Breed Description: The Australian Cattle Dog is a sturdy, compact breed, with great agility, strength, and endurance. This breed excels at driving cattle and shows the same sense of duty and courage when protecting its family.
Group: Herding Group
Country of Origin: Australia, 1800s
Purpose of Breed: Herding cattle
Average Size: 35-45 lbs. and 17-20 inches tall
Color(s): Color is either red speckled or blue, blue mottled or blue speckled, with or without markings.
Coat Type: A double-coat consisting of a smooth, straight weather-resistant outer-coat and a short, dense undercoat.
Grooming: Coat requires only routine brushing. This breed requires standard care for eyes, ears, pads, and nails.
Exercise Needs: Australian Cattle Dogs are energetic dogs that need plenty of regular exercise to fulfill their need to chase, herd, and run or they may become destructive.
Temperament: Australian Cattle Dogs are smart, independent and hardworking. They are devoted to their master and tireless when given a job to do. They are alert, trustworthy and courageous, and somewhat naturally suspicious of strangers.
Common Ailments: Prone to hip dysplasia, eye disorders and deafness.
Life Expectancy: Averages 12-15 years.
Trivia: Also called Blue Heeler or Queensland Heeler, the Australian Cattle Dog has been an integral part of the beef industry's success in Australia. As populations spread to huge farmlands, this breed enabled farmers to maintain huge herds of cattle.
More Information: Australian Cattle Dog Club of America
This page contains Blue Heeler breed information and photos. The Blue Heeler or Australian Cattle dog is a working dog bred for herding. They can make good pets, but need lots of exercise and activity to keep them occupied.
Ask a QuestionHere are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community or ask a new question.
Would a Blue Heeler get along with my Rat Terrier?
By M.W.
I think there is a lot that goes into that. Blue Healers are cattle dogs, hearders by nature. A friend of mine had one several years ago and ended up not being able to keep him because as sweet as he was, he did what was natural to him and "hearded" the neighborhood kids by nipping at their ankles - that's what cattle dogs do when hearding cattle.
My sister-in-law takes in strays. She has a very small rat terrier, a medium sized Blue Heeler, and a very large Pit Bull. They all get together greatly well!
The Blue was her first of that group, then the Rat, then the Pit was found in the road (country) as a pup, and they all get together famously---the Rat and Pit are best of friends.
But my sis-in-law is at home almost everyday, working her yard and farm, and is great with dogs. She never just 'throws' a new one along with the others, but stays and watches, and corrects as needed.
My blue heeler/wolf loves little dogs. He gets down on his elbows to be their size! Played well with a Pomeranian and a Mini-Pin. I think the little guys think they're as big as him! :)
I have both a Blue Heeler and a Rat Terrier and they are great friends. We had the Blue Heeler first and adopted the Rat Terrier. It took about two weeks for them to get used to each other.
Share on ThriftyFunCheck out these photos. Click at right to share your own photo in this page.
We adopted Bandit from the Pima Animal County Care Shelter in January.
Harley is a 3 year old Australian Cattle dog. We drove across the state of PA to get her. Cattle dogs are a little hard to find.
Motley is a 4 month old Australian Cattle Dog. I adopted Motley from an ad on Craigslist. His picture was so adorable, and I liked what I read about the breed, especially that they are loyal, protective, and loving family members.
This is Buddy and Duchess. Buddy was 12 and Duchess was 6 in the photo. Buddy was a Queensland Heeler mix and Duchess is a Border Collie.
Frankie is a 9 month old Mini Australian Shepard (blue merle coloring). I got him from a breeder in PA, about 6 months ago.
My girlfriend found a litter of 5 in really bad shape and nursed them to health, losing 2, Gooch and 2 sisters survived. Belle lives with my girlfriend and I have Gooch, the other sister lives with another friend. The father is blue while the mother is red.
Harley is a 3 year old Cattle dog. We looked and looked for a Cattle dog after our Patches passed away. We traveled across the state to get our Harley. It took us all day to be able to finally bring her home to join our family. She loves her toys and playing fetch.
Here is a picture of Rascal and Baileigh. A picture was being taken of Rascal and Baileigh had to get in on the action too. Rascal is 9 years old and is an Australian Cattledog. We have had Rascal since he was 8 weeks old. Baileigh is a 3 year old Border Collie and we adopted her 2 years ago from a local rescue group. They both love to play with squeaky toys and chase balls in the backyard along with going on long walks.
