blue heeler or australian sheperd?

[Ky hills]

That's another thing. Male or female? This last Aussie I had was one of my top three dogs I've owned... but I don't like female dogs. They get hurt feelings and they will hold a grudge. Males can take physical discipline or harsh language and be fine twenty seconds later. Males are more forgiving and will work harder... and at the end of the day they will calm down and take a nap at your feet.

My experience is I typically prefer male dogs, but no dog anywhere held a grudge worse than my male Border Collie and he was sensitive too.
Our female Heeler is somewhat sensitive but tough as nails and doesn't hold a grudge. It's just an individual thing I think.

 

[ppsinoia]

I have read there some Australian sheppards are prone to certain genetic problems. I don't know more than that, but you might want to check that out, and then, if you get an Aussie, get him from a breeder who has checked his dogs for those problems. You might look at getting a Texas Heeler, which is simply an Australian Sheppard-Australian Cattle Dog (heeler) cross. A cross like that might cancel out genetic problems from both parents.

 

[CowboyRam]

A buddy of mine has a Idaho Shag. The one he as is a great working dog.

 

[Dave]

A buddy of mine has a Idaho Shag. The one he as is a great working dog.

My dog is a Border Collie / Idaho Shag cross. Got her from my neighbor. He has the mother, father, and 2 litter mates to my dog. They all work.

 

[tcolvin]

I have the Australian shepherd, she has had no training except what I've done. I wish I could find a local trainer but can't find one. She wants to run to the head instead of from behind. She is some help but doesn't really know what I want her to do. I get her to go into pasture with me and we will walk around behind my cows and I'll tell her to push up and she will get after them and they move. I can tell her to stop and she does, when I tell her to come Lady come, she will return to me. I am now trying to get her to just "walk'em up " and she will walk behind them. Is she a trained cattle dog? NO, I need to do more work with her. The stop, stay, lay down and come, she has down pat. I just don't know how to get her to move them to the corral on her own. She is 3 years old this February and is smart as some human beings. She doesn't like anyone having contact with me or my wife, even my kids or grand kids. We are working on that now. She has learned to listen to my talking and responds to it by actions, such as me saying something like, I think I'll run to the store, or, I'm going to bed, or several other things she has picked up on. I can say "get on the mule", go to the red truck, stay on the porch or go to the porch and stay. She obeys and even if I say stay on the mule, she will, while I'm spraying weeds or just to go open gates to move cows. I wish I could find someone to help me train her because she is trainable. She comes in at night and watches westerns for a couple of hours and then she is ready to go back out to the back porch where she is a good watch dog. Australian Sherphard is definitely my choice. She is family and she doesn't consider her self as a dog. lol

 

[tcolvin]

This is Lady
She is the Boss on TKC Farms (thinks so anyway)

 

[Silver]

Wife headed to Cow Town to pick our daughter up from U of C. So it's me and the dog feeding. He's mostly Kelpie so he figures he should drive and I should open the gates.

 

[Travlr]

My experience is that pups should not be weaned from from their mom until 7 or 8 weeks.
Those that are weaned early lack certain basic skills and do not socialize as well.
Just my experience over the years. Someone may have an exception that developed differently.

Anywhere between 6 and 8 weeks is best. Later on they don't bond as well due to being around their littermates. In fact that is an important point, too. If you bring a pup in to a family of dogs and don't isolate them with enough time around humans they will grow up paying too much attention to dogs instead of humans. That's why I prefer single dogs instead of a bunch of them.

 

[K C Farm]

A buddy of mine has a Idaho Shag. The one he as is a great working dog.

What is an Idaho Shag?

 

[Travlr]

What is an Idaho Shag?

Looks like a cross between and old English sheep dog and whatever jumped the fence...

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Airedale, Border Collie and Australian Shepard, I think.

 

[CowboyRam]

What is an Idaho Shag?

What is an Idaho shag?

The Idaho Shag is renowned for its stamina, herding instinct, and most of all its unmistakable scruffy appearance as if it had an accident with an electric fence that left its hair permanently fried. A blend of Airedale terrier, border collie, kelpie or heeler, an Idaho Shag sounds like a breeding accident.

 

[Dave]

We gathered, sorted, and hauled 120 pairs today. There was an assortment of dogs present. They all worked how they were asked. Going by owner so I can remember what was there. An Idaho Shag, a shag/Border collie cross, a high dollar BC, a heeler, an Australian Shepard, a Border Collie pup, a BC, a pointy nosed dog who looks a Whippet cow dog cross, and my Shag/BC cross. The high dollar BC's mother sold for over $40,000 at Red Bluff a couple years ago. All the people involved are full time cattle men or cowboys except me (I am supposed to be retired).

 

[slightsey]

Anywhere between 6 and 8 weeks is best. Later on they don't bond as well due to being around their littermates. In fact that is an important point, too. If you bring a pup in to a family of dogs and don't isolate them with enough time around humans they will grow up paying too much attention to dogs instead of humans. That's why I prefer single dogs instead of a bunch of them.

View attachment 43981

Now that is a very interesting comment "if you bring a pup............instead of humans. We have a pack of 3 female dogs and added a blue heeler who is now 10 months old. We did not isolate her like you are suggesting and I find her to be more attached to my Australian shepherd than to me. I knew nothing about the breed and thought it was breed related. My other three dogs were not isolated either but are attached to me. She will say hello for a brief moment and then run after Sadie (she is relentless about bugging Sadie!). She is a good girl over all and will listen. We don't have cows but horses. She loves to bark at them and pull on their tails and recently I saw her nip at their noses, all of which I do not allow her to do when I am with her, but she is not always with me. I am very thankful, the horses just ignore my dogs, but it is putting her in danger of getting kicked.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I have owned blue heelers for about 60 years - so I am prejudiced. BC & Aussies have way more energy than heelers.
A bitch teaches her pups discipline at 6-8 weeks of age. Very important time!
YOU need to be the boss. Heelers are a pack dog and YOU must be the leader of his pack. Yes, you can love them and cuddle, but YOU must have the last say and be respected. I think that is true with most dogs.
Dogs are like kids - they are only as good as their parents (YOU).

 

[Stonewall Joe]

need a dog sometimes to push cattle....already have a german shepard for home protection ..my cows are calm, and can call them to barn in general when needed...got into my hay pasture today and had a 2 hour time getting them out...reminded me of when my dad had a blue heeler to drive cows...dog would need to get along with my home dogs but i would train him on driving cows..had some experience with border collie, blue heeler in the past...love to halve any opinions

The hardest thing I've experienced with a heeler is to get them to quit and to put a good down on them. I've had several, our last one was a female and she had a down on her like a border collie and was easy to work and could get aggressive in a loading situation if you asked her too. She was a great family and yard dog as well. I've had a lot more aussies and a couple border collies. I found the cow bred border collies from working lines to be the easiest and most solid

 

[Warren Allison]

I have had, or people who I have worked with have had, Heelers, Austrailian Shepherd and Border Collies. The BC Were the quietest and the "smartest" around cattle. Austraiilans were next, and any heeler I have been around was an idiot. Like people have said...hard to call off, and are bad to kill cats. Scott owns one that is part of our hog-hunting pack. Trails and bays the hogs as good as our hounds, Black Mouth Curs, and Catahoulas do. If you had to train one, train your German Shepherd. Probably one of THE smartest and easiest to train dogs...for anything you'd want a dog for. There is a reason Shepherd is in the name of the breed. Myself, I don't use "cattle dogs". Won't even work or catch cows for people that want to use them to "help".

 

[Silver]

A guy with a dog can solve or create just as many problems as a guy on a horse. All depends on pair.

 

[slightsey]

I have the Australian shepherd, she has had no training except what I've done. I wish I could find a local trainer but can't find one. She wants to run to the head instead of from behind. She is some help but doesn't really know what I want her to do. I get her to go into pasture with me and we will walk around behind my cows and I'll tell her to push up and she will get after them and they move. I can tell her to stop and she does, when I tell her to come Lady come, she will return to me. I am now trying to get her to just "walk'em up " and she will walk behind them. Is she a trained cattle dog? NO, I need to do more work with her. The stop, stay, lay down and come, she has down pat. I just don't know how to get her to move them to the corral on her own. She is 3 years old this February and is smart as some human beings. She doesn't like anyone having contact with me or my wife, even my kids or grand kids. We are working on that now. She has learned to listen to my talking and responds to it by actions, such as me saying something like, I think I'll run to the store, or, I'm going to bed, or several other things she has picked up on. I can say "get on the mule", go to the red truck, stay on the porch or go to the porch and stay. She obeys and even if I say stay on the mule, she will, while I'm spraying weeds or just to go open gates to move cows. I wish I could find someone to help me train her because she is trainable. She comes in at night and watches westerns for a couple of hours and then she is ready to go back out to the back porch where she is a good watch dog. Australian Sherphard is definitely my choice. She is family and she doesn't consider her self as a dog. lol

I have had many breeds in my life and some very nice, friendly and loving dogs, but I have to say Sadie, my Aussie is the sweetest dog I have ever had. She is friendly, loving, obedient, smart and loves to be outside but when it's time to go to bed she prefers to be with me.

 

[Travlr]

A guy with a dog can solve or create just as many problems as a guy on a horse. All depends on pair.

Yeah, isn't that the truth...

My last dog was an Australian shepherd and a great companion dog. She might have been a good herding dog for someone that knew more about how to use a "header" when what I wanted was a heeler. If I took her out with me to get cows into a corral, invariably she would be sitting in the open gate just when the cows were headed for the opening.

She would have been the right dog for someone else that knew how to use her.