Australian Cattle Dog

The Australian Cattle Dog is a medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two main colour forms. The dogs have either brown or black hair distributed fairly evenly through a white coat, which gives the appearance of red or blue dogs.They have been nicknamed “Red Heelers” and “Blue Heelers” on the basis of this colouring and their practice of moving reluctant cattle by nipping at their heels. Dogs from a line bred in Queensland, Australia, which were successful at shows and at stud in the 1940s were called “Queensland Heelers” to differentiate them from lines bred in New South Wales, and this nickname is now occasionally applied to any Australian Cattle Dog.