Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[framing fowl]

She's the only one who wasn't shepherdy. That litter had a coupla different studs. I think she is pretty much pit/lab. I would definitely have another.

Funny how you named the litters. We used to do that with spring barn kittens. That way we could keep track of them. My favorite was the Lion King batch ~Simba, Timon, and Poomba.

 

[AL]

murph!! Cattle dogs???!?!!? *sigh* I had cattle dogs.... so smart and loyal. Great dogs.

 

[savingdogs]

Well it helped me to keep track of them.....there were a couple other themes too I just can't think of them off the top of my head.

 

[savingdogs]

murph!! Cattle dogs???!?!!? *sigh* I had cattle dogs.... so smart and loyal. Great dogs.

I love cattle dogs. We believe our dog Bandit is Karelian bear dog mixed with cattle dog.

We also had a GREAT cattle dog (blue merle) stray that we named Cowboy, he was one of the few fosters I ever had that never peed in my house. He was very much a gentleman. Typical to the breed, he took a while to get to know you and was reserved with all strangers. But he was really sweet and loyal once he bonded to you. We got him a nice home.

I've also fostered "bull heelers" which is what they call pit bull/heeler crosses. People like this mix for some reason and breed them on purpose, however I would not recommend it. They were very very cute but hard to place and a couple of them had difficult personalities. An aloof pit is not a good idea.

And Saffire was heeler/aussie. You cannot mistreat a heeler! They never forget it.

Heeler is a very common dog to find in rescue here in Southwest Washington. They are also very good dogs however, My best friend has two and loves them to death.

 

[murphysranch]

Cattle Dogs, aka Australian Cattle Dogs, aka Heelers are wonderful dogs. They are smart, easy to train, and pretty much focused on their owners.

Brumby, the old black one, was a former agility frisbee dog who was turned in cus she didn't win. She might have been 3 - 4 when we adopted her near Sacramento. I took her to a herding clinic in Santa Rosa years ago, and she had that herding gene hard wired.

Titan came from the East Bay and is my baby prince namby pamby boy. He would be terrified to herd anything. We've always thought he was gay, and at 33 # he's a lap dog and "hugs" my neck at every oppty. He's my shadow.

Parker came from Covelo CA, off an Indian reservation. He is a border collie McNab mix. McNabs were bred in Northern CA 100+ years ago to be a larger version of the BC. He's way way too smart, and exhibits the drive, eye and down stance of all BC's. Parker LOVES EVERYONE.

Bandito came off a dairy farm in Lodi, where there were over 2 doz puppies, 12 weeks old, who had never been out of a wooden mud filled outdoor box with some wet hay. Horrible conditions. Of the 3 red ones we pulled out to consider adopting, he was the only one who wanted to walk around and sniff things. The rest flattened to the dirt, and wouldn't move.

Unfortunately, Bandito has nipped two ppl, in the calf. We're working on leash training and "leave it" cus we don't want anyone to report his actions, and have him taken away. He only has eyes for me, altho he does love DH, he'll do anything for me.

We also are owned by Fat Cat Lea, who we adopted 6 years ago from a cat rescue in Morgan Hill. She loves the dogs and vice versa. We adopted Speedy from the Humane Soc up here, but he died from heart worm at the age of 2. We also had Driver, a red cattle dog, but DH ran over him last spring when he was 8 months old. Tragic accident. Made my DH weep for two days. Now that dog had very very strong herding instincts - he would herd the other dogs, the tractor, a bicycle, anything.

My dogs are my life. I LOVE THEM!

 

[savingdogs]

So sorry about the puppy......things happen. I feel bad for your hubby murphysranch.

Parker looks like the one that would steal my heart, note his resemblance to my dog Anika.....any dog that even remotely resembles Anika steals my heart.

Yup, nipping in the heels is kind of a heeler issue. I did not recommend rescued ones to folks with toddlers because of that. You sound like you do a bit of dog training yourself but I have some ideas on how to work on that if you need them.

 

[AL]

We had an ACD, Libby, when I was growing up. We also had a couple of angus cows and if they got out of the pasture we'd tell her to "put 'em away" and she'd not only get them back in the pasture but also in their stalls.
Then about 14years ago I got another one (Matilda). She was really smart and loyal, but had NONE of the usual ACD energy.
When Matilda was a couple of years old, my vet somehow pawned off Matilda's 1 1/2yr old half sister, Sophie, on me. She was smart as a whip and had double energy to spare. Ended up having PRA and going blind progressively at about 6yrs old, completely a couple years later. Matilda had to be put down - tumor in her chest. Sophie passed away at home from atrial fibrillation.

I'll have another ACD someday.

 

[savingdogs]

It is hard how dog lives are never long enough.....

 

[murphysranch]

Yes, PRA is something I worry about in all mine. Its quite the ACD disease.

But Brumby doesn't have it. She's deaf, has an autoimmune disease of the masticular (sp?) joints, and is in early liver failure. But she barks, runs after the ball, and sleeps about 20 out of 24 hours. She's old - maybe 11 or more.

Titan is 5, and so no sign yet.

Bandito is not a year old yet, but he has a lame left back leg, some of the times. Vet cannot find anything wrong, so it might be neurological. But we can't afford to take him to a specialist.

Parker eats everything. Last week it was a sock - took about 3 days for it to pass. Boxes of cereal, box of See's candy, chicken scratch, gorged on dog food, more socks, a stuffed toy, horse poop (we don't have a horse), and thats all within his 3 years of life so far....

I'd rather have them deaf than blind. On the cattle dog forum, one of our founding moderator's dog has PRA and he's now completely blind. They live in Australia.

 

[Damummis]

Now I have to research PRA, Spikey is an ACD.