Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hunting With a Blue Heeler

Unlike some others here I am not feeling too friendly toward blue heelers. Friday a pack of three roaming blue heelers killed a registered miniature Belted Galloway heifer calf. A real big loss considering there are probably less that a hundred mini belties in the entire country.

Any blue heeler that sets foot on my property is dead meat. No questions asked.

Our heeler is incredibly attentive and responsive to us, especially when it comes to body language. He'll follow us around the house and when we stop, he stops. As soon as we start opening or fiddling with something or whatever, he sits there and watches intently, cocking his head this way and that like he's trying to figure out what we're doing. He's very keen on vocal commands and especially the tones of our voices, but even moreso as I said to movements and body language, stuff that we don't even usually notice we're doing. He puts our siberian husky to shame, because she'd rather play than concentrate on anything for more than 5 seconds, so while he's trying to figure something out, she's lost her train of thought 4 times and done two laps around the house.

More than likely they will be back!

If you didn't get 'em, be ready. Once they start that, they will not stop. That is the wolf thing in them,, the other side of the shadow that follows the dog. And because working stockdogs are bred to make decisions, they can become the most cunning at hiding their stock killing activity.

Here's Cheyanne.



She is one pyscho little dog. She tries to chase deer, so I keep her close in the woods and haven't tried to hunt with her.

In the wild, dingos will space themselves a great distance apart and then work together to form a sort of relay team to run down and exhaust game that they could not overpower together as a pack.

Heelers consistently rank in the top 10 dog breeds in intelligence. They are extremely loyal to one person or family. They can become a real problem if they aren't given something to do.



Most dogs do well at whatever their breeds specialty is. Heelers seem pretty versatile in that respect. Heeler owners quickly learn ways to keep the occupied. Mine fetch the paper from the yard each morning, then they search the house for their collars. Frisbees and tennis balls are good toys and mandatory each day. My dogs are not angels and when they have stolen something they are smart enough to hide the wrapper or other evidence.

One of my heelers knows more than 50 words. Unfortunately 'vet' was one she picked up early.

My meter reader says the two breeds she fears are heelers and chows. Most of my neighbors have experienced some vandalism or burglary but I never have. They guard the vehicle also.

The dog below won these ribbons in hunting retriever tests in 2005.


My bear encounter with them was actually while recovering the bull in my avartar. After a short nights sleep we returned to my kill to find the gut pile buried in leaves and debris - a bear's claim. Both dogs were quick to notify me of exactly which stand of trees that bear was in. We never have trouble with agressive bears here and this one never emerged.

I must be losing my touch. Puppy pics are a sure-fire chick magnet, and I thought I could at least reel in Houndgirl with them....... Oh well. Here are a couple more of mine. She loved to coyote hunt.


My calling partner and a couple we couldn't have got without a dog.


She liked to get it on with a critter in a trap, too.

my wesley was a very loyal dog. i raised him when i was single and lived on our horse farm. i got married when he was three and he never warmed up to my wife. he would not listen to her if i was home. my best friend who lived with me and wes, couldn't come to my new house if i wasnt there or my wife he was that good of a watch dog. one evening i was napping before going in for night watch and wes was sleeping next to the bed where he always slept, when my wife came in to wake me wes bared his teeth and began growling at gwen. i never seen a dog that protective in my life. he mellowed as he got older.

Well damn... when I was a kid in England I wanted to be a farmer, and actually had a book on cattle, I remember the belted galloways, they were right next to the dexters.

I expect any one of us here would shoot them three loose heelers for you in a heartbeat.

Birdwatcher

Anyhow, heres mine... both spayed females.

Granted, the brains of the outfit is a heeler/sheepdog mutt, but even so heelers vary in looks/proportions quite a bit, 30 to 50 pound the breed standards say, and these two bracket that.

Speaking of breed standards, a big reason heelers vary quite a bit and a real plus of heelers in general is that they ain't ever been popular enough to catch on in a major way with the AKC crowd (unlike some Australian Shepherds lines for example) and so have never been ruined.

I expect most folks don't care a lot what their cowdogs look like, just so they can move cattle.

Birdwatcher

I have found that the racy models(like rogues) are better suited to keeping up with a horse all day. The blocky models tend to wear down to fast and seem to need a lot more water. Not a good thing in dry country. All said, birdy is right, don't matter what they look like as long as they work.........

I agree with that.
Fwiw my Heeler is the racy model.
The blocky ones just dont look right to me.

Just an observation:

In the different body type, the smaller, thicker dog seems to be the one with more of a instinct to "down" and hold the prey, while the taller, leaner heeler seems to be the type that "surrounds" the prey to position.

Using the heelers on herds of "prey", this would be a more efficient way to position herd to accomplish what needed. When I say "down" I'm talking aout belly down, staring intently at the chosen, while the "surround" heeler moves to force the "prey" in the direction needed.

Having two or more heelers at work on large herds, would accomplish result, with less expenditure of energy for the predator (heeler).

Question: Those of you who know the history of the heeler, have you ever heard anything on this line, about the development of the breed? I know there is a lot BS with histories of breed development, but if get a lot of information and history, gets pretty easy to sort out the probable BS from the probable TS.

Mine's one of the shorter, thicker ones. He weighs in at about 53 pounds and has that sturdy, bull terrier stance...the boy is solid.