Australian Cattle Dog

Size
Medium (11kg - 27kg)
Exercise
40 min/day
Training
Weekly
Size of home
House with garden
Time at home
Alone with support
Grooming
Weekly
Barking preference
Watchdog barking
Personality
Independent + affectionate

Breeder List

Breeder - Mrs Sandra Himsley (AZRAR)

mindari@bigpond.com
See Details
Breeder - Miss Emily Clark (Embrooke)

Emilyxx99@icloud.com
See Details

History

The Australian Cattle Dog was developed in Australia during the 19th century as a working or drover’s dog. In particular, breed traits were selected to produce a dog with immense stamina, resilience and tenacity, which could deal with untamed cattle, rugged terrain and vast distances.

These dogs had to be biddable, but also had to make quick decisions on their own, with large and dangerous mobs of wild cattle. Their job included protecting the drover’s horse and belongings, and the drover if necessary.

Years of breeding to suit droving needs has produced a dog with superb ability as well as a general purpose dog of excellence.

Temperament

An excellent pet, the Australian Cattle Dog is renowned for its devotion to the family. Always alert, watchful, extremely intelligent and trustworthy, with an implicit devotion to duty - an ideal dog.

Appearance

The Australian Cattle Dog should be a strong, compact, symmetrically built working dog. This combination of substance, power, balance and hard muscular condition conveys the impression of great agility, strength and endurance.

Australian Cattle Dog pups are born white, with only black or red head markings and body patches (if any) showing. Their true colour begins to show at about three weeks of age. Accepted colours are blue, blue speckle, blue mottle and red speckle.

Health

Australian Cattle Dogs are a hardy and healthy breed and commonly live to 15 years of age or more. Hereditary diseases affecting the Australian Cattle Dog include Progressive Retinal Atrophy (prcd -PRA) Primary Lens Luxation (PLL). There is a DNA test allowing breeders to breed responsibly.

Deafness can occur for which a BAER test is available. Hip And Elbow Dysplasia has been known to appear within the breed. Many breeders are now scoring their breeding stock.

Cabal. Casual Shots Newcastle Friday and Saturday 630

Maintenance & Grooming

It has a short, dense, weather-resistant coat, does not require a great deal of grooming – only a brush once or twice a week and a bath when required. The coat is shed once or twice a year, but bitches also shed during their seasonal cycles.

Suitability

The cattle industry absorbs only a small proportion of the Australian Cattle Dogs registered each year. Of the remainder some will be used for breeding or showing, others will appear in the obedience ring or participate in other sports. Most, however, will go to a variety of homes remote from both the dog fancy and rural industry. Early socialisation with dogs and people is recommended.

Information courtesy of the Australian Cattle Dog Society of NSW Inc (October 2015)

Image supplied by Cheryl Edwards

In Conclusion

Now you know a little about the Australian Cattle Dog, you may think that this is the dog for you. Before you make a decision, please make contact with the breed club or your State controlling body for purebred dogs. They will be able to give you information about available puppies and also suggest dog shows where you can see the breed and speak to breeders. In this way you will gain a better perspective of the Australian Cattle Dog and its needs, and whether this breed would suit your lifestyle.

Official breed standard as recognized by Dogs NSW (Last Updated: 14 Dec 2009)

Download PDF

A breed standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament, and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function with soundness essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be mindful of features which could be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed.

General Appearance

The general appearance is that of a strong compact, symmetrically built working dog, with the ability and willingness to carry out his allotted task however arduous. Its combination of substance, power, balance and hard muscular condition must convey the impression of great agility, strength and endurance. Any tendency to grossness or weediness is a serious fault.

Characteristics

As the name implies the dog's prime function, and one in which he has no peer, is the control and movement of cattle in both wide open and confined areas. Always alert, extremely intelligent, watchful, courageous and trustworthy, with an implicit devotion to duty making it an ideal dog.

Temperament

The Cattle Dog's loyalty and protective instincts make it a self-appointed guardian to the Stockman, his herd and his property. Whilst naturally suspicious of strangers, must be amenable to handling, particularly in the Show ring. Any feature of temperament or structure foreign to a working dog must be regarded as a serious fault.

Physical Standards

Head and Skull	The head is strong and must be in balance with other proportions of the dog and in keeping with its general conformation. The broad skull is slightly curved between the ears, flattening to a slight but definite stop. The cheeks muscular, neither coarse nor prominent with the underjaw strong, deep and well developed. The foreface is broad and well filled in under the eyes, tapering gradually to form a medium length, deep, powerful muzzle with the skull and muzzle on parallel planes. The lips are tight and clean. Nose black.
Eyes	The eyes should be of oval shape and medium size, neither prominent nor sunken and must express alertness and intelligence. A warning or suspicious glint is characteristic when approached by strangers. Eye colour, dark brown.
Ears	The ears should be of moderate size, preferably small rather than large, broad at the base, muscular, pricked and moderately pointed neither spoon nor bat eared. The ears are set wide apart on the skull, inclining outwards, sensitive in their use and pricked when alert, the leather should be thick in texture and the inside of the ear fairly well furnished with hair.
Mouth	The teeth, sound, strong and evenly spaced, gripping with a scissor-bite, the lower incisors close behind and just touching the upper. As the dog is required to move difficult cattle by heeling or biting, teeth which are sound and strong are very important.
Neck	The neck is extremely strong, muscular, and of medium length broadening to blend into the body and free from throatiness.
Forequarters	The shoulders are strong, sloping, muscular and well angulated to the upper arm and should not be too closely set at the point of the withers. The forelegs have strong, round bone, extending to the feet and should be straight and parallel when viewed from the front, but the pasterns should show flexibility with a slight angle to the forearm when viewed from the side. Although the shoulders are muscular and the bone is strong, loaded shoulders and heavy fronts will hamper correct movement and limit working ability.
Body	The length of the body from the point of the breast bone, in a straight line to the buttocks, is greater than the height at the withers, as 10 is to 9. The topline is level, back strong with ribs well sprung and carried well back not barrel ribbed. The chest is deep, muscular and moderately broad with the loins broad, strong and muscular and the flanks deep. The dog is strongly coupled.
Hindquarters	The hindquarters are broad, strong and muscular. The croup is rather long and sloping, thighs long, broad and well developed, the stifles well turned and the hocks strong and well let down. When viewed from behind, the hind legs, from the hocks to the feet, are straight and placed parallel, neither close nor too wide apart.
Feet	The feet should be round and the toes short, strong, well arched and held close together. The pads are hard and deep, and the nails must be short and strong.
Tail	The set on of tail is moderately low, following the contours of the sloping croup and of length to reach approximately to the hock. At rest it should hang in a very slight curve. During movement or excitement the tail may be raised, but under no circumstances should any part of the tail be carried past a vertical line drawn through the root. The tail should carry a good brush.
Gait/Movement	The action is true, free, supple and tireless and the movement of the shoulders and forelegs is in unison with the powerful thrust of the hindquarters. The capability of quick and sudden movement is essential. Soundness is of paramount importance and stiltiness, loaded or slack shoulders, straight shoulder placement, weakness at elbows, pasterns or feet, straight stifles, cow or bow hocks, must be regarded as serious faults. When trotting the feet tend to come closer together at ground level as speed increases, but when the dog comes to rest he should stand four square.
Coat	The coat is smooth, a double coat with a short dense undercoat. The outer-coat is close, each hair straight, hard, and lying flat, so that it is rain-resisting. Under the body, to behind the legs, the coat is longer and forms near the thigh a mild form of breeching. On the head (including the inside of the ears), to the front of the legs and feet, the hair is short. Along the neck it is longer and thicker. A coat either too long or too short is a fault. As an average, the hairs on the body should be from 2.5 to 4 cms (approx. 1-1.5 ins) in length.
Colour	Blue - The colour should be blue, blue-mottled or blue speckled with or without other markings. The permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on the head, evenly distributed for preference. The forelegs tan midway up the legs and extending up the front to breast and throat, with tan on jaws; the hindquarters tan on inside of hindlegs, and inside of thighs, showing down the front of the stifles and broadening out to the outside of the hindlegs from hock to toes. Tan undercoat is permissible on the body providing it does not show through the blue outer coat. Black markings on the body are not desirable.Red Speckle - The colour should be of good even red speckle all over, including the undercoat, (neither white nor cream), with or without darker red markings on the head. Even head markings are desirable. Red markings on the body are permissible but not desirable.
Size	Height: Dogs 46-51 cms (approx. 18-20 ins) at withersBitches 43-48 cms (approx. 17-19 ins) at withers

Faults

Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.