Australian Cattle Dog (or Blue Heeler)

I have a pair of ACDs, one blue, one red. Both female from the same litter from a rescue shelter.

I got them when they were 10 weeks old. They will be 7 y.o. April 22.

They are high energy, rambunctious dogs that love to run and play. While both are female and from the same litter, they have completely different personalities.

Both respond to verbal commands. While both know and acknowledge the commands, the Blue is faster to obey. The Red, Spice, is stubborn as the proverbial mule. She knows more commands, but will ignore me just to be obstinate. I swear she sits there grinning at me knowing what I want her to do but waiting to do whatever it is I want her to do on her own time.

My Blue, Sugar, will chase frisbees, fetch balls and other thrown objects, will run circles just for the hell of it. Spice has refused to fetch since she turned 1 y.o. When they play together it is alway "ambush" style. One will hide behind something and wait for the other to wander by and then pounce, then they chase each other around the yard.

Spice loves to just wander aimlessly about the backyard looking for something to chase - lizards, snakes, rats, mice, rabbits, squirrels, even birds.

Sugar is a couch potato. She stays outside and then will just vanish into the house when she gets bored, which is quickly. Being more patient, Spice will wander around, but stay within eye shot of me while I do whatever it is I'm doing. She sits and watches me the entire time I am throwing Bowies and Hawks in the back yard.

They are the smartest dogs I have ever had. They can even tell time.:D I give them 2 dog cookies each at around 4:30 p.m. every day. That's all the treats they get, except when actually training. If I am late, either due to being away or just busy outside, as soon as I am in the house, Spice will sit under the cabinet where the cookies are kept and bark 1x every 30 seconds until I give in. Sugar will lie on the den floor and whine until I get up. They take turns as if they remember which one had "irritant" duty the time before.

I don't need an alarm clock. They will come in my bedroom at 7 a.m. and thump their tails on my chest of drawers and bark until I roll out of bed.

At night, around 11:30 p.m., Spice sits in the middle of the den and whine, telling me it's time to go to bed. All I have to do is get up, walk into the bedroom with her and tell her "Go to bed" and she and Sugar will go to bed and leave me alone.

Neither of them like thunderstorms. When lightning/thunder are flashing/booming. They both insist on crawling up in my chair or on the sofa with me until it goes away.

Neither of them have ever been aggressive with anyone, but they are very protective. If anyone comes to the door or even drives into the driveway, they will bark like hell as an alarm. If someone attacked either myself or a family member, I am sure they would tear them apart. The backyard, about 1-1/2 acres, is their world. Anything that moves is fair game to chase. And if they catch it, they end up killing it because they play way too rough for the cat/rat/mouse/squirrel involved.
 
Catherine_Montana said:
Charlie is a beautiful puppy! Congrats!


They are extremely smart, high energy dogs and they should be kept busy.


Cate
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What a great lookin' pup!! As Cate suggests, he needs something to do. If you give him nothing, trust me.....he WILL find something to occupy his time....and you may not like his choices. LOL
 
Thank guys for the comments. Charlie is now 73 days old, and he came with me daily on my (short, no more than two hours, and slowly) hikes. He have a lot of fun, but at the end he's a bit tired and he like to rest next to my backpack. So for the moment he don't damage too much things at the house :-) He also eat a lot: four meals per day!

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Now, that's the look of a thoughtful, old soul. Charlie's colouration is taking on such character, so fast. That is a beautiful pup, memorable markings and colour. Looks pretty lovable too.
 
@ Catherine_Montana: my wife's name is Caterina :-)

As you guys seems to like Charlie (thank you from me and he) here below a yesterday picture: it was cold (-2°C), we were in the woods. I was testing a knife, so Charlie has decided to use my backpack as a pillow. Smart puppy :-)

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I had a female that was a blue, she was my faithful companion for many years.... smartest animal I've ever met responding to verbal and hand commands (we had our own language haha). Maggie got freakie around children but I always worked around it.
Like most dogs if you can get past the puppy stage you've got it made!
 
Charlie is growing up. Three days more and is will be 3 months old. Stunning dog and companion :-) I love him

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There is intelligence behind those eyes. Thinking we need a puppy to keep our female heeler company.

Tom
 
You have great looking pup. I used to encounter this Blue Heeler while walking. It was never on a leash, even though numerous signs were posted about dogs being on a leash.

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Oh my goodness!

What a beautiful picture of Charlie!

He is such a good looking dog and you can tell how smart he is by looking at his eyes too.

He adores you too.

Cate who is a sucker for good, well behaved, smart, loving, protective and beautiful dogs!
 
Forgive me if I post so much pictures, but you seems to like Charlie's pics... :-) In case just say "stop, please, mate!"

Charlie adore to run in the woods, I pick him up everyday, no matter the weather, for at least 2 hours
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He want to follow us everywhere, including the bathroom :-)
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Also, he like to sleep just next to our feets, this is one of his favourite position ahahaha
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Finally, Charlie like a lot to bite...well, everything...including my poor hands :-)
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Alfredo
 
LOL That is so funny!

My old, late, female dogs used to love to follow my late husband but mainly ME every place too.

They LOVED the downstairs huge shower more than the upstairs combination shower/tub area. (In cold weather, I washed them in that huge shower.)

Sometimes, they slept like Charlie does too.

Their feet would move in a dream like they were swimming or running and sometimes they would bark in their sleep too!

I show your pictures of Charlie to my husband too.

He enjoys them as much as I do.

Thank you!

Cate
 
Wow. Blue Heelers or Queenslands come in so many different dispositions, but all have a touch or more of assertiveness. I have two. I think mine are a bit deranged, for they are not only protective but they also know best. Even the mailman who bribes them with treats will never ever be their best friends. These dogs at times must operate under their own direction and judgment. That means they think for themselves, but don't do so if you are actively directing them. I would not give up my harper or sheila, well maybe her, for anything in the world. In fact, my Harper is an 11k dog, requiring right lower lobe of her lungs removed, after inhaling a splinter or foxtail, we never knew which it was. But the lobe kept leaking air into the plural space. Pneomothorax and all of that. But worth every penny.
 
Great looking pup! I have a 6 yr old Rhodesian Ridgeback since she's a pup, and a 12 yr old Weimaraner which my girl has had since he's a pup. Definitely keep him busy, and active.

Socialize him now while he's young, with other dogs and people, (especially those who will be regular part of his life) to help dispell any future aggressions.

Give him plenty to chew on, it will help him not chew on things he's not supposed to.

As per diet, you're doing OK. Mostly meat, some fruits and veggies like carrots, cranberries, blue berrues, etc, and limited grains (whole grains like oats and brown rice over processed stuff like white rice and pasta), is a dogs best diet. I've had folks try and tell me that "dogs don't naturally eat fruits and veggies", but a wild dog naturally does eat animals which eat high veggie diets, which is where they get those trace vitamins from.
Look up a list of don'ts regarding foods, along with grapes and raisins, garlic and onions are bad for dogs too, as are tomatoes, its not a huge list, but one worth knowing...
-additionally, adding whole cloves once in a while helps deworm them, (1 per 10 lbs is a good rule of thumb), pumpkin seed helps as well to keep worms out of their belly, and raw pumpkin is great for fiber (if constipation ever becomes an issue)

High quality kibble is worth the extra bucks if you buy bagged dog food; holistic stuff like Blue Buffalo, Orijen, or Canidae will greatly increases your dogs well being tremendously over even the top name stuff from big brands from the mega corporations (Purina, alpo, etc); its sad (and disgusting) what they are allowed to get away with feeding our pets without labeling or full disclosure, (euthanized carcass, rancid stuff, the cheapest ingredients possible, plus fillers with no nutritional value), and with share holders to appease they literally slow poison pets for their own profits. An example is, they don't have to disclose any chemicals added to meats before they processed it, (euthanized carcass), and even though the meat can have trace amounts of the deadly poison seeped into it, they didn't add it themselves, so "no chemicals added".
It's very similar to fast food for animals; whereas a quick stop in the drive through for a happy meal once in a whilewon'tt kill your kid, you wouldn't want to feed your kid McDonalds every day... Many folks think " dog food" it's good for dogs, but wealthy ceo's and board members don't care about your dogs dinner as much as they care about their own lobster dinners; Some studies suggest a dogs average life expectancy could be raised by as much as 50% or more if not for poor diets fed by uninformed consumers and Big corporate brands that care care more about their bottom dollar and profit margins then they do about our four legged family members, not to mention increased health problems...

Take my Weim. The avg. Life expectancy for a weim is 10-12 years; ours is 12, and still has a spring in his step, a sparkle in his eye, and a soft shimmering coat of gray. Folks, including our vet, don't believe he's 12 when they meet him, but he eats good, home made food + holistic kibble (blue Buffalo, since its readily available locally) + the occasional table scraps. They are spoiled. He seems as healthy now, if not healthier, as when me and my girl first started dating 6 years ago, and she, part of the uniformed public, was feeding him cheap kibble at the time, but I laid down the law, my dog wasn't going to down grade her food, so her dog would have to eat better. Now he could turn south tomorrow, we are certainly expecting the typical old age stuff to start setting in, but all indications are that he's got a few good years left in him, and there is no doubt in my mind, esp. when seeing him next to other dogs his size and his age, and seeing him 6 years ago), that it's all thanks to a good diet.

Best of luck to you and your new best friend, from me and mine; Sweet Tea and Shrek.
 
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I have an ACD is ACD mix; she is ACD & American Eskimo. Her name is Missy Loo. Photobucket is down for maintenance.


 
I'm hooked on this thread. Best of luck with your new companion. Great looking pup.

We have a "Texas Healer". One of the designer mutt breeds as I call them. He is half Australian Cattle Dog and Half Australian Shepherd. Not AKC recognized, but popular as working dogs. Ours is just a family pet. A really really smart family pet.

I will try not to hijack the thread on your dog by gushing about ours, but I can verify most of what has been said already. Super intelligent, loyal, strong personality, did I say intelligent? I think each person sees a breed through the lens of their own experiences. Our experience (34 years married) has been predominantly with German Shepherds who's intelligence is widely respected, and Siberian Huskies, (useless, but loveable), and a mix of those two. We've had as many as three at the same time. This mix of aussie/healer in the Texas healer has been a phenomenal experience. We find him at least as intelligent as the GSD's, but with a much more even, mellow, personality. Completely aware of his surroundings at all times, and yes, he knows what time of day it is as well.

Looking forward to following your progress.

God Bless you both.
 
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