I have a lot of love for a good heeler.
Probably the toughest dog in the world to train, like a Missouri mule. You gotta break a 2x4 over his head to get his attention.
My brother, long deceased, used to kick the crap out of his pup. The dog would turn around and look like "What did I do now? Oh yeah, that. Okay." and jump up and lick him in the face. My brother, in Jr High, took the dog to 4H and showed him in obedience class. He took a blue ribbon for the county. But they probably would have taken it away if they had seen his training technique.
He was a big dog, over forty five pounds. Huge by heeler standards. Pheasant hunting, pointing, cat killing, cow chasing fool. The meaner the cow, the better he liked it. Never saw him get kicked, he was too quick. He would dive four feet to the bottom of the water to make a retrieve. And would haul a twenty pound fence post back from fast flowing water.
After my brother died, his dog came to live out his life with me and my family. My kids as toddlers would "tail" him up the hills on hiking trips. Poor old guy was deaf as a stump from sitting under the muzzle of a shotgun or rifle for thousands of rounds with my brother. He could not respond to verbal cues. But he watched your hands like a hawk for any kind of signal and instantly responded.
He was just an incredibly tough animal with unlimited amounts of energy.
I have never owned another heeler. It just would not be fair to the dog, as I have not had the work for him to do.
