Australian Cattle Dog - Breed Description

These smart and savvy animals are considered the attraction of the Australian contingent. The healer is a man’s faithful friend with a unique talent as a shepherd. By the way, his communication skills with cattle are the main distinguishing feature of this dog.

From the history of the breed

The ancestors of Australian healers are wild dingo dogs. The name of the breed is translated from English as "heel". The reason for this was their feature of biting cattle by the back of their legs, thus driving them into a stall.

The breed was bred by the English colonialists in order to obtain the perfect shepherd dog for driving cattle over long distances. Australian farmer T.Hall crossed short-haired collies with wild Australian dingoes. For a long time, only the Hall himself had healers on the farm, and after he moved to another world, the breed spread to the Australian continent.

To improve the breed, the breeders continued to breed healers with Dalmatians, collies and bull terriers. This led to the emergence of 2 new breeds: the Australian short-tailed cattle dog and the Australian shepherd dog.

Breed description

The official name for Australian healers is kettle dog. The external data of this breed are somewhat similar to collies.

1. Torso. These animals are of medium dog size. Males have 45-52 cm at the withers and a weight of 21 kg, and bitches are slightly less - up to 50 cm and a weight of about 20 kg. Visually, the dog seems tall and short in length. Powerful body, muscular body.
2. Head. Proportional to the body. Large, wide.
3. Limbs. Rounded shape. The paw pads are oval. The hind limbs are strong and wide.
4. Tail. Low set. Not dockable. With a small brush on the end.
5. The ears. With a wide base and pointed at the end. Small size.
6. Eyes. Oval shape. The iris is brown. Their view is meaningful.
7. Nose. Proportional, with a black tip.
8. Wool. Thick, with a dense short undercoat. It has good thermal protection properties.

Colors

There are several types:

1. Red. Uniform red specks throughout the body and undercoat (not cream or white). On the head there may be red spots of a darker color. The presence of uniform marks on the head is desirable. Red marks on the case are acceptable, but are considered a drawback.
2. Blue. It can be with specks or without. Specks are allowed in the head area of ​​black, blue, fawn. The presence of fawn undercoat is acceptable if it does not peek out from the outer coat. The disadvantage is the presence of black marks on the case.

Character Features

Kettle Great Dane was originally bred as a shepherd breed, and today he is still a great watchman and companion. In addition, they have excellent intelligence, devotion and loyalty to their owners. Extraordinarily attached to their masters. Dogs of this breed are affectionate and gentle, but unobtrusive.

Healers love their owners without limit, and with other members of the family are simply friendly and accommodating. Nevertheless, they are smart and courageous, they are ready for anything, protecting their territory. They are extroverts by type of temperament: active and inquisitive, very sociable.

With young children, they are usually great friends. Healers are easy on children and are ready to forgive them almost everything.They perceive children as puppies from a flock, therefore they strive to coordinate their behavior.

A completely different relationship, less affectionate, develops with other domestic animals. Dogs of this breed consider themselves masters in their own territory, they try to dominate all the pets with whom they live, and sometimes even the owner himself.

Training

These smart animals are very trainable from a young age. For this purpose, a puppy should be provided to a professional trainer. Education is possible only by humane methods, the healer will not tolerate any physical punishment. But the traditional training brings them a lot of joy and pleasure, they are smart enough and trained. During training of dogs of this breed, the use of physical force and screaming are simply unacceptable.

The joy of life is reflected on the dog's face with a smile. By the way, she appears with them quite often. However, when she is absent, her eyes are wary - the dog should beware.

Features of care and maintenance

Kettle dogs are not suitable for keeping in an apartment. They can just escape from it for the next batch of adventures. Most of all for this breed of dogs are private houses with a large territory and free range. These animals are very active; they cannot live without physical activity and long walks.

They can accompany their hosts while walking in nature or playing sports. If the healers are bored, they can just run away. A dog can open doors on its own and it happens that it digs a trench under a fence in an attempt to gain freedom. Therefore, it is better to keep the animal in the aviary.

Hair care
With the exception of links, grooming does not cause owners any particular trouble. It is only necessary to comb it occasionally with a special brush, removing the fallen wool with a wet hand or a special glove. This procedure is done on average once a week and every other day during moulting.

You do not need to bathe your pet often. And it is better to do this only in case of emergency with the help of a special or odorless baby shampoo.

Claws and paws
This animal is quite active and during physical exercises the claws grind on their own. Once a month, a rudimentary claw needs to be trimmed.

Due to a strong love of walking, pillows on their feet may crack. They must be periodically treated by washing with water and lubricated with oil or a moisturizer with healing properties.

Eyes
They are the identifier of the animal’s health status. If they are sore or very sour, it is advisable to show the dog to the veterinarian. Eyes should be examined once a week and, if necessary, rinse with a decoction of chamomile or calendula with a cotton pad.

Teeth cleaning
For healers, like all dogs, the condition of the teeth is very important. For this reason, it is so important to keep them healthy. To maintain healthy teeth, the animal's diet should be as diverse as possible with the inclusion of solid food.

Teeth should be brushed at least once a week. You need to do this with a special dog paste and a soft brush.

You need to teach your pet to brush your teeth from an early age, otherwise an adult dog can have difficulties with this. When a dog is accustomed to this procedure, then in an adult animal, as a rule, this does not cause problems.

Food

For an animal to be healthy and active, its diet should be as diverse as possible. As a rule, healers have a good appetite, but rarely tend to suffer from excess weight. Dogs of this breed are very active and therefore consume a lot of calories. Since they are, by their nature, animals that prefer free will, it is better to choose natural food, using special dry food only in the most extreme cases.

The basis of the diet should be meat, fish and offal. It is desirable to give them in a raw state, while the meat is first scalded with boiling water. In no case should you give a raw liver, this can lead to infection of the animal with helminths.

Additionally, their diet must necessarily contain:

• eggs
• cereals: oatmeal, rice, buckwheat;
• fish
• vegetables: beets, carrots, cabbage, zucchini;
• vegetable oil;
• milk products.

Trying to diversify the pet’s nutrition as much as possible, it is necessary to take into account the products that a dog should never eat.

List of prohibited products:

• butter baking;
• citruses;
• fatty meat (pork);
• seasonings, including garlic;
• smoked meats;
• corned beef;
• sweets;
• mushrooms;
• cereals: wheat and barley.

Knitting

An adult female healer is ready to mate about 2 times a year. Without waiting for estrus, the lady needs to pre-select the groom. Before mating, the veterinarian should be shown to the animal and deworming done beforehand. This applies to owners of animals of both sexes.

Owners stipulate in advance all conditions for mating pets and price. Mandatory must be provided to each other all the necessary documents and a veterinary passport. The contractual terms may be in writing or orally at the request of the owners.

Deworming

Regardless of the conditions in which the animal is kept. The risk of infection with parasites is always great enough. Therefore, dogs and puppies need to be dewormed once a quarter for preventive purposes. This way you can protect yourself and other pets from possible infection. This is of particular importance before mating, since infection with parasites can occur in puppies in utero through the bloodstream and when feeding with mother's milk.

Puppies can be anthelmintic starting from 3 weeks of age. Parasitic infections are very dangerous for them, they can lead to developmental delays and even death. Oddly enough, most often pets become infected from their owners.

Health and Life Expectancy

Usually dogs of the Australian shepherd breed have enviable health. They perfectly adapt to any conditions of keeping and living thanks to the genes received from their wild ancestors.

Healers are centenarians among dogs. On average, their life expectancy is about 15 years, but there are cases when animals of this breed survived to a much more venerable age. However, some individuals may suffer from characteristic genetic diseases:

• Congenital deafness.
• Hip dysplasia.
• Predisposition to congenital, gradually developing blindness.
• Lack of teeth.

These diseases can be identified by conducting a special genetic analysis. Such animals are excluded from breeding and are subject to sterilization.

Of all puppies, about 2% are deaf. 14% have unilateral deafness. Most often, individuals with white marks suffer from it. At birth, they have a white solid color, like the Dalmatians. The latter gave the healers their genetic predisposition to hearing loss.

Studies of this breed have shown that individuals with mottled color have no predisposition to congenital deafness. In Russia, it is believed that the healthiest litter is obtained by mating individuals of blue and red color. But these data have no scientific evidence.

Animals with hip dysplasia at home are excluded from breeding. In Europe, this rule has also begun to adhere to recently. Therefore, their genes were animals that moved to America, England, France. 50% of healers in Finland suffer from this disease. Most often, it is found in large representatives of this breed.

Healers often have congenital tooth failure.Given the characteristics of the breed, standards are allowed to have such a drawback - the maximum number of missing teeth is 3. The remaining animals are rejected.

How much is and where to buy?

The price of the healer depends on many factors. Naturally, it affects her - pedigree data and pedigree. Demand for puppies in winter is greater than in summer, and this also affects the cost. It is better to get a fourth friend in a specialized nursery than from an unknown seller. Since instead of a thoroughbred dog there is a risk to buy an ordinary domestic, outbred “Ball”.

On average, a puppy of this breed costs 400-1000 US dollars.

Video: Australian Shepherd Dog