I'm curious how many members have Australian Cattle Dogs(Blue Heelers)
I have had one for 2 years now and would get another. Besides he accentuates my ford trucks. That black eye and the happy grin he always has.
Named him after the beer from down under. Foster.
Trained him to do agilty courses and he was not trained to herd cattle, but his instinct take over when i help the neighbor herd the cattle back into the feilds and down the road to the next field. The neighbor has 2 border collies that do not do half the work Foster does.
Plan to get a 2nd dog. Another cattle dog. They are rare up around here, but since I got Foster sure have a lot of ranchers and farmers asking for them.
Great dog and protective. If the truck is started he is in it in a flashh wanting to go for a ride.
When I don't take him he stays around home sitting there watching the horses and greating the neighbor as they ride by.
So how many have these dogs?

 

I grew up with them, don't have any now myself, but they are great for livestock, they'll just sit in the gate opening when you go in to feed and such. My sister still has some reds. Very loyal dogs. Also very protective, if they think someone is getting out of hand, or don't think they belong there, they will surely let them know...

 

Our Neighbor's heeler was around 18 years old.... when he passed. There never was a better dog. If I didn't live in town I would have one. (he still carries the dog's ashes in his pickup)

 

We have two dogs right now, but not one of these. I have always been intrigued by this breed because you see them in parking lots in the backs of pickups, flatbeds, etc. all the time around here. They are never tied and never jump out of the truck, no matter how long the owner is away or what distraction there might be. I have seen several times where a person pulls into the feed store lot, lets his cattle dogs out of the front seat, and they jump right back into the bed. Pretty amazingly obedient.

I have heard that they are a little protective and nippy by instinct.

 

I have one, she is 6 now. I can't say enough good things about these dogs. Smart, loyal, tough, protective when they have to be. Plus they are not too large. Mine is extremely sensitive, if you yell at her for anything she goes into a depression for days.

 

Maybe that's why they are so obedient in the back of trucks. Don't want to get into any trouble! Our lab mix couldn't care less how much trouble she gets into. Still a pretty good dog though. Sweet and hyperactive!

 

I don't have one anymore but when I did she was SUPPOSED to sit at the gate and keep the feedlot cattle in will I put the feed into the feeder, well that didn't work so good. She knew that the only time she was allowed to chase them is when they were out so I would leave her at the gate when I would turn around she would have half a dozen or so pushed upto the gate so they would get out, and then we would have to go chase them down, and put them back in (which she actually did quite well thankyou), I also had calves I keep up close to the barn at night, and turn into the field in the day for this I would just sit at the gate, and send her into the barn with the wave of a hand, and she would run them all out.
Other than that she was a good dog and like others have said very protective which brings up the story of how protective, she was actually my ex-wives dog when we met, and was 2 yrs old at the time so when I met the dog for the first time me, and the ex were outside,and started wrestling in the yard, the dog got really upset, and started jumping at us, and barking them bite my ex and this happened everytime (although if anyone else touched her the dog would bite them instead) guess it just proves that dogs are good judges of charactor

 

we've got one ,have had her for about 3 years good guard dog but just a little over protective and trys to herd all the cars that drive by.

 

I've got a male. He understands about a 20 word vocabulary, (right, left, peoples names, ect.) Good frisbie dog. He'll try to herd me sometimes when I'm working on the bench by coming up behind me and bumping the back of my knees. Probably the most well behaved dog I've ever had, in a hyper sort of way. I've never seen him tired. I have to alternate where I throw the ball or frizbie in the backyard or the grass gets all tore up. Anyone else have this problem with these dogs?

Mines never had a nipping problem. When he was about 10 weeks he would try to nip the back of my leg, but it didn't take much to train him out of it. One of the nice things about them, only takes 2 or 3 times to train them to do simple things. My lab took 25 to 30 times and other dogs I've had were dumb as rocks.

 

one of my sister's reds saw other dogs playing ball with their owners, so she started doing it on her own, brought a ball to my sister and then dropped it at her feet and stared at her to get her to throw the ball. Tha dog damn near lived for that... other than herding...

 

I a quensland healer and shepard mix. She is 14 now and the best dog I have ever had. She can understand about 100 words or so.

When she was young she would run figure 8s in the back yard and really tore up uhe grass. They like to run and she would hurd the kids around when they were younger and if they would run away from her she would nip there heals and take them down. This is one way that they control cattle.

Last year we got a healer and Lab mix, not as smart as the healer-shepard mix but a good dog

 

Best dogs ever made, as long as you bring them up right. In my experience the females are a little smarter/listen better than the males (just like humans, right?? ) They are very territorial, hence the tendency to stay in the truck. My boyfriend has a good red heeler pup right now that's less than two years old but smart as a whip. She listens better than my dog and I've had him for over seven years. My dog is 1/2 red heeler and 1/2 kelpie (another Australian breed), and he has the male syndrome where he hates to get into trouble but sometimes he just can't stop himself because it's just too darn much fun. Straight heelers can be pretty protective. When I was a kid we had one of the best heelers I've ever seen, but we couldn't play tag with other kids at our house because anybody that was chasing my brother or I would get a good hard nip or two from that dog. My half-breed is as social as they come, but he can read moods and won't let anybody near me if they're mad, and since he's nearly an 80-pounder he can be pretty convincing. He's taken a few ticked-off cows off of me too. Heelers are bred to be working dogs, but they make good pets too if you've got room for them to run around. I wouldn't recommend the Kelpie to anyone that doesn't have a job for them. My dog just gets better and better when we're working cattle a lot, but he gets hard of hearing when he's been idle for a while. A shock collar or a long rope is just about a necessity for training a Kelpie.

 

My parents have a 1 yr. old red, and are getting a 1yr old blue this weekend. The red sticks to my mother like velcro. She is a little hard of hearing(intentionally), but I think this is my mothers fault for being a little too "loving". Likes to nip at tires in the driveway. Loves to ride in the car/truck.

 

Foster here all it takes to get him to go and herd the cattle. I just start walking towards them with my arms spread out scare crow like and he takes from that to herd the cattle. Call him back I just call "HERE Foster Here" and he returns and sits by me. This has so impress the neighbors. Like I said no training just instsinct takes over.

He likes to play tug with ropes. Chase soccer ***** and we get down and wrestle.
He has nipped my hand while playing and he just backs off when he knows he got too much nip. He just sits back and waits to see if everything is allright. One I got an infection from a play nip. Doctors all thought he was being agressive. Took a lot to convince them the dog was just playing.

I heard there is a commercial with a Blue heeler and other dogs like doing a board meeting. The Blue heeler comes up with the solution. I have never seen the commercial. So if any of guys have seen the commercial. Is there a place on the net where I can download it to see it. I just want to see it.
The dog is suspose to have the greatest grin.

 

I had a young red adopt me a while back, but my landlord found out and wouldn't let me keep her. That dog was incredible, I wish I still had her. She was housbroken, didn't chew anything, didn't bark a lot, and loved riding in the truck. I had to drop her off at the humane society, and when I went back to check, she had been adopted.