Australian Cattle Dog
The Australian Cattle Dog should be muscular, athletic and substantial in appearance, without any trace of weakness or fragility. However, excessively heavy or cumbersome build is also undesirable as it limits agility, a necessity for any good cattle herder. Along with athleticism, symmetry and balance are also essential, and no individual part of the dog should be exaggerated or draw excessive attention. Even when bred for companion or show purposes, it should have well-conditioned, hard muscles.
The Australian Cattle Dog, also known as the Australian Heeler, Hall’s Heeler, Queensland Heeler and the Blue Heeler, is a sturdy, compact working dog, well-muscled, powerful, yet very agile. The body is a bit longer than high with a slightly curved tail reaching approximately to the hock. The front legs should be perfectly straight when viewed from the front. The head is broad and slightly rounded between the widely set, moderately pointed pricked ears.
The head is strong and must be in balance with other proportions of the dog and in keeping with its general conformation. The broad skull is slightly curved between the ears, flattening to a slight but definite stop. The cheeks muscular, neither coarse nor prominent with the underjaw strong, deep and well developed. The foreface is broad and well filled in under the eyes, tapering gradually to form a medium length, deep, powerful muzzle with the skull and muzzle on parallel planes. The lips are tight and clean. Nose black.
The Australian Cattle Dog has been of great benefit to the beef industry of Australia. They became indispensable when populations spread to huge farmlands as they enabled farmers to maintain huge herds. Without the Australian Cattle Dog, the beef industry of Australia would probably have great difficulty in developing into the important industry it is today.
An extremely intelligent, loyal, and affectionate breed, the Australian Cattle Dog is protective of their family, home, and territory. They thrive on human interaction and activity but are easily bored which can lead to serious behavior issues. This breed is generally not good with children they have not been raised with. They are typically suspicious of strangers and may be aggressive to dogs they do not know. They do not get along well with other household pets or cats. This breed will attempt to herd and nip at the heels of anything and everything that moves. The Australian Cattle Dog has a high level of dominance and is not recommended for the novice, sedentary, or apathetic dog owner.
The Australian cattle dog is a medium-size dog about 17 to 20 inches and around 35 pounds. He is a powerful, compact dog and is very agile on his feet. Ears stand up straight and pointed at the top of his broad head. He has intelligent oval eyes that are dark in color. He has a short double coat that can be either red with speckles or blue with speckles. The blue variety is sometimes seen with blue, tan or black markings.
Dogs teeth should be brushed at least twice a week with toothpaste and toothbrush designed for dogs. Brushing removes the accumulation of plaque and tartar which can cause cavities (rarely) and periodontal disease. Dog periodontal disease can lead to pain, loss of teeth, bad breath and other serious disease. To avoid health problems, her toenails may need to be examined to determine if they need to be clipped. The toenails of the rear feet grow slower than the toenails of the front feet. Generally a guillotine type trimmers is the best for this chore and competent instructions to accomplish this can be found on the net.
