Australian Cattle Dogs and Blue (or red) Heelers are - more or less - the same breed. The Australian Cattle Dogs are the AKC registered version; they tend to be a little more heavy muscled than the Heeler version. Blue (or red) heelers are not registered by the AKC; they usually have cropped tails. Heelers are often smaller and lighter than Cattle Dogs. Either version generally has very strong instincts to herd (they were developed in Australia to herd cattle) and to "nip" at the cattle's heels. They have an often unfortunate habit of "nipping" other things if cattle aren't available (cats, other dogs, humans....with vets being a special favorite) but I really like them. They are very, very smart, generally one-person dogs, very opinionated, tough... just what you'd expect the outback to produce. Griffin in my third. I prefer the Cattle Dogs because I like dogs to have tails and not to have been chopped up for fashion.
looking at everyone's dogs has been fun! And thanks so much for all the kind comments about Griffin - he is a ton of fun. Penny
