Comments on: How to Care for a Blue Heeler

on 11/13/2008 I too have a blue heeler, rescued her from a shelter that was being closed down for obvious reasons, poor girl. She is 5 yrs old and lived in a kennel and was only taken out for a walk on concrete once per day. She has been with us for a week and she is marvelous! Very timid, but smart as a whip! I have 6 resuce dogs now and she is in heaven. No nipping yet, but she is herding the "muttly crew" and they are loving it. She is loving and loyal and incredibly quit to learn. She picked up on day 2 to come, sit, wait and resume...very patient, loves to find where on the 3 acres I have hidden the chewey...she finds it every time, even if up one of the trees...beats my coonhound and lab/hound mix every time...LOL. I know she is not the norm, given she spent her first 5 yrs in prison, but I would expect her to be shy, overly leary of people and prone to agression...but nothing so far. A joy of

on 8/18/2008 I also have a Blue Heeler, 1 years old. He also will snip at people when I am walking him. I suspect it is a protection thing, I think he thinks he is protecting his owner, because like your dog, my dog wants to protect his yard. Have your neighbor or anybody you want to introduce him to...have some treats with them and toss him a few treats while you are introducing him to your neighbor, say Be nice as a command. Eventually your dog will associate people you talk to with good things, like treats.

on 8/4/2008 My blue heeler is very smart, but is very snippy. He is not snippy with our immediate family, but everyone else. I thought he was just that why when he was at home in his territory, but yesterday I tried to take him for a walk with me and my neighbor and he snipped at her when he was on a leash in the street. How do I control that? I want people to be able to come over without him biting everyone. We have 2 dogs, both outside dogs that sleep in our garage. We have an acre so they get plenty of exercise. I am afraid that because he is so cute, that someone will try to pet him, and he will bite him. When people are walking down our street, he will bite at the fence and scare them. Not sure what to do.

on 7/23/2008 I own a heeler, have now for 9 years. I have never had a problem with anything like you all have stated about your dogs. Mine has been the best dog I have ever enjoyed the privilege of sharing my life with.

on 11/26/2007 WARNING: Make sure you're able to put in the time, effort, and strict leadership as a puppy. She WILL reap havoc!

I obviously had not done my research when adopting this cuddly creature. She went from being cute to chaotic! Puppies require a lot of playtime. Blue Heeler's even MORE. Expect to have your patience tested with a Blue Heeler puppy! She bit and destroyed everything! When all hope was lost, she'd somehow changed! She's now this amazing dog!

Indeed very smart! At 9 weeks she knew how to sit, shake, and began to get the concept of rolling over (which then consisted of a plop to the side). Now, we HAVE to take her on her walks or else SHE'll bring us her leash! She's agile and has definitely given us reason to exercise more aggressively! She's always sure to keep me in eyes sight and is very loyal. In the end, she was the best biggest mistake ever. ;)

on 10/9/2007 I have a blue heeler who is 14 months old she's extremly smart and very entergetic. She's a wizz at playing catch and frisbee. She loves riding with me in my truck and when i say "Load up" she's ready to go. She's a good jumper i'm about 5ft6 and she can jump up and lick me on the cheek. She loves going on long walks and her favorite game is herd the tree cats that we have in our house. If you ignore her when she's playing she will bring her tennis ball over and flick it into my lap. I'll tell her to get in her pen at night and she'll go in and sit down waiting for me to close the gait and then give me a lick goodnight.

on 7/6/2007 We got a mix breed, rottweiler and blue heeler. She was our 2 year old's xmas present. When we got her I was worried about aggression issues because of the breeds. Boy was I wrong. She has never bit anyone. She is pretty much my dog though. She follows me around even when I am cleaning the house. She gets excited when people come over. She had distemper when she was younger so she has a twitch in her right shoulder. She is 7 months old now and just recently had parvo. She does very well with my 3 year old daughter and my 5 year old nephew. Even when my daughter pulls her tail. We call her sugar because she loves to give kisses. Which sometimes is very annoying. She used to sleep in my daughters bed with her until she got too big and was pushing her out of the bed. As for house breaking I had no problems. Easier than my 3 year old. And I had never trained a puppy.

on 6/9/2007 I have a blue heeler cross lab..so we think and she is not aggressive towards people but can no longer be around other dogs. She seems to be super protective but i have no idea how train her properly to be around other dogs. She has been in several fights and has not hurt another dog (knock on wood) but has been hurt quite badly herself from other dogs. I love her so much and am trying to socialize her as much as possible to make being out around people and dogs easier. She is 4.5years and was not always this bad, she is a very well behaved dog opposed to this. My roomate has recently gotten a new puppy and she is very hyper and bothers my dog a lot. I feel she is part of the reason that my dog has become more aggresive. Please help. I am currently using a citronella bark collar and a remote shock collar to aid in my training. Can anyone help me??? thanks ANGELA BEEBE

on 6/8/2007 We've recently adopted Brody, a 4.5 year old BH and Australian Shepard mix. She has been with us just over a week, and we're concerned about her nipping and aggression, like when she gets a hold of something she shouldn't have and doesn't want to give it up. If scolding and spanking isn't the best way to train, or in this case untrain, behaviors, I'd love to hear what has worked for those of you who have posted these success stories. She can be such a sweet girl, great with our cats, and a great companion for catch in the backyard, just this one issue to contend with.

on 2/7/2007 We have a mixed breed dog, part blue heeler part collie. We found that she is difficult to train and chew's up anything that is left unattended. We just threw away a whole wheel barrow full of junk she had chewed up in the back yard.
However, we still love her just the same. Hard to train but not impossible. Positive re-enforcement with food works the best. She is just now coming out of her puppy stage and is literally a beautiful creature. She stands tall, with perfect posture when something gets her attention, her ears erect, and her tail curled up on her backside. chew toys, chew toys, chew toys, Certainly a good way to curb her appetite for destruction. That can get a little expensive. So, she also goes for things like solid pieces of wood from tree trimmings in the yard. and they tend to last a little longer than traditional chew toys bought at the store. She has high levels of energy and likes to run a lot in the back yard. We only wish she would not tackle the children when they are playing outside with her. and for that reason she needs constant supervision. She seems to get along with other animals like cats very well. More curious than aggressive. But, the cats sure don't like her attentions. We think they'd even be good lap dog's, if you are firm enough with them in their early training. That's a big lap dog!

on 2/7/2007 The training guidelines for these dogs are a tad strict. The important thing is establishing yourself as the alpha male or female. If you are not a natural alpha your dog can look up to, consider a female since a male will always contend w/ you to be the top dog. Otherwise, I've met people who explained they know nothing about training, but have the most well behaved dogs because they rescued an older heeler. My heeler has been w/ me since 5 weeks and never leaves my side since, although I also worked at home and could be with him full time. The mother almost begged me to take him away since she had 8 others and my puppy never cried or whined once. He immediately knew this was his family and knows never to cross anything that is mine. An indoor dog, our furniture is always perfect since he has plenty of toys and gets frisbee/ball time at least once a day. Occasionally he's chewed on my wife's apparel when alone, but I think only to spite her for making him do something he didn't prefer. He's never touched anything of mine other than lying on my dirty clothes. Never had a hair problem. This is the most intelligent breed out there, and are very rewarding for active, involved people who understand dog hiarchy. They respond to a glaring look 100x better than anything else. Never strike this breed since they're bred VERY strong and bred to only come back harder after being kicked (by a cow, etc.) until the job is done. If their owner hits them they become very fearful and wary of people since they don't understand your behavior. Otherwise, they are the most loving breed you can find since they love to give kiss attacks and my heeler always looks forward to the routine of cuddling on my lap in the morning when I read the paper. I recommend this breed for anyone that can own a dog w/out a leash. Heeler's don't need one unless people around them do. See the movie,"Last of the Dog Men" to understand what this dog was bred for, and understand that breeding accounts for 95% of how your dog behaves. If you live an active lifestyle and want a trusting companion this breed can't be beat, but can easily develop bad habits if left to their own devices.

on 2/6/2007 We own a blue heeler and they are one of the smartest breeds I have ever seen our blue heeler is 6 months old and only has to be told something maybe twice before he gets the hang of it. For the rental house comment. It doesn't matter what kind of dog it matters how the animal is cared for and trained. I've seen 5 pound poodles cause more havic than my blue heeler does who weighs 30 pounds and is all muscle. Always get a pet deposit because you never know how someone else cares for their animal and people who love and care for their animals have no problem paying deposits.

on 1/27/2007 Hello blue-heeler owners. My husband and I are screening possible tenants for our rental house right now. We have one candidate who has a dog that is part blue heeler, part mutt/ unknown. She claims that this dog is "relatively well-behaved" and does not chew. She leaves the dog at home alone while she is at work. Should we be concerned? What should we ask her about this dog, to get a better idea of what kind of damage it may do to the house? (We will of course ask for a pet deposit for any possible damage. The house is not your typical rental; it's lovely, only a few years old and we'd like to retire in it someday.) Thanks for any insights and advice!

on 1/20/2007 I have a 7 year old heeler and he is a good dog but he does have a tendency to be dominate. He will often growl or just snarl(show his teeth especially to small childrenand strange men) He is my dog and my daughters. I didn't socialize him nearly enough as a pup. I loved him he is easily trained he stays inside 9 to 12 hours and does fine other than an ocasional loaf of bread comes up missing. He will learn new commands in minutes usually and is very obedient for me and my daughter but tries to dominate my wife and son( my son is 5 and my daughter is 8)I would recomend heeler for true dog lovers who want to be active owners. They are great for homes who have someone there all the time. They will dominate if you don't exercise and discipline.(you cannot hit these dogs they will either be more aggresive or be very fearful) but discipline by your attitude and show no affection kills this breed. They will play fetch til your arm falls off and get sturdy frisbee because they shred ones made for humans. They are very smart but very high maintence dogs. I cannot stress enough that this is GREAT dog for the right owner.They are not in anyway shape or form a dog that will stay in the back yard all day and be separated from its family(pack) Shadow got his name because he is everywhere you are all the time. How do you break these dogs from thieving food he is very good at it and very fast sneaky

on 1/20/2007 I just purchased a little blue heeler mix, to keep company to my lab/rottie mix. Skipper, the lab, is a male with incredible energy and I thought that another dog would help him burn some of it, plus provide with company. Our new little girl, Ashley, is full of energy, very sweet and smart. We keep both dogs in the house. Skipper sleeps in my son's room and Ashley in my room. Since she seems to enjoy being outside so much, we took them both for a walk today. She is a trooper - at 6 weeks old and she refused to be carried until she was totally pooped!! I mean, the walk was 6 hrs ago and she is still recovering. That tells me that next time, I need to make the walk shorter until she is older because she can hurt herself if I let her. The potty training is going good; she does like to nip at our pant's legs and does need chew toys. Both have their shots up to date. According to the vet, we won't start her on heartworm med until she is 12 weeks old, then we will have her neutered when she is 3 months old. We already had Skipper, the lab, neutered. So far, she sounds like the perfect match for our Skipper and our little family.