| Dumbfarmer2 - 1/23/2026 18:06
Heelers are great cattle dogs, IF you train them. We have one now that is a handful and a half. If she’s bored even for a minute she’s getting into mischief and she’s 5 years old now, not a puppy anymore. If you spend a lot of time away from home with a job or vacation frequently and someone isn’t able to give it daily attention, you need a different breed. A correctly trained one however is one of the best dogs you can get.
Absolutely the best! The trouble is today at least 95% of them are bred to be pets or the show ring with no consideration given to cattle ability. It has been an ongoing problem for nearly 200 years but today it is very hard to find heelers that were bred solely on cattle ability. That means the most important selection criteria are brown markings, short legs, heavy body and small head or as known 2 centuries ago - "piggy" . A few of those dogs can still handle cattle and some of them quite well but it is an accident if you find one. Raise your own pups if you get a good one of those. I have 2 neighbors that have the short legged version and neither one can be controlled. They live to chase the hell out of cattle. A German Shepherd can do that. The next generations need to be selected on cattle ability not color or other stupid things. A tall, lanky dog with a big head and drab markings from a working farm is what you want. Avoid any advertisement that stresses "looking for a forever home" or "aggressiveness bred out" etc. Those are mutants developed for children that watch "Bluey".
Read "A dog for the job" by Noreen Clark:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=a+dog+for+the+job+clark&_sacat=...
Edited by ManiaPlus 1/23/2026 22:34
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