Australian Cattle Dog. Charlotte Schwartz
The well-bred Kombinalong Born to be Super is a great example of what an Australian Cattle Dog should be. At only five months old, “Kylie” is working cattle in the breed’s homeland.
The land rolls on for miles ahead of you. The grass is dry, brown, summer-hot and barely moving in a breeze that just can’t get started. Cattle begin to stir. A small dark figure appears out of nowhere and begins to circle the herd. The dog is going to work. From somewhere off in the distance, a series of sharp whistle notes tells the dog to start the herd moving toward the river.
Some cattle balk at the orders. Quickly, the dog convinces them to move out. As they do, dust rises up from the ground and, momentarily, the dog is lost in the cloud. Can you picture the dust rising? The cattle synchronizing their movement? The occasional cow that refuses to stay with the herd?
Watch the dog and you’ll see what he does best. Seeing a cow drifting away, the dog races up behind the animal. With lightning speed, he bites the hock of the cow’s rear leg. Instantly, dust flies again. The errant cow lashes out at the dog with flying hooves. But the dog is safe.
Years of careful breeding have insured that the dog will bite, then duck low beneath those driving hooves. When the cow’s hooves thrash back and upward, the dog drops below the cow’s line of fire. Inbred instinct keeps the dog safe to drive the herd another day. Training tells him how to enforce the herdsman’s orders.
You have been privy to an amazing display of a dog working together with man to accomplish what the man alone could never do. The dog is an Australian Cattle Dog.
Just as the name implies, the Australian Cattle Dog is a tough, fearless, loyal, all-business kind of dog. In action and at a distance, he looks like a miniature tank with fur. He goes where others dare not go, he’s unstoppable and he’s afraid of nothing. These traits also make him a devoted companion to his owner and a dedicated protector of the home.
He’s been bred for herding cattle in Australia since the early 1800s, when settlers realized they needed a dog to help them move and control the cattle in the open country, where there were no fences. Initially, it took years of experimenting with various breeds of dog to produce what we know today as the Australian Cattle Dog or Blue Heeler.
DOG-UMENTATION
Did you know that documenting the existence of dog breeds can be done in various ways? For example, literature, ancient artwork, spoken stories, songs, riddles and even children’s games often help to document certain breeds and the dates when they became popular.
Back in those early days, ranchers used bob-tailed dogs called “Smithfields” to round up and herd the wild cattle that roamed the bush country. However, the Smithfields possessed some traits that the ranchers didn’t like. They barked almost constantly, bit too hard when working the herds and did not cope well with the extreme heat of the outback.
The year 1830 saw the beginning of a series of experimental matings of various breeds of dog to get the desired traits needed in the cattle dog. First, a man named Timmins from a town north of Sydney crossed his dogs with a Dingo, the native wild dog of Australia. The pups were quiet, quick and a great improvement over the Smithfields. However, they possessed one serious fault—when beyond the supervision of a drover, some of their inherited Dingo traits caused them to bite and chew the cows so severely that the animals could not be marketed. The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog derived from Timmins’ stock.
More experimental breedings followed. Mixes of Collies, Bull Terriers, Welsh Herders, Kangaroo Dogs and Russian Poodles were tried. None of these crosses worked satisfactorily for herding cattle. Biting and chewing the cattle was unacceptable. Excessive barking served to rattle the cattle; thus, the cows became unmanageable. Some of the crosses suffered so greatly from the extreme heat of the rugged terrain that they were drained of energy and unable to work the long hours required.
The Dingo is one of the four breeds that made up the original Australian Cattle Dog.
Then, in 1840, a rancher by the name of Thomas Hall, of New South Wales, began experimenting with a combination of Welsh Heelers and Dingos. The resulting puppies proved to be exactly what the cattle drovers needed. The pups, known as Hall’s Heelers, worked quietly and quickly, and they only nipped at the heels of straggling cows rather than ravaging them. In addition, they exhibited a desirable Dingo trait: They crept up silently on the cattle, nipped their fetlocks to get them moving and immediately flattened themselves on the ground to prevent being kicked by flying hooves.
Drovers and graziers alike approved of Hall’s Heelers. The dogs possessed long-distance stamina and the ability to cope with the extreme heat, and the rugged terrain never stopped them from moving and controlling the cattle. The dogs, it seemed, could work anywhere, anytime, under any conditions. The Welsh Heelers of Scotland and the Dingos of Australia apparently were the winning combination.
GENUS CANIS
Dogs and wolves are members of the genus Canis. Wolves are known scientifically as Canis lupus while dogs are known as Canis domesticus. Dogs and wolves are known to interbreed. The term “canine” derives from the Latinderived word Canis. The term “dog” has no scientific basis but has been used for thousands of years. The origin of the word “dog” has never been authoritatively ascertained.
In appearance, the dogs looked like shorter, heavier-set versions of Dingos. In color, they were either a rich red or blue merle, a mottled blend of black and white. They had broad skulls, brown eyes and pricked ears that emerged from the corners of their wedge-shaped heads. Overall, they portrayed the image of powerful working dogs, possessing great stamina and agility.
The Kelpie is another Australian native, added to the AuCaDo mix for working ability.
About the same time, a Queensland rancher named George Elliot produced some outstanding herding dogs, also mixes of Collies and Dingos. Their pups, too, were in great demand and soon appeared in Sydney markets, working the cattle in confined spaces as well as on the vast ranges of the outback.
The cattle sale yards were the proving grounds for Hall’s Heelers when Fred Davis, a butcher, used them to move the cattle from one small yard to another as the animals came up for sale. Seeing the outstanding ability of his dogs, Davis began breeding them. Soon two brothers, Jack and Harry Bagust, purchased some of the Davis pups and began breeding them with an eye to perfecting their working ability.
First, they crossed one of their blue merle bitches with a Dalmatian, which changed the blue merle to blue speckled, the color and pattern that is known today. The purpose of introducing Dalmatian genes was to enhance the dogs’ ability to work with horses and strengthen their devotion to their masters.
Finally, to reinforce a strong working driver, the Bagusts introduced Australian Kelpie blood into their dogs. Bred to herd and control sheep, Kelpies are superior herders, extremely intelligent and easily controlled. In appearance, the breed resembles a heav-ier version of the Dingo. Along with the blue or red speckling, modern Cattle Dogs carry red or blue patches around their eyes, which they inherited from the Kelpie.
Aust. Gr. Ch. Kombinalong Super Octane, the youngest Grand Champion in the breed, with owner/breeder Narelle Robertson.
Once the newest Blue Heelers were genetically set in looks, temperament