Any Ausi Heeler owners here?

Pete,
Let me guess: Your CPA is a slender fellow...?
Heelers (Blue and Aussie) are very active dogs, bred to 'herd' cows and sheep. Incredibly intelligent/trainable. Houdini lives in each one (escape artists!). If they can't find a cow to herd, they'll herd children, adults, cats--whatever is available.
Be careful with your dog choice, you'll be living with your decision for about 10 years.
Fell in love with a blue heeler after a brief encounter and almost got one 2 years ago, but we googled the breed(s) and decided it was a bit too much for us, and ended up with a Standard Poodle (they don't shed hair).
Good luck in your choice!

 

try this,

www.akc.org/breeds/

www.dogbreedinfo.com

 

That dog will keep you REAL busy! Sort of like a Border Collie.

Lots of F Chatters love dogs, ask around. I like Golden Retrievers.

 

We have a heeler mut... incredibly smart and unbelievable loyal. They're great dogs. Doesn't growl, doesn't bite, doesn't bark, doesn't jump up on people, loves everyone. But we trained her this way... we don't need (or want) a killer watchdog. Goldens and Labs are great as well... but the heeler is smaller.

 

Ours is only active when she's out... but you're right, they're herders. When we first got her, she would nip at the kids heels when they ran around the back yard. Never hurt them, just tried to get them under control. It was hilarious.

 

It's at least hilarious!
I live in diary/cow land, and the first time you see one of these dogs 'at work' it is awesome.
I've seen 12 week old pups, just learning to run without stumbling, trying to herd. Instinct/breeding.
They climb well, too. One of my subcontractors always brought his heeler to work. During lunch once he tossed a stick into the top of a pine tree, 35-40' up. The damned dog climbed the tree, and got the stick!
Look out, Kitty Fishsticks: Peter's getting a Heeler...you'll never be safe in a tree.

 

The best dogs are Devil Dogs... Mmmm...

 

That sounds like something to eat..

 

You've never heard of Devil Dogs...?!? You poor thing...!!!

 

Yes. I acknowledge that I am pitiful/impoverished already!
What the heck is a 'devil dog'? A hot dog with spice? Must be some fiendish East Coast creation. Send it to the M.E. maybe, but change it's name first to perhaps "Mo's Wiener"--there'd be customers...

 

We have a nine year old female Queensland Blue Heeler. She's completely nuts. Our heeler also has a stubborn streak a mile wide, and while being very intelligent, can also be totally defiant when the mood takes her. (She got her ass kicked by our German Shepherd four times before she accepted that he was the alpha.)

I've been told by "experts" that if you don't work to keep them busy and/or have other dogs for them to exercise with, they become neurotic (which as this is my wife's dog, and she lived alone in an apartment before we were married, explains a lot.) My wife told me that when she was a puppy, she (the dog, not my wife) would collect and line up all of her toys in a row every morning before deciding which one to play with.

Now that she's older, her neuroses have developed into weird fetishes - she can't sleep at night until she's licked all of her feet clean. If you touch one of them, she has to start all over. She also chases her tail incessantly and barks solely to hear the sound of her own voice. The neighbors hate us. We've tried bark collars, but after a while she figured out that the collar only zaps her if the barking is at a certain rate, so she'd bark just infrequently enough to keep the thing from going off. She's also very aggressive toward people she doesn't know. (And yes, she herds - we can't have her in when we have friends over because she'll nip at their feet every time they get up.)

Bottom line - they require a LOT of patience. We have five dogs - three German Shepherd mixes, a purebred German Shepherd and her. The only one who is regularly a pain in the ass....well, you guessed it.

I can answer more specific questions if you want to PM me.

JM