Anerkennung durch:
FCI (Fédération Cynologie International)
AKC (American Kennel Club)
CKC (Canadian Kennel CLub)
TKC (The Kennel Club of Great Britain)
UKC (United Kennel Club)

General Appearance:   That of a small, thickset blue Dingo.

Faults:  Over/or under size, legginess, half pricked or lopping ears, overshot or undershot jaws; anything likely to diminish speed and endurance.  

General Appearance- The general appearance is that of a sturdy, compact, symetrically-built working dog. With the ability and willingness to carry out any task, however arduous, its combination of substance, power, balance, and hard, muscular condition to be such that must convey the impression of of great agility, strength, and endurance. Any tendency to grossness or weediness is a serious fault.

Characteristics - The utility purpose is assistance in the control of cattle, in both wide open and confined areas. Ever alert, extremely intelligent, watchful courageous, and trustworthy, with an implicit devotion to duty, making it an ideal dog. Its loyalty and protective instincts make a self-appointed guardian to the stockman, his herd, his property. Whilst suspicious of strangers, must be amenable to handling in the show ring.

Head - The head, in balance with other proportions of the dog, and in keeping with its general conformation, is broad of skull and only slightly curved between the ears, flattening to a slight but definite stop. The cheeks are muscular, but not coarse nor prominent, the underjaw is strong, deep and well-developed. The foreface is broad and well filled in under the eye, tapering gradually to a medium length, deep and powerful muzzle. The lips are tight and clean. The nose is black irrespective of the color of the dog.

•     Teeth - The teeth should be sound, strong, and regularly spaced, gripping with a  scissors-like action, the lower incisors close behind and just touching the upper.   Not to be undershot nor overshot.
•      Eyes - The eyes should be oval shaped of medium size, neither prominent nor sunken,   and must express alertness and intelligence. A warning or suspicious glint is characteristic. Eye color is dark brown.
•      Ears - The ears should be of moderate size, preferably small rather than large, broad  at the base, muscular, pricked, and moderately pointed (not spoon nor bat eared). Set  wide  apart  on the skull, inclined outwards, sensitive in their use, and firmly erect when alert. The inside of the  ear should be well furnished with hair.

Neck - The neck is of exceptional strength, muscular, and of medium length, broadening to blend into the body and free from throatiness.

Forequarters - The shoulders are broad of blade, sloping, muscular, and well angulated to the upper arm, and at the point of the withers should not be too closely set. The forelegs have strong round bone, extending to the feet without weakness at the pasterns. The forelegs should be perfectly straight viewed from the front, but the pasterns should show a slight angle with the forearm when regarded from the side.

Hindquarters - The hindquarters are broad, sloping and muscular. The rump is rather long and sloping, thighs long, broad and well developed, with moderate turn to stifle. The hocks are strong and well let down. When viewed from behind, the hind legs, from the hocks to the feet, are straight and placed neither close nor too wide apart.

Feet - The feet should be round and the toes short, strong, well-arched and held together. The pads hard and deep, and the nails must be short and strong.

Body - The length of the body from the point of the breast bone, in a straight line to the buttocks, is greater than the height at the withers, as 10 is to 9. The topline is level, back strong, with ribs well sprung and ribbed back. (Not barrel ribbed.) The chest is deep and muscular, and moderately broad, loins are broad, deep and muscular with deep flanks strongly coupled between the fore and hindquarters.

Tail - The set of the tail is low, following the contours of the sloping rump, and at rest should hang in a slight curve of a length to reach approximately to the hock. During movement and/or excitement it may be raised, but under no circumstances should any part of the tail be carried past a vertical line drawn through the root.

Coat - The weather resisting outer coat is moderately short, straight and of medium texture, with short dense undercoat.   Behind the quarters the coat is longer, forming a mild breeching. The tail is furnished sufficiently to form a good brush. The head, forelegs, hind legs from hock to ground, are coated with short hair.

Color (Blue) - The color should be blue or blue-mottled with or without other markings. The permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on the head, evenly distributed for preference. The forelegs tan midway up the legs and extending up the front to the breast and throat, with tan on jaws; the hindquarters tan on inside of hind legs, and inside of thighs, showing down the front of the stifles and broadening out to the outside of the hind legs from hock to toes. Tan under coat is permissible on the body provided it does not show through the blue outer coat. Black markings on the body are not desirable.

Color (Red Speckle) - The color should be a good even red speckle all over including the undercoat (not white or cream) with or without darker red markings on the head. Even head markings are desirable. Red markings on the body are permissible but not desirable.

Size - The desirable height at the withers to be within the following dimensions: Dogs 18 to 20 inches. Bitches 17 to 19 inches.   Dogs or bitches over or under these specified sizes are undesirable.

Movement - Soundness is of paramount importance. The action is true, free, supple and tireless, the movement of the shoulders and forelegs with the powerful thrust of the hindquarters, in unison. Capability of quick and sudden movement is essential. Stiltiness, loaded or slack shoulders, straight shoulder placement, weakness at elbows, pasterns or feet, straight stifles, cow or bow hocks, must be regarded as serious faults.

Approved June 12, 1979   

GENERAL APPEARANCE Strong, compact, symmetrical, with substance, power and balance. Hard muscular condition conveys agility, strength and endurance. Grossness or weediness undesirable.

CHARACTERISTICS Ability to control and move cattle in all environments. Loyal, protective. Guardian of stockman, herd and property. Naturally suspicious of strangers, but amenable to handling. Biddable.

TEMPERAMENT Alert, intelligent, watchful, courageous, trustworthy, devoted to its work.

HEAD AND SKULL Strong, in balance with body and general conformation. Skull broad and slightly curved between ears,  flattening to slight but definite stop. Cheeks muscular but not coarse or prominent. Strong under-jaw, deep and well developed.   Broad foreface, well filled in under eyes, tapers gradually down medium-length muzzle which is parallel to skull. Nose always black.

EYES Medium, oval, alert and intelligent, dark brown. Neither prominent nor sunken. Warning suspicious glint is characteristic.

EARS Moderate, small rather than large. Broad at base, muscular, pricked and moderately pointed. Oval or bat-eared undesirable. Set wide apart inclining outwards. Sensitive, pricked when alert. Leather thick in texture and inside ear well furnished with hair.

MOUTH Lips tight and clean. Jaws strong with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws.

NECK Exceptionally strong, muscular, of medium length blending into body. Free from throatiness.

FOREQUARTERS Strong, sloping shoulders well laid back, not too closely set at withers. Strong, round bone, legs straight when viewed from front, pasterns flexible and slightly sloping when viewed from side. Loaded shoulder and heavy front undesirable.

BODY Slightly longer from point of shoulder to buttocks than height at withers, as 10 is to 9. Level topline, strong back and couplings. Well sprung ribs, carried well back, but not barrel-ribbed. Chest deep, muscular and moderately broad.

HINDQUARTERS Broad, strong and muscular. Croup rather long and sloping. Well turned stifle, hocks strong and well let down. When viewed from behind, hocks to feet straight and set parallel, neither too close nor too wide apart.

FEET Round, short toes, strong, well arched and held tight, pads hard and deep. Nails short and strong.

TAIL Set on low, following slope of croup/rump. Reaching to hock, hanging in slight curve at rear. When working or excited, may be raised but never carried over back. Good brush.

GAIT/MOVEMENT True, free, supple, tireless, with powerful thrust of hindquarters. Capable of quick and sudden action.   Soundness of paramount importance. Stands four square, but when moving at speed, legs tend to converge. Any weaknesses highly undesirable.

COAT Smooth, double with short dense undercoat. Close top coat, hard, straight and weather-resistant. Under body and behind legs, coat is longer to form mild breeching near thighs. Short on head (including inside of ear) front of legs and feet.   Thicker and longer on neck. Average hair length 2.5 - 4 cms (1 - 1 1/2 ")

COLOUR BLUE: Blue, blue-mottled or blue speckled with or without other markings. Permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on head, evenly distributed for preference. Forelegs tan midway up legs and extending up the front to breast and throat, with tan on jaws. Hindquarters tan on inside of hindlegs, and inside of thighs, showing down front of stifles and broadening out to outside of hindlegs from hock to toes. Tan undercoat permissible on body providing it does not show through blue outer coat. Black markings on body undesirable.

RED SPECKLE: Good even red speckle all over, including undercoat (neither white not cream), with or without darker red markings on head. Even head markings desirable. Red markings on body permissible but undesirable.

SIZE Height at withers: dogs: 46 - 51 cms ( approx. 18 - 20 "); bitches: 43 - 48 cms (approx. 17 - 19 ").

FAULTS Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

NOTE Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. 

Origin and Purpose - The Australian Cattle Dog was developed to assist with the development of the cattle industry in early Austrlaina conditions. The principal requirement was a strong biting dog capabel of mustering and moving wild cattle. The long distances to be travelled made it essential that such a dog possess great great stamina. Although there is still some dissagreement as to the actual breeds breeds used, it is generally thought that the Cattle Dog developed chiefly from cross breeding a Dingo and a Blue Merle Collie.

General Appearance- The general appearance is that of a sturdy, compact, symetrically-built working dog. With the ability and willingness to carry out any task, however strenuous, its combination of substance, power, balance, and hard muscular condition to be such that must convey the impression of great agility, strength, and endurance.

Temperament- The utility purpose is assistance in the control of cattle, in both wide open and confined areas. Ever alert, extremely intelligent, watchful courageous, and trustworthy. With an implicit devotion to duty, making it an ideal dog, its loyalty and protective instincts make self-appointed guardians to the stockman, his herd, his property, whilst suspicious of strangers, must be amenable to handling in the show ring.

Size - The desirable height at the withers to be within the following:
     Dogs - 18 to 20 inches (45-51 cm).
     Bitches - 17 to 19 inches (43-48 cm).
Dogs or bitches over or under these specified sizes are undesirable. Dogs over 20.5 in (52 cm) or under 17.5 in (44 cm) and bitches over 19.5 in. (50 cm) or under 16.5 in. (42 cm) are discqualified. Desireable weight: 33-50 lb. (15-23 kg).

Coat and Colour - The weather-resisting outer coat is moderately short, straight and of medium texture, with short dense undercoat. Behind the quarters the coat is longer, forming a mild feathering. The tail is furnished sufficiently to form a good brush. The head, forelegs, hind legs from hock to ground, are coated with short hair. The Australian Cattle Dog should be shown in natural state. The coat is not clipped or trimmed.   There are two recognized colours in the breed:

Blue - The colour should be blue or blue-mottled with or without other markings. The permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on the head, evenly distributed for preference, the forelegs tan midway up the legs, the hindquarters tan on the inside of the hind legs, and inside of thighs, showing down the front of the stifles and broadening out to the outside of the hind legs from hock to toes. Tan under coat is permissible on the body provided it does not show through the blue outer coat.

Red- The colour should be a good even red speckle all over including the undercoat (not white or cream) with or without darker red markings on the head. Even head markings are desirable. Solid red or solid black markings on the body are not desirable.

Head - A blunt, wedge-shaped head, in balance with other proportions of the dog, and in keeping with its general conformation, is broad of skull and only slightly curved between the ears, flattening to a slight but definite stop. The cheeks are muscular, but not coarse or prominent, the underjaw is strong, deep and well developed. The foreface is broad and well filled in under the eye, tapering gradually to a medium length; a deep and powerful muzzle. The nose is black irrespective of the colour of the dog. The lips are tight and clean. The teeth should be sound, strong, and regularly spaced, gripping with a scissorlike action, the lower incisors close behind and just touching the upper. Undershot or overshot jaw should be disqualified. The eyes to be oval shaped and of medium size, neither prominent nor sunken, and must express alertness and intelligence.   A warning or suspicious glint is characteristic. Eye color is brown with a very dark pupil. Yellow eye is disqualified. The ears should be of moderate size, preferably small rather than large, broad at the base, muscular, pricked, and moderately pointed (not spoon nor bat ears). Ears are set wide apart on the skull, inclined outwards, sensitive in their use, and firmly erect. The inside of the ear should be fairly well furnished with hair.

Neck - The neck is of exceptional strength, muscular, and of medium length, about 1/3 the length of the body, broadening to blend into the body and free from throatiness.

Forequarters - The shoulders are broad of blade, sloping muscular, and at the point of the withers should be well laid back.The upper arm is well angulated to the shoulders. The lower arm should have strong round bone, extending to the feet.   They should be perfectly straight viewed from the front. The pasterns should have no weakness between the feet and lower arm and should show slight angle with the lower arm when regarded from the side. The feet should be round, toes short, strong, well arched and held together. The pads are hard and deep, and the nails must be short and strong (cat paws). Dewclaws are found on the front feet only and may be removed.

Body - The length of the body from point of the breast bone in a straight line to the buttocks is greater than the height of the withers as 10 is to 9. The topline is level, back strong, with ribs well sprung and ribbed back, (not barrel chested). The chest is deep and muscular, and moderately broad. The loins are broad, deep and muscular with deep flanks and showing strength joining the fore and hindquarters. The croup is slightly sloping, broad, strong, and muscular. The abdomen doesn not cut up the flank.

Hindquarters - The line from the point of the hip to the point of the buttock is rather long and sloping. The upper thigh is long, broad and well developed. The lower thigh is long and well muscled. The hocks are strong and well let down and when viewed from behind the hind legs from hocks to the feet are straight and placed neither close nor too wide apart. They should have a moderate bend of stifle.

Tail - The set of the tail is low. Following the slope of the croup, and at rest, the tail should hang in a slight curve of a length to reach approximately to the hock. During movement it may be raised,but a gay tail should be severely penalized. The tail is never docked.

Gait - Soundness is of paramount importance. The action is true, free, supple and tireless. The movement of the shoulders and forelegs with the powerful thrust of the hindquarters, should be in unison. Capability of quick, sudden movement is essential.

Faults - Any tendency to grossness or weediness is a serious fault. Ears: ears other than pricked. Colour: solid red or black markings on the body. Tail: gay tail is a fault. Other: stiltiness, loaded or slack shoulders, straight shoulders, weakness of elbows, pasterns or feet, straight stifles, cow or bowhocks, must be regarded as serious faults.

Disqualifications - Mouth: overshot or undershot jaw. Eye: yellow eye. Size: bitches over 19.5 in. (50cm) or under 16.5 in. (42 cm) and dogs over 20.5 in. (52 cm) or under 17.5 in. (44 cm).  

General Appearance- The general appearance is that of a strong, compact, symetrically-built working dog, with the ability and willingness to carry out his allotted task however arduous. Its combination of substance, power, balance, and hard muscular condition must convey the impression of of great agility, strength, and endurance. Any tendency to grossness or weediness is a serious fault.

Characteristics - As the name the dog's prime function, and one in which he has no peer, is the control and movement of cattle in both wide open and confined areas. Always alert, extremely intelligent, watchful courageous, and trustworthy, with an implicit devotion to duty, making it an ideal dog.

Temperament - The Cattle Dog's loyalty and protective instincts make it a self-appointed guardian to the Stockman, his her and his property. Whilst naturally suspicious of strangers, must be amenable to handling, particularly in the Show ring.   Any feature of temperament or structure foreign to a working dog must be regarded as a serious fault.

Head & Skull - The head is strong and must be in balance with other proportions of the dog in keeping with its general conformation. The broad skull is slightly curved between the ears, flattening to a slight but definite stop. The cheeks muscular, neither coarse nor prominent with the under jaw strong, deep, and well developed. The foreface is broad and well filled in under the eyes, tapering gradually to form a medium length, deep, powerful muzzle with the skull and muzzle on parallel planes.   The lips are tight and clean. Nose black.

Eyes - The eyes should be of oval shaped medium size, neither prominent nor sunken, and must express alertness and intelligence. A warning or suspicious glint is characteristic when approached by strangers. Eye colour, dark brown.

Ears - The ears should be of moderate size, preferably small rather than large, broad at the base, muscular, pricked, and moderately pointed neither spoon nor bat eared. The ears are set wide apart on the skull, inclined outwards, sensitive in their use, and pricked when alert, the leather should be thickin texture and the inside of the ear well furnished with hair.

Mouth - The teeth sound, strong, and evenly spaced, gripping with a scissorsbite, the lower incisors close behind and just touching the upper. As the dog is required to move difficult cattle by heeling or biting, teeth which are strong and sound are very important.

Neck - The neck is extremely strong, muscular, and of medium length, broadening to blend into the body and free from throatiness.

Forequarters - The shoulders are strong, sloping, muscular, and well angulated to the upper arm, and should not be too closely set at the point of the withers. The forelegs have strong round bone, extending to the feet and should be straight and parallel viewed from the front, but the pasterns should show flexibility with a slight angle with the forearm when viewed from the side. Although the shoulders are muscular and the bone is strong, loaded shoulders and heavy fronts will hamper correct movement and limit working ability.

Body - The length of the body from the point of the breast bone, in a straight line to the buttocks, is greater than the height at the withers, as 10 is to 9. The topline is level, back strong, with ribs well sprung carried well back Not barrel ribbed. The chest is deep, muscular and moderately broad with the loins broad, strong, and muscular with the flanks deep. The dog is strongly coupled.

Hindquarters - The hindquarters are broad, sloping and muscular. The croup is rather long and sloping, thighs long, broad and well developed, the stifles well turned and the hocks strongand well let down. When viewed from behind, the hind legs, from the hocks to the feet, are straight and placed parallel, neither close nor too wide apart.

Feet - The feet should be round and the toes short, strong, well-arched and held together. The pads are hard and deep, and the nails must be short and strong.

Tail - The set on of tail is moderately low, following the contours of the sloping croup, and of length to reach approximately to the hock. At rest it should hang in a very slight curve. During movement and/or excitement the tail may be raised, but under no circumstances should any part of the tail be carried past a vertical line drawn through the root. The tail should carry a good brush.

Gait/Movement - The actionis true, free, supple and tireless and the movement of the shoulders and forelegs is in unison with the powerful thrust of the hindquarters. The capability of quick and sudden movement is essential. Soundness is of paramount importance and stiltiness, loaded or slack shoulders, straight shoulder placement, weakness at elbows. pasterns or feet, straight stifles, cow or bow hocks, must be regarded as serious faults. When trotting the feet tend to come close together at ground level as speed increases, but when the dog comes to rest should stand four square.

Coat - The coat is a smooth, double coat with a short dense undercoat. The outercoat is close, each hair straight, hard and lying flat, so that it is rain-resisting. Under the body, to behind the legs, the coat is longer and forms near the thigh a mild form of breeching. On the head (including the inside of the ears), to the front of the legs and feet, the hair is short.   Along the neck it is longer and thicker. A coat either too long or too short is a fault. As an average, the hairs on the bodyshould be from 2.5 to 4 cm (approx 1-1.5 inches) in length.

Colour
Blue: The colour should be blue, blue-mottled or blue speckled with or without other markings. The permissible markings are black, blue or tan markings on the head, evenly distributed for preference. The forelegs tan midway up the legs and extending up the front to the breast and throat, with tan on jaws; the hindquarters tan on inside of hindlegs, and inside of thighs, showing down the front of the stifles and broadening out to the outside of the hind legs from hock to toes. Tan under coat is permissible on the body providing it does not show through the blue outer coat. Black markings on the body are not desirable.
Red Speckle: The colour should be a good even red speckle all over including the undercoat, (neither white nor cream), with or without darker red markings on the head. Even head markings are desirable. Red markings on the body are permissible but not desirable.

Size- Height: The height at the withers should be Dogs 46 to 51 centimeters (approx. 18-20 inches). Bitches 43 to 48 centimeters (approx. 17-19 inches.

Faults - Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

NOTE: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

Approved by the ANKC, 1987  

Introduction: The Australian Cattle Dog was developed to control wild cattle in groups of several hundred on drives through the inhospitable wilderness of Australia. These drives sometimes lasted weeks and crossed from the vast grazing lands of the outback, over the pass in the great dividing range, and through the streets of Sydney to the stockyards. The wild cattle and extremely harsh conditions were such that traditional working breeds were of no use. By crossing smooth-coated blue merle Scottish highland collies to selected dingoes in the 1840's; a drover named Thomas Hall developed a cattle dog that combined the hardiness of the dingo type, and the herding abilities of the highland collie. This cross reinforced the heeling instinct of the collie and eliminated their tendency to bark at the head. About 1860 some of these dogs were brought to the Homebush sale yards in Sydney by a butcher named Alexander Davis, where they "attracted much attention" and were taken by various drovers and butchers. Two brothers, Jack and Harry Bagust purchased some of these dogs and continued to improve on the breed, introducing select Dalmatian bloodlines and later, black and tan Kelpies. They succeeded in "advancing their working ability to intelligent controllable workers whilst retaining the silent biting of the animals heels."

Intelligence: The Australian Cattle Dog is an independent thinker and once trained, is capable of carrying out routine tasks without supervision. They are highly intelligent, making them self directed workers capable of complex problem solving. They are adept at picking out and punishing trouble makers, while at the same time they can be gentle with calves, lambs or ducks. It is this rating ability that makes the Australian cattle dog versatile enough for different classes of cattle as well as trial or farm work with sheep, hogs and fowl.

Trainability: The Australian Cattle Dog can be trained to perform various functions on the farm or ranch. They possess high trainability coupled with a strong desire to please. Most Cattle Dogs can perform routine jobs after just a few exposures. A well trained Cattle Dog can replace two to three good men on horseback.

Posture: The Australian Cattle Dog is considered an upright breed. The head is carried at shoulder level while working, enabling the dog to read the stock and to easily slip in and heel. When confronting stubborn animals at the head, some individuals drop to a crouch, preparing to nose bite, while others raise their heads to challenge and come straight on. Most dogs will experiment with different postures or approaches to win stand-offs with stubborn stock. The Cattle Dog's perfect combination of size, angulation, balance, agility and instinct enables him to continuously heel low and avoid being kicked.

Approach: The Australian Cattle Dog's approach to stock is calculated and deliberate, and directed at the animal or animals to be moved. He naturally wears on larger groups of stock, but can walk straight in at the balance point on singles or smaller groups of cattle or sheep. Whether an individual dog predominately fetches or drives is due not only to heritage, but can be affected by the dog's age, training technique, and the livestock the dog is started on. Cattle Dogs that fetch usually exhibit very keen natural balance. Regardless of individual style, the Australian Cattle Dog is considered a close worker. There is however variation, with some dogs working and flanking very close and others working and flanking moderately wide and closing the
distance to heel. Most can be taught to work wider if required.

Eye: Australian Cattle Dogs are a loose to medium eyed breed. When heading, turning or otherwise challenging stubborn livestock, some individuals exhibit moderately strong eye, but return to a looser approach once the challenge is won. This loose approach enables the Cattle Dog to see and react to a herd of hundreds of cattle and give attention to just those requiring it, allowing him to work effectively, day in and day out.

Grip: The Australian Cattle Dog is best known as a "heeler" because of his instinctive grip. This is done in various ways depending on the livestock and rate of travel. Stubborn or wild stock may require a forceful hard biter until trained, whereas dairy cattle may just require a dog's presence. The typical technique is for the dog to time the grip to occur on the foot of the weight bearing leg, and to duck to miss the ensuing kick. The correct "heel" is low on the leg at the fetlock or coronet. The Australian Cattle Dog should not only heel, but use force at the head when turning or stopping livestock. All gripping should be quick with an immediate release. Gripping should be appropriate and not excessive.

Bark: The Australian Cattle Dog was developed as a silent worker. Force barking when heading or otherwise challenging stubborn livestock is acceptable if it is not excessive. Continuous barking, barking while working at the heels or more than just a few force barks is undesirable.

Approved by the ACDCA, 1996