se their owner. The breed can be taught to work without their owner’s supervision. They can also evaluate and solve complex situations on their own. The Australian Cattle Dog owner knows the breed for its incredible stamina, intelligence, and loyalty. This is why the Australian Cattle Dog naturally takes upon itself to be not only a protector but also a companion (Beauchamp 30).The basic foundation in the first heelers was the need to create a dog that could with stand the most brutal outback conditions. The first attempt came from a man known as Timmins. He wanted to breed the collie with the Australian dingo. This dog was untrustworthy out of the owners’ sight. The next dog he bred with the dingo was the purebred rough collie; however this dog worked the cattle into frenzy by barking all the time. As the need grew to create a working herding dog for Australia, a man named Thomas Hall accepted the challenge (Buetow 1).Thomas Hall, an outback rancher, first imported a pair of merle smooth-coated highland collies to help around the ranch. After a while, he realized that the breed was willing and capable, but lacked the ability to handle cattle and deal with the outback’s harsh environment. Around 1850, he then crossbred the merle smooth-coated collie and the Australian dingo. This combination of breed turned out to have great promise. Instead of herding from the front, as previous herding dogs had done, it came in low and from behind nipping at the cattle’s heals. This technique made the cattle move forward and reduced the risk of the dog being challenged, as was the case when herding from the front. The word spread around Australia very quickly, and this is when the breed of the Australian Cattle Dog first came into existence. There are many men who continued, “Fine tuning” the breed. One was a man named Thomas Bentley (Buetow 2).Thomas Bentley laid the basic foundation for the heeler&#...
