Last year I had to put down my Australian Cattle dog. (Blue Heeler) It was quite the traumatic event. I was just thinking about him today. (Zak was his name)
Has anyone else ever had one of these dogs? They are very unique and have a distinctive personality.
My youngest boy wants another dog. He asked me “Dad, what will we name the new dog?”… I immediately thought…“Dude” Both boys were crazy with the new name.
Cant wait!!!
I just wanted to find out what members thought of these dogs or if anyone else ever had one.
Can’t say I have. But I’ve got 2 ridgebacks and had to put one another one 2 sleep awhile back…it fuckin sucks. Sorry to hear about that bro, anyway I can identify with you.
We have two of them, a female and a male. They’re about 4 years old, maybe 5. The first couple of years are a pain because they’re so smart, energetic, and easily bored but once you get past the puppy years (with training) they turn out to be good dogs. They’re really smart, tough, and have endurance that’s amazing. We take ours trail riding once in a while. Sometimes we gallop the horses for a mile or three and the dogs usually catch up pretty soon after we slow down. On long rides, like 20 miles or so they keep right up. On cold nights they help keep you warm if you’re sleeping out on the ground.
Before Zak, we had one named Blue. He did everything from fetching golf balls to riding on my motocross bike. He climbed ladders to get on the roof of the house, he would dive underwater a good 3 feet to fetch rocks. And when we were too bored to throw things for him to fetch, he would spend hours throwing the stick for himself. He would toss it up in the air with his snout and catch it. This would go on until the tip of his snout was raw.
I also have a blue heeler, she is 4 years old. As steely said, she was an absolute pain in the ass for the first two years. She ate trees, linoleum, tin foil, vinyl siding, and a quart of motor oil and lived to tell about it. Now that she has aged a little, I couldn’t ask for a more loyal dog. She is very intelligent and protective of my property, loves to play, and is probably will be the best dog that I will ever own. I always have to be on the look out for her because as the name suggests, she is always on my heels. All in all, a great dog.
TCB
Must be a characteristic of the dog. I hear they are ussually long lived, but zak was all worn out by 12. Some people say these dogs usually live to 16 years or more.
