Cattle Dogs

A Cattle Dog is a dog has been bred and trained to gather, herd and drive livestock. Different breeds of Cattle Dogs work cattle in different ways. Some breeds, such as the Australian Cattle Dog, typically nip at the animals heels, therefore they are "heelers". Others like the Border Collie, get in front of the animals and use what is called "eye" to stare down the animals, these are the "headers". The Koolie has been observed to use both these methods and to jump on the backs of their charges. Koolies are therefore said to 'head', 'heel' and 'back'.

Some herding breeds work well with any kind of animals; others have been bred for generations to work with specific kinds of animals such as cattle and have developed the physical characteristics and styles of working that enable the dogs to better handle these animals.

Cattle Dogs are bred for the physical characteristics that help them with their work, including speed and endurance. Shorter breeds, such as Welsh Corgis, were bred so that they would be out of the way when cattle kicked at them.

Due to their intelligence and beauty, Cattle Dogs are often family pets. It is important to remember that these dogs have been bred to work, and must be kept active. Otherwise they become bored and develop bad habits.

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This article is published under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Herding dog".

 

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