That unusual dog breed that I said would trip some of you up is a stumpy-tailed cattle dog.
It is not the same thing as a Queensland heeler (Australian cattle dog) with its tail cut off. In this country, for some unknown reason, Queensland heelers get docked. If you know why this procedure is done, please explain it to me. It makes no sense!
I don’t know why.
As was the ACD/Queensland heeler, this breed was developed in New South Wales from the Smithfield cattle dogs. It does have something like the same recipe as the ACD. They are collie-type dogs mixed with Dalmatians, bull-and-terriers, and some dingo.
The Smithfield cattle dogs evolved into what were called Hall’s heelers. It is from that strain that both the Australian cattle dog/Queensland heeler and the Stumpy-tailed cattle dog descend.
Unlike docked ACD’s, stumpy-tails are naturally bob-tailed or have a shorter than normal tail. They are never docked.
Let me repeat.
They are never docked.
If you see a bob-tailed dog of this type in the US, your best bet is that it is a docked Queensland heeler/ACD.
***
Because the dingo/collie cattle dog landrace was not standardized for a very long time, the actual terminology for these dogs gets confusing.
I always called them Queensland heelers. That’s because an important strain of these dogs was derived from dogs that worked the cattle stations of Far North Queensland. These dogs did better at shows than the ones from New South Wales.
Most likely, the original dogs that were imported to the US were from the Queensland lines.
I have yet to figure out why it is so common to see these dogs docked.
And yes, these dog are born white, just like their Dalmatian ancestors. They then fill in with ticking and speckels until they look kind of moth-eaten. The ones that are tricolor or black and white look blue, and the ones that are dingo-colored, well, look like moth-eaten dingoes.
In some areas, the convention is to call he blue-looking ones “blue heelers” and the dingo-looking ones “red heelers.” They are the same breed.
I have also seen them called “healers” in classified ads for dogs. I think that’s a misunderstanding of how these dogs work. They don’t “heal” the cattle. They “heel” them by biting them on the lower part of their legs.
They are very smart dogs. They are a little sharper-edged than other collie-type herders. They had to be to control those half-wild cattle. They also have dingo and bull and terrier in them, which means that it is going to have a bit different in temperament from the typical collie-type.
I knew this would trip some of you up.
[...] Stumpy-tailed cattle dog. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Do your bleeding heart a favorelectronic dog collar fenceHow to Make Your Own Dog Leash [...]
Most Australian Shepherds have their tails docked(some are born tail-less), but I’ve never seen an Australian Cattle Dog(Queensland, blue or red heelers) with a purposefully docked tail, including show dogs–because of this inaccurate origin name for the Australian Shepherd(actually a western North American developed dog), people are ALWAYS getting these two mixed up, and they are as different as night and day in temperment, despite both being herding dogs……
Maybe the tail docking is a regional thing. Where I live there are more docked cattle dogs than undocked. I’ve only actually seen one or two that got to keep their tails.
I’ve only seen a few that have had their tails.
Where I live, this breed is always thought of a docked.
I saw a red one at a ranch in Arizona, and it wasn’t docked.
When wolf packs or coyote packs attack cattle dogs, one bites the tail and the rest attack the dog. Docking the tail allows for defencive movement. Im almost sure some people just like the “look” but its like wearing construction boots for fashion.