The first “cattle dog” used in Australia were the Smithfield’s or drovers dogs.  They were faithful, hardy and sensible but were very heavy and slow on their feet and were great barkers and severe biters.  As the need for a more active dog grew a drover named Timmins came up with the idea to cross his dog with the native dingo, thus originated the Timmins heelers.  These dogs were a great improvement as they were very active and very good severe biters and almost silent, there only fault, if they got out of the drovers sight they would chew a beast to pieces, which was the dingo’s natural instinct.

After a time a lot of these dies out and a rough haired scotch collie were tried next, these were a failure as they would rush to the head of the cattle barking which made the cattle wild and uncontrollable.

In 1840 a squatter named Thomas Hall in NSW imported a pair of blue smooth haired collies from Scotland.  They were called ‘merles’ or ‘mottles’ because of the dark and light blue patches on them.  These had mixes of Rough Haired Collies and Blue Italian Greyhound.  These were a great improvement as they were active, passable biters, and not nearly as noisy as the Rough Collies.  The Greyhound in them kept them silent, but they still barked when excited.  Hall then crossed these collies with the dingo.  These were brainy, hardy, tireless and active.  The dingo instinct gave them the idea of creeping up silently behind a horse or bullock and biting the foot on which the weight was resting at the moment, so they would not be kicked. 

Their colours then became red mottle, blue mottle or plain red as the dingo or merle genes predominated in them.

In a day in approx 1870, Alec Davis bought a pair of these dogs to Sydney where they attracted much attention.  Several local men obtained pups for breeding and one of these men helped the breed along further when they crossed the Dalmatian and the kelpie which gave them the two qualities needed, and they were recognized as a distinct breed.

The Dalmatian cross gave them the tolerance of being around and behaving around the drovers horses.  The kelpie cross gave them the working head they needed, but did the colour of the head from dingo red to black, made them finer in the muzzle and sometimes the body colour was too dark.

Finally after much breeding the perfect Australian Cattle dog was born, breeders today continue to strive for breeding a better dog and try to breed out any qualities that are not desired.  Today all breeds have distinct standards to which all breeders will endeavor to breed to.

This is not a breed of dog that can be put outdoors in a pen or backyard and attended to only when the owner has the time or idea to do so.

The Australian Cattle Dog was bred to work.  At no time in its history was there any attempt to make it a lapdog.  The cattle dog must be given something to do or it will think up something to do on its own, that something could be dismantling your new sofa or taking up your wall to wall carpeting!  The cattle dogs needs a lot of exercise, it cannot be confined or left alone indoors all day.

This is a breed that does has a mind of its own, it will size up a situation and if unaccustomed to looking to its owner for directions will make decisions on its own.  Owners who have been negligent in making their cattle dog understand who makes the rules will find them left out of the decision making process all together.  Remember the cattle dog’s dingo heritage and its resultant need for a strong pack leader.  If you do not provide that leadership, your dog will provide leadership for itself.

It takes a lot of dog to boss around a full-grown wild steer, and what the cattle dog lacks in size, it easily makes up in aggression and tenacity.  They were bred to bite the heels of cattle, the fact that there may not be any cattle heels around to bite, does not diminish their desire to do so.  If this is unharnessed, there could be a distinct problem.

If a prospective owner is willing to take on this responsibility, there are few breeds that can provide more devotion, loyalty and companionship than this one.