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By Narelle Hammond-Robertson
The history of the Australian Cattle Dog is as long and
varied as the history of Australia itself and controversy
that surrounds this history will be subject to debate
for years to come as there were few written records. Many
years prior to European settlement on this vast island
continent lived a wolf like dog that was known to the
aboriginal population as "Warrigal" or Dingo.
These dogs were primarily red in colour with a few that
were white or black and tan. They also carried a white
tail tip and usually had white feet. These dogs were taken
from their mothers even before they were able to see and
were hand reared by the aborigines to produce a relatively
tame dog that was taught to hunt and track.
In the early 1800's, the first settlers, having limited
availability of labour to control the large herds of cattle
that grazed on unfenced properties and rugged bushland,
set about to create a breed of dog to assist in mustering
and moving wild cattle. The principal requirement of this
breed of dog was that it be strong, possess great stamina,
and be able to bite. Initially, the cattlemen used a bob-tailed
dog known as "Smithfields". They were big rough
coated, square bodied dogs, with flat, wedge shaped heads,
saddle flap ears and bob tails. Black in colour, with
white markings around the neck extending down the front.
They were faithful, hardy and sensible, but had an awkward
cumbersome gait, were slow on their feet, unable to cope
with the heat, severe biters and barked too much. As the
colony opened up and the herds increased, the need for
a more active dog, with less voice, became pressing.
In about 1830 a drover named Timmins from the Hawkesbury
River approximately 60 miles north of Sydney, drove cattle
down from Bathurst over the Blue Mountains to the Homebush
Saleyards in Sydney. Timmins conceived the idea of crossing
his dogs with the red native dog to produce the animal
required and thus originated the red bob tail or "Timmins
Biters" as they were commonly called. (This dog is
the fore bearer of today's ANKC registered Stumpy Tailed
Cattle Dog which is a completely separate breed of dog
to the Australian Cattle Dog) Dogs of this cross were
a great improvement on the Smithfield. They were very
active and almost silent. Unfortunately they possessed
one very bad fault. If they got out of the drover's sight
they would chew the calf or beast nearly to pieces, the
Dingo instinct coming to the fore when out of control.
After a time, most of them died out and the rough haired
collie was tried next.
They were except in a small number of cases also a failure,
as they tried to work the cattle as if they were sheep,
rushing to the head and barking. This action made the
cattle wild, and was particularly bad for fat cattle as
they would break and rush in all directions with such
a dog and therefore lose all their condition. A cross
of the Rough Collie and Russian Poodle was tried next.
Even today a few survivors may still be seen in old country
towns. A blue, rusty, brown or black dog with a coat like
that of an Otterhound. They were very severe dogs, biting
anywhere from head to tail, and the long coat made it
particularly unsuitable for our harsh summer conditions.
They soon died out. Crosses of the Bull Terrier and Collie
were tried but they proved to be too slow, too heavy and
too severe on the stock. In places where the cattle were
very fierce, crosses of Bull Terrier and Kangaroo Dog
(cross between a Greyhound and Wolfhound) were also tried.
They were very good for catching and throwing outlaws,
but useless for quiet cattle, so they died out too.
In 1840, a landowner by the name of Thomas Hall, living
on "Dartmoor" at Muswellbrook in the Hunter
Valley of New South Wales, approximately 150 miles north
west of Sydney imported two smooth-haired blue merle Highland
Collies (called at that time by the ignorant people Welsh
Heelers) from Scotland. Although these were considerably
better than the common collie, they proved to be less
suitable for work with fractious cattle in the new, hostile
and unaccustomed environment as they displayed some of
the heading traits that were undesirable. Therefore, Hall
experimented with native Dingo blood infusions; with the
resulting litters becoming known as "Hall's Heelers".
As the Dingo trait is to creep silently from behind and
bite, the pups followed this style of heeling, nipping
at the fetlocks of the stragglers until they rejoined
the herd. Immediately the cattle dog nipped it would flatten
itself against the ground to avoid any kick a stubborn
bovine might suddenly lash out.
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Doing what the Australian Cattle Dog does best!
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This dog was welcomed by grazier and drover alike for
their ability to handle wild cattle, their stamina to
travel great distances over all types of terrain, and
their endurance in extremes of temperature. The physical
appearance of the progeny closely resembled small, thickset
Dingos, with their heads tending to be rather broad of
skull, bluntly wedge shaped, with brown glinty eyes and
pricked ears with colour being either red or blue merle.
Hall continued his experimental breeding until his death
in 1870. Word of Hall's new and superior Cattle Dog variety
soon became widespread. Demand for the young stock spread
rapidly throughout New South Wales, eventually reaching
Northern Queensland. Around this time another landowner,
George Elliot of Queensland was experimenting with the
crossing of the Dingo and Collie, producing some excellent
workers. He entered into his diary on the 12th of February
1873 that his two month old quarter Dingo worked so silently
on cattle, he called her "Munya", which is aboriginal
for silent.
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In the early 1870's these cattle dogs found their way
to the Sydney markets and it was here that some breeders
decided to refine Hall's Heelers. A butcher named Fred
Davis was the first to proudly displayed the ability of
a pair of Hall's Heelers at the cattle saleyards in Sydney.
Two brothers, Jack and Harry Bagust of Canterbury in Sydney,
were among several cattlemen to purchase pups from Davis.
Kaleski writes, "Then a blue dog came on the field,
called Bentley's dog, who was crossed through these dogs,
and from whom all the latter day blue dogs of any note
claim their descent. He was owned by a butcher working
on Glebe Island, called Tom Bentley and was a marvel for
work and appearance. Although his pedigree was never set
out, we know beyond doubt that he was one of the pure
Hall strain. From this on selected bitches, Messers Jack
and Harry Bagust, C Pettie, J Brennan, A Davis (Fred Davis's
son who was my partner in the blue dogs for years) many
other breeders and myself made a start breeding the blue
dogs. About 15 years ago we had them practically perfect".
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The Dalmatian was introduced to improve the breed's rapport
with horses, which was a fundamental requirement to satisfactory
station and property work.
As with Dalmatians, the pups are born white, developing
their colour gradually from approximately three weeks
of age. As much as the Dalmatian influence improved the
dog's relationship to both horse and man, unfortunately,
some of the working ability was lost with this cross,
so, the Bagust brothers, after admiring the working ability
of the Black and Tan Kelpie, opted to introduce this cross
with their speckled dogs, thus obtaining a line of compact,
highly intelligent, active, controllable workers, similar
in type and construction to the Dingo, but chunkier of
build with unique colouring and peculiar markings known
to no other dog. The blue variety had black eye patches,
black ears and brown eyes and all featured a small star
in the centre of the forehead region known as the "Bentley
Star" due to the influence of Tom Bentley's dog,
with the body colour being dark blue, often with a black
saddle and tan markings on legs, chest and head.
In 1893, Mr. Robert Kaleski, an avid canine enthusiast
and highly respected journalist of the day took particular
interest in this breed, and started showing the breed
in 1897. His involvement proved of great assistance in
fixing type and colour for he soon realised that there
was no check on the judge giving the award in any way
he fancied. In Kaleski's own words: "My partner and
I showed a practically perfect Blue Cattle Dog by the
name of Spot at one big show who was passed over for a
lop-eared mongrel worth about five shillings. Alex showed
Spot at the RAS afterwards and was credited champion with
him in a big class. I realised then that it was no use
breeding good dogs true to type if this sort of thing
went on, so I set to work to draw up a standard by which
dogs could be judged and by which the judge was compelled
to abide". Kaleski developing and stabilising the
standard and it was endorsed initially by the Cattle and
Sheepdog Club of Australia, then the Kennel Club of New
South Wales in 1903. He also drew up the standard for
the Kelpie and Barb.
Kaleski's standard has been expanded over the years,
but the essence of it is still very much a part of the
official standard approved and adopted by the Australian
National Kennel Council in 1963. Coincidental with the
writing of Kaleski's standard, the breed's name became
official as the Australian Cattle Dog, commonly known
as the Blue Heeler, the Australian Heeler, or the Queensland
Blue. From these unique beginnings the Australian Cattle
Dog has developed into one of the most popular breeds
of dog in Australia today.
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