A HIGH ENERGY BREED WITH GREAT CHARACTER
Australian Cattle Dogs are becoming increasingly popular in France. Cattle Dogs are different, intelligent, devoted to their owners, highly protective and extremely agile. Australian Cattle Dogs have a wicked sense of humour and the ability to look innocent when caught red-handed!! However a Cattle Dog is not the pet for those who want a quiet life: Cattle Dogs are high energy (ideal for outdoor lifestyles like we have here in the French Alps) and they are packed with character and their distinctive sense of humour!
Australian Cattle Dogs are courageous, tough as nails and extremely intelligent. A cattle dog is also very protective of property and a devoted family dog.
Cattle Dogs have great strength and endurance and are one of the most “natural” breeds of domesticated dog, with very little incidence of the common hereditary health problems associated with many other dog breeds.
They make an ideal house-dog as Cattle Dogs require very little bathing and with regular grooming they don’t have the usual “doggy” smell that other breeds may suffer from. (But NB they still need loads of outdoor exercise.)
Cattle Dogs have the intelligence, agility and ‘instinct’ to successfully train for any of the obedience, agility and trailing hobbies that are becoming increasingly popular in France and Europe. As their breeding is based around long days at work, herding and sorting sheep in their natural Australian environment, Cattle Dogs do, however, require both physical and mental exercise on a regular basis.
They have also been bred to bite (sheep) for generations so don’t be surprised if you receive the odd nip in moments of excitement!
Australian Cattle Dogs are territorial and can tend to be unsociable towards strange dogs – with little care if it’s three times its size!! They can also be stubborn and difficult if handled / trained incorrectly.
For these reasons, Cattle Dogs are NOT the ideal dog for the first time dog owners. They need someone with previous experience and knowledge of dogs – and who knows what they are letting themselves in for!
An Aussie Cattle Dog will make a great mate / companion – their only desire in life being to spend every minute of the day with their owner. They are not suited to a sedentary city life or to being left at home for long periods.
Most Australian Cattle Dogs are suited to a working home. If not on a farm working livestock, then one where he/she will be worked in other fields, such as obedience, agility, defence, etc.
