Anyone on the boards have a Australian Cattle Dog / Blue Heeler?
Share your stories.
We have one…
He’s loyal to the bone, smarter than your average 5th grader, has very questionable bathroom habits, and is meaner than a snake.
I had one. He was very friendly to strangers, was house trained at the age of four months, calmed down nicely after a year old, but was a little standoffish. Didn’t like to cuddle like some dogs do.
I crate trained him for a few months before I left him loose in the house alone. He was not at all destructive…I don’t know if the cage contributed to that. I’ve heard that Heelers tend to be really destructive.
He really hated being in a different room than everyone else, and would scream his little heart out until I went and got him. Such a sweetie. Miss him.
“Pushy”
This is the one word I’ve seen most often used to describe ACDs. They are herders, cow dogs in particular, and that brings a certain set of behaviors. If you can provide the mental stimulation and exercise they need they will be great. If you let them get bored watch out. Working dogs have a reputation for trouble as family pets but you can make it work if you provide enough activity. In my experience working dogs need intense stimulation but if you can provide that they tend to be very mellow with their downtime. I wouldn’t recommend them for an apartment or city lifestyle. At the very least you need a yard and access to a good off leash dog park. If you’re ambitious you could train for agility. I’d kill to see a heeler outdo a border collie at agility. They are physically capable of besting a border collie at agility but they seem to lack that “eager to please” attitude that border collies have. Great dogs. My guy (my second) just turned 13 this year. If you can provide the time I don’t think you will be disappointed.
This is the breed that survived alone on a desert island after being lost at sea. Link
They are tough, independent, smart little buggers.
I’d be happy to answer any specific questions you have.
Okay… I couldn’t resist.
Teedo givin’ you the business.
Our shepherd/sheltie mix Squirt on the left and Teedo the ACD on the right. Don’t worry, this was right after we moved in. The AstroTurf is gone now.
I was looking at getting a rescued one. She was used as a breeder for 3 years. The current foster says that she is basically a good dog, but very very needy from having been ignored. She is described as not allowing you out of her sight.
Now, I work from home and would be able to give her the attention she needs and frequent walks, but I do have to go away sometimes.
I guess I’m not the right companion for her.
That is sadly a pretty common back story for a lot of rescue dogs. May be some health issues as they are usually bred again as soon as the pups are weaned. I think the dogs history in a case like this is more important than the breed.
I think working from home is a real plus that outweighs the fact that you will be away occasionally. You can train through most separation anxiety problems. A bigger concern would be fear or aggression around other dogs. You would need to test her reaction around children and careless adults. Mill dogs are almost never well socialized. I have friends and clients who have adopted former mill breeders and they are often very sweet dogs. If you decide to give it a try you might want to enroll her in a doggy daycare maybe one day a week. The idea is to get her accustomed to a particular setting and bonded with a play group. When you are away you can board her at the daycare and they’ll put her in with her usual playgroup.
I wouldn’t rule it out just because you aren’t home 24/7. Being home most of the day puts you well ahead of a lot of other potential adopters.
I’d say you’re a pretty gosh darn good fit.
I have an ACD (half, actually - the other half is Catahoula(ish)). If I gave her the opportunity, she could run around and chase things all day long. But since I don’t, she lays around the house all day while I’m at work, and hasn’t torn anything up since the second month I had her. She’s a fantastic dog - whip smart, extremely personable (everyone who walks through the door is a friend), and gets along well with other dogs*. She’s always eager to go on walks, play fetch at home, or just lay around and chew. She has a wonderful personality, and some funny traits.
*The issue here is that she’s great with dogs - just so long as it’s on her terms. If she’s on leash, she is NOT friendly with other dogs. I blame a severe lack of socialization by her first family. However, I send her to doggie day care on a semi-regular basis, and she gets along fantastic in that setting.
By all accounts, I’d recommend the breed. And if you’re scared off by the amount of work she might be, I think getting an older model is definitely the way to go - work dogs really mellow after year 3 or so.
I have had two of them. My first one Kemo, short for Kemosabe, was a great dog. Very territorial but extremely friendly towards people. Once when we were at my grandfather’s ranch we had him locked in a pen so my grandfather could let his goats and sheep loose in the area around the house to eat the weeds. Everything was fine until we left to town for some feed and Kimo climbed the fence and herded all the animals back into the corral where my grandfather normally kept them. I can still picture him sitting in front of the corral with a big doggie grin on his mug when we got back. My grandfather was not amused.
My current one, Chupa, was rescued from one of the ranches south of Belen, NM. He is a great dog and like others I have known is quite the ham. He is a huge attention hog and likes to smile at people. Scares little kids and old ladies sometimes when he comes up to them all happy, tail wagging, upper lip pulled up and teeth showing. He looks like this 
except he is not green.