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Smithfieldi Collie |
Sydney on Australia's east coast on January 26, 1788. And together with cattle the working dogs were brought to Australia.The most popular herding dog at the time was the
Smithfield, a big, black, bobtailed dog with a long, rough coat. They were square bodied dogs, with flat, wedge shaped heads, and saddle flap ears. 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. In 1813 as the colony opened up and the herds increased. The Smithfield dogs were overwhelmed by the outback's difficult terrain, its huge, unfenced areas, and domestic cattle, who were turned into half-wild creatures. And the Smithfield's constant barking kept the drovers' horses and cattle in constant agitation, which made the cattle run off their condition. So the cattlemen set about developing a dog intelligent, rugged and courageous enough to meet the new job description.
In about 1830 a drover named Timmins had an idea of crossing his Smithfields with the red native dog Dingo. The offspring "Timmins Biters" as they were commonly called, were red bob-tailed very active and almost silent dogs. Unfortunately they were quite a biters and could not be left alone with calves. After a time, most of them died out.
Next the rough haired collie was bred with dingo. They were 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. A cross of the Rough Collie and Russian Poodle was tried next. 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.
Crosses of Bull Terrier and Kangaroo Dog (cross between a Greyhound and Wolfhound) were also tried. They were useless for quiet cattle, so they died out too.
History begins
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| Hall's Heeler |
In 1840 Thomas Hall imported two smooth-haired blue merle Highland Collies from Scotland. Hall experimented with breeding them to native Dingo. The resulting litters becoming known as "Hall's
Heelers". The offspring resembled small, sturdily made dingoes in all respects save color. Dingoes were normally red-fawn or few that were white or black and tan. They also carried a white tail tip and usually had white feet white. The crossbreds were redspeckled or blue-mottled. The collie-dingo hybrids worked silently, and instead of working
at the heads of the cattle, as most sheepdogs do, they worked from the rear, snapping at the heels of cattle when necessary. The down-side was that they treated the ranchers' horses much as they treated cattle.
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| Nipper, bred by Harry Bagust in 1899 |
This inspired Jack and Harry to breed one of these hybrids to a Dalmatian imported from Great Britain. The offspring from this cross were born pure white. They did not develop coat color either red or blue-speckled until they were three weeks old. The infusion of the Dalmatian changed the merle colour to red or blue speckle. 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 added that breed to their breeding program. The offspring’sblue variety had black eye patches, black ears and the red variety displayed dark red markings in place of the black on an even speckled base. Through selective breeding, these dogs became the forebears of the present day Australian Cattle Dog. Tom Bentley owned an excellent working dog from Hall’s strains. Over the next few years Bentley's Dog was widely used at stud to retain the out-standing characteristics. And the white blaze seen on the forehead of all ACDs today (now referred to as a "Bentley Mark") and the black tail-root spot seen occasionally in blue dogs can be directly attributed to Bentley's dog.
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| Kaleski and Stanmore Ruby |
Around 1870 Fred Davies used bullterrier in his breeding, but those dogs were gradually left out from the breeding because of a tendency to bite and not let go and also their movement was limited by their stocky bodies. This new breed became so popular between the Queensland farmers that that it came to be known as the Queensland heeler or Queensland blue heeler. Sometimes that name is shortened to blue heeler, which is also the nickname for police officers in Australia.In 1893 Robert Kaleski drew up a standard of the breed. This standard was adopted by the Kennel Club of New South Wales in 1903. The essence of Kaleski's standard is part of the official standard approved and adopted by the Australian National Kennel Council in 1963. The breed's name became official as the Australian Cattle Dog. The Australian Cattle Dog was formally admitted to the American Kennel Club (AKC) on the 1st of September in 1980 and the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) recognized Australian Cattle Dog on the 15th of Septembril in 1989.
Another theory
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| Cur type of dog |
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| Old type English Sheepdog |
The other theory is that the Hall family, which at that time owned
pastoral holdings from Surat in Queensland to Sydney in New South Wales, of which Thomas Hall was the Studmaster, also owned property in Scotland. The Hall family claim that the Drover's Dog or “Cur", a bob tailed dog was brought out from their properties in Scotland, not the blue merled Collies.The Northumberland Drover's Dog evolved from the Shepherd's Dog
of Scotland (forerunner of the Border Collie) crossed with the Old Beardie (sometimes later called the Highland Collie or Bearded Collie) with, most likely , a splash of something else thrown in. The home of this dog was traditionally Northumberland. The Northumberland Drover's Dog
is described as a much more aggressive and forceful than the Shepherd's Dog, or Scotch Collie (Rough or Smooth Collie type). Slightly heavier boned than either of these other dogs, obedient, faithful, and highly intelligent, with a natural ability to heel cattle.
From 1840 until his death in 1870 Thomas did not find the need to infuse any other bloodlines into his breed.
References:
Australian Cattle Dog A study of the breed, Narelle Hammond-Robertson
The Heeling Power of the Australian Cattle Dog, Rick Beauchamp
HALLS HEELERS - Origins Of the Cattle Dog in Australia, A.J.(Bert) Howard |
