to bite at cows through the fence and will take any chance she gets to just chase the cows. She got in the pasture one day and chased my steer and caused him to jump the fence and run out into a very busy road. Luckily, a van cut him off and when called he let us grab him. I have never been too fond of that dog since then, although, I would never say anything bad about the breed, as I know they are great dogs.

 

[jbar]

acd make good pets, but take twice as long to train,than border collies,had acd for years reds and blues,all good pets but no outstanding stockdogs but very good pets.not trying to bad mouth this breed just didnt fit my needs,if it works for you more the better,they have there place its just not in the back of my truck. :cboy:

 

[trin]

i have a blue heeler i got from the pound. very smart dog. i coould never find anyone to train her. so now she stays in trouble for running the cows at the wrong time. i travel with my job so i did not have time to train her. she is 1 and i do not know if it to late to get someone to train her or not. what do yaw think about catahoolas

 

[Anonymous]

I've grown up with all the various types of work dogs here and while the heelers are good cattle dogs, I have to say the Kelpies are the best. They've got the smarts and instinctive nature that alot of the others don't. Love Border Collies too but they just aren't practical where we live and need more discipline. The Kelpies are so intelligent.. rarely do you have to show them something twice. Our current Kelpie (5yrs) helped me move a mob of heifers on foot when she was just 4 months old... she had never seen stock before and she'd never seen her parents work.
Love them all but in my opinion, Kelpies top the list!

 

[rjk]

Kids bought me a blue heeler last year for Father's Day, best present I have recieved in a long time. At 3 mo old, on a leash, she went after a steer that apparantly got to close to me. Took 3 times to teach her to sit, and after 3 to 4 training sessions she will sit until I tell her to to her thing. Can't imagine working cattle without one, and hope to never be without one. Chose heeler because os short hair and had been told they work from behind, and that will usually be in front of me. Have seen some good collies too, and with good instincts and training a dog should be a good asset.

 

[tallarook]

We too have an ACD only ours is a Smithfield, that is, born with a stumpy tail, she has had 3 litters and each time pups have different lenghts of tail through out the litter. Our dog is 100% loyal to all of our family and a good guard dog, she is also quite handy with the cattle. I believe that these dogs are only aggressive if allowed to be.Cheers from Australia.

 

[heifer_fitter]

My family has had blue heelers for over 30 years. We had a dalmation and the heelers taught her how to work cows, a pretty amazing thing since she couldn't even learn to lie down on command. I currently have a female that just turned a year and a half, show quality but we wanted her for a pet. Shes amazing, if any one says that heelers are too agressive or hard headed they're just not smart enough to have a heeler. My dog is a nationally certified therapy dog and visits nursing homes, libraries, schools and hospitals. I'll post a picture asap as she is simply beautiful. We're currently working on cattle driving with her as she thinks its a great game to be chased by the cows. She picks things up VERY quickly. She knows 10+ tricks and is amazingly loyal. As to the kelpies, the funny thing is that heelers are part kelpie. We have another blue female and I showed her in 4H at state for 3 or 4 years. If you have troubles with a heeler generally its your fault, not the dogs. We simply love them to pieces!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

My family has had blue heelers for over 30 years. We had a dalmation and the heelers taught her how to work cows, a pretty amazing thing since she couldn't even learn to lie down on command. I currently have a female that just turned a year and a half, show quality but we wanted her for a pet. Shes amazing, if any one says that heelers are too agressive or hard headed they're just not smart enough to have a heeler. My dog is a nationally certified therapy dog and visits nursing homes, libraries, schools and hospitals. I'll post a picture asap as she is simply beautiful. We're currently working on cattle driving with her as she thinks its a great game to be chased by the cows. She picks things up VERY quickly. She knows 10+ tricks and is amazingly loyal. As to the kelpies, the funny thing is that heelers are part kelpie. We have another blue female and I showed her in 4H at state for 3 or 4 years. If you have troubles with a heeler generally its your fault, not the dogs. We simply love them to pieces!

I totally agree but I didn't want to step on anyones toes. I often tell people that "most people shouldn't own a heeler because they aren't smart enough to". Not meaning that people aren't smart - just you have to really be dog smart to have a heeler. They are so smart they can be more dog than most people can handle. They can get into lots of trouble - quick. They are bred up using Kelpie & Dingo's and a third breed (Shephard type). I also do not believe in cropping their tails - that is an Australian Shephard trait.
I realize there is NOW a naturally docked tail strain (called "Stubbies around here). But that is not AKC standard or the standard of the originals that came over here back in the late 60's & early 70's. Back than, Aussie's (mostly teenagers) came over here to work on farms. They brought their guitar & heeler.

 

[FL Cowboy]

We have 3 heelers and 4 cur dogs.They all work cattle very well . I have worked catahoula's and aussie's but the curs are the best I think.Not taking anything away from heelers but preffernce I guess. Plus I work alot of large wooded acreage and the curs just seem to do better in that condition.I do think that heelers are better than aussie's and border collies now since they are being bred for show and other compitions other than herding more so than the ACD