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Reader Stories: Living with an Australian Cattle Dog

By , About.com Guide

The Australian Cattle Dog is a very smart and loyal companion that is affectionate and connected with its owner. The breed is very alert and in-tune with the sights and sounds around it. Here's a profile of the breed that describes common characteristics of Australian Cattle Dogs. But like people, each dog is unique. If you own a Australian Cattle Dog, we'd like to know more about your pet. Your story will help prospective owners decide whether an Australian Shepherd is the right pet for them.

Talk About Your Dog!

Vee is Intelligent and Amazing!

She is probably the smartest dog I've ever owned. She has a very aggressive personality and tries to be the boss if she can get away with it. She listens very well to my husband, but I think I am her…More

Daisy Lou is Smart and Affectionate

smart affectionate to me aloof to strangers wants to lead.very easy to housebreak .loves to perform .she is now responsive to hand signals,daisy lou is food aggressive and very possivive of her toys,…More

Georgia - Loyal and Very Smart

Spoiled rotten. She's very affectionate, loves to cuddle and give doggy kisses. She is very smart, learns very fast. She knows the different names for her toys, ball, squirrel, etc. She was housebrok…More

Peppy, a Great Pet from Down Under

Extremely smart, great traveler, extremely obedient to her principal owner (the one she's velcroed to). Very needy for affection. Barks only for information purposes -I want to go out; I want to come…More

Max is a Challenge, But Wonderful

Wonderful, smart, sweet, intense, focused, a worker, difficult, aggressive. No medical problems. Strong and tough, mentally and physically. Much stronger than me or my husband. Housebroken in one day…More

Dakota and Janie

The two are polar opposites in personality, except for the loyalty trait. They are both velcro dogs, they follow me from room to room, always by my side. Dakota is the most laid back sweetheart of a …More

Our Australian Cattle Dog, Jingle-Bob

Fantastic with cattle, she knows them better than me. She is over-aggressive with the horses and goats and works them only muzzled. Just her presence keeps them in the gate while I bring in hay and g…More

Chewy and Rudy

Chewy had the typical white Bently mark on his forehead; housetrained within a week, was afraid of his weekly baths - heelers can't swim and are afraid of water, but loved the beach at the lake and w…More

Keep Your Cattle Dog Active

Beautiful, extremely active dog that is always at your side when you are around. Demands lots of attention. Great working dog that NEEDS a job all the time and gets into all sorts of trouble when bor…More

Our Smart, Obedient Cattle Dog

Happy, smiley, hysterically funny, great with everyone she meets, even our cats. Fanatical about food-nothing excites her more, hence the 51 pounds. I think she's part goat, though. So obsessive abo…More

Amber and Jackson - High Energy

First, Jackson was very difficult for the first 4 years of his life. Always getting in trouble for tearing up things, getting in the trash, eating remote controls, shoes...etc. He started to calm dow…More

Vee, Our Australian Cattle Dog

Very territorial and intelligent. The territorial issue is something I wish we could eliminate. It's very difficult when we have guests. She just won't warm up to anyone being in our home or our yard…More

Tillie the Magnificent Cattle Dog

When my parents-in-law got Tillie, she had a difficult temperament. She was overly protective and occasionally tried to nip. As she got bigger, she got scarier. But through persistent effort, she was…More

Hera & Kiah, Australian Cattle Dogs

Hera was easy to housebreak and was a little laid back for a Cattle dog. She was somewhat easy to train but did not have the strong herding drive that Kiah has. Kiah was difficult to housebreak but o…More

Robbie, Our Cattle Dog Is A Couch Potato

Robbie is very loving to us, but he has biten several people for just coming too close to me---he has bitten my elderly father twice for putting his hand on my shoulder. We took him to obedience trai…More

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