Australian Cattle Dog
The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD), also known as the Queensland Heeler, Blue Heeler, and Red Heeler, is a herding dog developed in Australia for controlling cattle. It is a medium-sized dog with a lot of energy, intelligence and an independent streak.
Appearance
The Cattle Dog's coat comes in a variety of markings, sometimes quite striking. The coat has a bluish appearance, (hence the name). This is caused by the mottling of colour all over the dog's body, with the exception of the areas of solid colour. The solid colour is found in the facial mask and perhaps in a saddle or a few large splashes on the body. The rest of the dog is covered with hairs which are alternately coloured and white, like the hair on a roan (sorrel) horse. This mottling is also found in collies that are merle in colouration. But unlike merle collies, this colour in Cattle Dogs is not accompanied by odd-coloured eyes and irregular albino patching. The blue coat of a cattle dog shows an even disposition of colour, with regularly-placed denser areas of dark colour showing up as spots, inherited from the Dalmatian ancestry.
The Cattle Dog is generally blue, with ginger feet, ginger spots on the legs, and some of the ginger colour on the face and underparts. The alternate colour is red. A "Red Heeler" has no blue whatsoever. Its body is flecked with red and white, its mask is red and if it has patches on the body, they are red also.
For dog owners whose interest is primarily in their qualification for conformation shows, even markings are preferred over uneven markings, and large solid-color marks on the body are undesirable. For owners who are more interested in their dogs' performance in activities such as herding or dog sports, the breed's strong work ethic and intelligence are of more importance than the exact coat markings. The mask is one of the most distinctive features of an ACD. This mask consists of a blue-black patch over one or both eyes (for the blue coat color) or a red patch over one or both eyes (for the red speckle coat color). The blue variety should also show some red on the face. Denpending on whether one eye or both have a patch, these are called, respectively, single mask and double mask. ACDs without a mask are called plain-faced and may have small red "eyebrows". Any of these is correct according to the breed standard, and the only limitation is the owner's preference.
Many Australian Cattle Dogs have a stripe of white hair in the center of the forehead, usually 1/2 inch to 1 inch by 2 inches to 3 inches (about 2 cm by 7 cm) called the Bentley Mark. This is similar in appearance to the blaze markings sometimes found on horses. According to legend, a popular dog owned by Tom Bentley passed on this distinctive mark to all Australian Cattle Dogs. They also frequently have a white tip to the tail and a small white patch on the chest.
A female Australian Cattle Dog should measure about 17 to 19 inches (43 to 48 cm) at the withers. A male Australian Cattle Dog should measure about 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 cm) at the withers. An ACD is a well-muscled, compact dog with a dense coat of coarse, rather oily hair with a slight ruff and fine winter undercoat. It has a naturally long tail, generally carried low, with a slight white tip. An ACD in good condition should weigh roughly 40 to 50 pounds (18 to 23 kg).
Some breeders dock ACD's tails. This is a controversial practice and, in some countries, is illegal or is prohibited for show dogs. Docking Australian Cattle Dogs' tails is a practice peculiar to the United States - ACD tails are not docked in their country of origin, Australia. The ACD needs its attractive tail for balance and steering while working or in agility. It is widely believed the tails are docked because of the mistaken notion that the dog will get its tail caught in doors or mouths of irate livestock. This is not to be confused with the Stumpy-tailed Cattle Dog, which is born with a naturally docked, or 'bobbed' tail; this animal strongly resembles the ACD in colouring, but has a slightly taller, leaner conformation.
Temperament
Like many herding dogs, Cattle Dogs have high energy levels and active minds. They need plenty of exercise and a job to do, such as participating in dog sports, learning tricks, or other activities that engage their minds. Some individuals find repetitive training frustrating and dull, so owners should aim to make training sessions varied and more exciting in order to keep their dog interested. Cattle Dogs who do not receive the appropriate exercise and entertainment will invent their own, often destructive, activities. These dogs are, by nature, wary. They are naturally cautious, and grow more so as they age. Their cautious nature towards strangers make them perfect guard dogs, when trained for this task. Cattle Dogs drive cattle by nipping at their heels, but they have also been known to herd other animals, such as ducks, chickens and flocks of ground-feeding parrots without instruction when left to their own devices. When around people, their instinct to herd is sometimes hard to suppress and they can nip at people to herd them. If these dogs are around children, they and their owners must have sufficient training to know how to manage or avoid such situations. When walking with their master, they will often follow close behind, with their nose at the heel. To relieve the urge to nip, the ACD can be encouraged to pick up and chew a toy or stick that is thrown for them. The ACD, given a toy that would last another dog for an extended time, will happily sit down with the object between its paws and skilfully shred it into small pieces. An ACD will remove the fuzz from a tennis ball as neatly as it would skin a rabbit. Any toy left with the ACD needs to be extremely robust if it is to last.
The ACD has maintained many instincts from the Dingo. The ACD is an outdoor dog rather than an indoor dog and even on a frosty night will scorn the comfort of a box in the laundry in favour of a shallow depression that they have dug for themselves. They are habitual diggers. In the dry outback of Australia, it is often necessary for their antecedent, the Dingo to dig in creek beds to find water. Dingos also dig lairs for themselves, to escape the heat and cold. Likewise, the ACD, regardless of how comfortable its kennel, prefers a hollow in the ground. They will invariably excavate underneath the kennel, if the ground is sufficiently soft to do so. This tendency, and the ability to climb, means that an ACD is difficult to keep in a suburban yard.
For this reason, and because on the very large country properties where they work, the whereabouts of the dog must be known, the ACD is often kept on a chain. While this is distressing to some animal rights activists, it seems to cause very little distress to the dogs in question, provided the chain is not too restricting and they are let off during the day for a period of exercise, either with their owner, or playing with the other working dogs. For the rest of the time, they are content to loll in the shade, or sit perched on top of the kennel from where they can survey the road, the gate, the back door, the chook pen and the poddy calves. ACD's will go out of their way to find shade, even if it's their owners shadow.
The ACD is gregarious to other dogs with whom it is familiar, working well in combination with other ACDs, Kelpies and Border Collies. Because of their plucky nature, the establishing of an order can result in a few scuffles and bites, because a young ACD is not easy to subdue and will rarely just roll over and allow itself to be sniffed, even if the sniffing dog is as large as a pony. It is important for an owner to quickly establish a hierarchy in which they are the dog's pack leader, otherwise the young ACD may bond to a senior dog, rather than to its owner. As an urban pet, if the young ACD is allowed to bond too strongly with some senior dog in the neighbourhood, it can be very difficult for the owner to then establish control. With unknown dogs, particularly males, the ACD can be aggressive and fearless.
Another tendency inherent from the Dingo is foraging. An ACD will typically dig up and devour fungi, eat fallen fruit, pull down bunches of bananas and expertly skin them, nip neat holes in passion fruit to extract the interior and sit under a Flame Tree or a tropical Fig Tree eating the left-overs dropped by White Cockatoos and Fruit Bats. It is probable that a ACD kept as a house pet benefits by a high proportion of vegetable matter in their diet. Because of their tendency to shred things and to rip off "skins" such as upolstery fabrics to get at the innards, the ideal bedding material for an ACD is straw, combined with a few rags so that they can happily arrange their own bed, without inciting the ire of the owner.
Health
Australian Cattle Dogs not only tolerate a high level of physical activity, they almost demand it. Like many other herding dog breeds, they have active and fertile minds that turn mischievous if not properly channeled. ACDs are highly intelligent and can be very bossy. When not active, an ACD can be kept occupied with mental puzzles. Among the most popular activities for Australian Cattle Dogs is dog agility. While the ACD is ideally suited for this work, since it is a herding breed and thus very reactive to the handler's body language, some ACDs become easily frustrated at the repetition and routine necessary to hone agility skills. As for many breeds, frequent brief training sessions are more effective than infrequent long training sessions. For this reason, many handlers find training an ACD to be challenging. It is important to always change the methods and exercises and not allow the dog or handler to get into a rut. ACDs thrive on change and new experiences.