Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi, I'm Nancy Frensley, and I'm the training manager at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society
in Berkeley, California. We're going to talk about Blue Heelers today, how to care for
them. The Blue Heeler is the same thing, pretty much, as the Australian Cattle Dog, and where
you find most of them is in New Zealand on the working sheep ranches, or sheep stations,
as they call them. These dogs are a rough and tumble dog. They are tough. They're designed
to run miles and miles and miles everyday, around sheep, on top of sheep, over sheep,
and they want to be in control. Any dog that's designed by breeding to control a large group
of livestock is going to want to control other things when they don't have that livestock
to control. So, the things that you're going to have to watch out for behaviorally with
your Blue Heeler is, they have to really answer to you. You have to put very good, firm obedience
training on them, using positive and friendly methods, of course, in order to get them to
answer to you. They will want to be 'nippy'. They'll want to round up your children, and
all the neighborhood children as well. And they can nip ankles and heels, which is their
tendency to do. One of the main calls I get as a behaviorist about Blue Heelers or Australian
Cattle Dogs is that they are nipping at kid's heels. So, that's a boundary you'll need to
put on them to make them a good pet. Otherwise, give them good exercise, take them hiking
on a regular basis, and you'll have a long, happy life with your Blue Heeler.