The Australian Cattle Dog, also known as the Queensland Heeler, Blue Heeler and Red Heeler is a breed of herding dog developed in Australia for droving cattle. It is a medium-sized short-coated dog with a lot of energy, intelligence and an independent streak.
The model Australian Cattle Dog comes without any trace of weakness or fragility. An excessively heavy or cumbersome build is also undesirable, as it limits agility, a necessity for any good cattle-working dog. 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.
A female Australian Cattle Dog should measure approximately 43 to 48 cm (17 to 19 inches) at the withers. A male Australian Cattle Dog should measure about 46 to 51 cm (18 to 20 inches) at the withers. An Australian Cattle Dog is a well-muscled, compact dog with a dense coat of coarse, rather oily hair with a slight ruff, and fine, almost woolly, winter undercoat. It has a naturally long tail, generally carried low, with a slight white tip. An Australian Cattle Dog in good condition should weigh approximately 14 to 27 kg (30 to 60 pounds).
Australian Cattle Dogs exhibit two primary coat colours: red and blue. In both cases the colouration is not solid. The distinctive colouration of the Australian cattle dog is the result of white and grey hairs closely interspersed with red or black hairs. This is not a roan or merle colouration, but rather the result of the ticking gene, the same gene found in Dalmatians. In addition to the primary colouration, Australian Cattle Dogs also display some patches of solid or near-solid colour, most notably a mask over one or both eyes.
Red is the genetically dominant colour in Australian Cattle Dogs and consists of a mix of red and white hairs leading to a ginger colouration. The mask of red cattle dogs is solid or nearly solid red. Any patches on the body should be red also, with an ideal red dog having no blue or black markings whatsoever. However, a strongly disfavoured marking occasionally appears wherein a red animal exhibits black ‘saddles’.
The more common colour of the Cattle Dog is blue, where the coat has a bluish appearance, from which it gets its name ‘blue mill’ and caused by the mottling of black, grey and white hairs all over the dog’s body. Blue dogs may have either blue coats with black spots or blue coats with black spots and some red markings. Acceptable red markings on blue dogs include ginger feet, ginger spots on the legs, and some of the ginger colour on the face and underparts. The ginger colouration should not extend up the face, or high above the legs; when it does it is called a “creeping tan.” This is not accepted in the breed standard.
The coat of a cattle dog should show an even disposition of colour, save in the coat patterns of ‘speckle’ and ‘mottle’. These two patterns show in dogs with both red and blue coats and are less common than even coat colouration. A ‘speckle’ is a dark coat with a heavy mix of white speckles or small spots. A ‘mottle’ is a light or white coat with regularly-placed denser areas of dark colour showing up as spots. Both of these coat variations are considered unusual and uncommon, but acceptable, by breeders.
The mask is one of the most distinctive features of an Australian Cattle Dog. This mask consists of a blue-black patch over one or both eyes (for the blue coat colour) or a red patch over one or both eyes (for the red coat colour). The blue variety may also show some red on the face. Depending on whether one eye or both have a patch, these are called, respectively, single (or ‘half’) mask and double (or ‘full’) mask. Australian Cattle Dogs without a mask are called plain-faced and may have small red “eyebrows”.
Like many working dogs, Cattle Dogs have high energy levels and active minds. They need plenty of exercise and a job to do, so non-working dogs need to participate in dog sports, learning tricks, or other activities that engage their body and mind. Some individuals find repetitive training frustrating and dull, so owners should aim to make training sessions varied and more exciting in order to keep their dog interested. Cattle Dogs who do not receive the appropriate exercise and entertainment will invent their own, often destructive, activities. These dogs are, by nature, wary. They are naturally cautious, and grow more so as they age. Their cautious nature towards strangers makes them perfect guard dogs, when trained for this task.
Australian Cattle Dogs not only tolerate a high level of physical activity, they almost demand it. Like many other herding dog breeds, they have active and fertile minds that turn mischievous if not properly channeled. Australian Cattle Dogs are highly intelligent and can be very bossy.
When not active, an Australian Cattle Dog can be kept occupied with mental puzzles. Among the most popular activities for Australian Cattle Dogs is dog agility. While the Australian Cattle Dog is ideally suited for this work, since it is a herding breed and thus very reactive to the handler’s body language, some Australian Cattle Dogs become highly frustrated at the repetition and routine necessary to hone agility skills. As for many breeds, frequent brief training sessions are more effective than infrequent long training sessions. For this reason, many handlers find training an Australian Cattle Dog to be challenging. It is important to always change the methods and exercises and not allow the dog or handler to get into a negative routine. Australian Cattle Dogs thrive on change and new experiences.
The dog is strong and muscular, yet compact and symmetrical, with the ability and willingness to carry out any task — no matter how enduring or hard.
Australian Cattle Dogs are expert Frisbee catchers and with just a little work, they can master this activity and enjoy it for a lifetime.
