Australian Cattle Dog

There is so much interesting australian cattle dog information available due to the fact that it is a relatively young breed of dog, as dog breeds go. The australian cattle dog or “Queensland Heeler” has a fascinating beginning to its breed. Immigrants to Australia who chose cattle ranching as a profession, needed a dog that was stronger and more suitable for the Australian outback than the ones they had brought with them. They began to experiment with many breeds. First with the ones that they had brought with them, the Smithfield, which they crossed with an Australian Dingo. These dogs were horrendous biters and were simply unacceptable as cattle dogs. After several more tries with breeds such as the bearded and border collies, known as the Blue Smooth Highland Collie, the Hall’s Heeler was created. This breed was successful and became the beginning of the ACD (australian cattle dog).

Hall’s Heelers underwent some tweaking when a Hall’s Heeler female was bred with a Dalmatian. This eliminated some of the ability to work out of the breed so the Black and Tan Kelpie was introduced into the bloodline and this time the mix was successful. As time went on, the Dingo was also reintroduced into the blood line that strengthened the breed.
More australian cattle dog information brings to light the duties and amazing abilities these dogs possess. ACDs are highly intelligent and agile. They can solve dog puzzles and return toys to the area from which they originally took them. These dogs hate repetition and love work. As their name indicates, these dogs are cattle dogs and although they are very good at their job of mustering cattle, they’re not so great at getting along with their owner’s horses. This was the reason for working the blood of the Dalmatian into the line.

These dogs thrive on work and have a high tolerance to weather and physical activity. The breed is highly organized and loves to play as well as work. An australian cattle dog has a fertile mind and it must be kept busy so as not to take on a mind of its own, which it already has and tends to be bossy. Its human owners have to make sure that it knows they are the pack leader or there will be mischief for sure.