The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog descended from Smithfield Cattle Dogs in England, which were brought to Australia in the early 1800s and crossed with the dingo. Records of working dogs are scarce from this time period, and there are several different accounts of the breed's development. One is that a drover named Timmins from Bathurst, New South Wales, crossed the Smithfield dogs with the dingo, producing a type of working dog called Timmin's Biters. In order to mute their dingo characteristics and make the dogs easier to handle, further crosses were made with Scottish smooth collies, producing speckled red and blue dogs that were often born tailless.
In the book A Dog Called Blue, author Noreen Clark makes the case that both the tailless Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog and the Australian Cattle Dog descended from the same stock, called Hall’s Heelers, kept in the 1830s by a very large cattle operation run by Thomas Hall. The dogs which were also crosses of Smithfield Cattle Dogs and dingo, but the breeds diverged at some point in the late 1800s. Selective breeding of the tailless or short tailed dogs has fixed the characteristic of today's breed. A summary of both versions of the breed's history is found in the Fédération Cynologique Internationale breed standard.
The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is a normally proportioned, rugged dog with prick (standing up) ears and long legs. The breed's most distinctive feature, for which the breed is named, is the frequent lack of a tail. When there is a tail, it is quite short, no longer than 10 cm (4 ins), and never docked.
The Australian Cattle Dog is a related breed (with a long tail) that is similar in appearance to the Stumpy, but the Australian Cattle Dog is proportionally heavier and less leggy. The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog also does not have the tan colour seen in the Australian Cattle Dog.
The ideal temperament of the Stumpy is described in the breed standard as alert and watchful, as well as responsive to its owner and reserved around strangers, but also notes that "it must be amenable to handling" at shows, which implies that it is extremely independent, and that handling may be difficult. All working dogs need early socialization with people, and consistent training and activity throughout their lives.
Origin: Australia
Size: Height 18-20 inches
Coat: The coat is medium length to short, straight, dense and harsh. The coat colour is a speckled red or speckled blue
In the book A Dog Called Blue, author Noreen Clark makes the case that both the tailless Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog and the Australian Cattle Dog descended from the same stock, called Hall’s Heelers, kept in the 1830s by a very large cattle operation run by Thomas Hall. The dogs which were also crosses of Smithfield Cattle Dogs and dingo, but the breeds diverged at some point in the late 1800s. Selective breeding of the tailless or short tailed dogs has fixed the characteristic of today's breed. A summary of both versions of the breed's history is found in the Fédération Cynologique Internationale breed standard.
The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is a normally proportioned, rugged dog with prick (standing up) ears and long legs. The breed's most distinctive feature, for which the breed is named, is the frequent lack of a tail. When there is a tail, it is quite short, no longer than 10 cm (4 ins), and never docked.
The Australian Cattle Dog is a related breed (with a long tail) that is similar in appearance to the Stumpy, but the Australian Cattle Dog is proportionally heavier and less leggy. The Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog also does not have the tan colour seen in the Australian Cattle Dog.
The ideal temperament of the Stumpy is described in the breed standard as alert and watchful, as well as responsive to its owner and reserved around strangers, but also notes that "it must be amenable to handling" at shows, which implies that it is extremely independent, and that handling may be difficult. All working dogs need early socialization with people, and consistent training and activity throughout their lives.
Origin: Australia
Size: Height 18-20 inches
Coat: The coat is medium length to short, straight, dense and harsh. The coat colour is a speckled red or speckled blue
No comments:
Post a Comment