Australian Cattle Dog

The story of the Australian Cattle Dog owes its beginnings to a single man, George Elliott of Queensland, Australia. In 1840, Mr. Elliott did something a little crazy. In an effort to create a herding dog more suited for the harsh Australian climate, he crossed blue merle collies with Australia's native feral dogs, the Dingos. The resulting pups of these crosses were excellent workers, and many cattlemen purchased them as they became available.

Seeing the potential to create a superb cattle dog, two brothers, Jack and Harry Bagust, purchased some of these first-generation crosses and set up a breeding program.  The first cross the Bagust brothers made was to a Dalmation, this cross changed the coat pattern from merle to the fine specklings the breed is known for today.  The Dalmatian also introduced an innate love of horses and an instinct to guard, which is still very much present in the breed today.  Some working ability was lost in this first cross, to recover that working fire Kelpie was introduced.  No other breeds were added after the Kelpie.

The final result was a uniquely speckled, either red or blue, compact and athletic cattle dog, identical in type to the Dingo though slightly thicker.  The Bagust’s dogs became widely known for their working ability and quickly became popular with ranchers and cattle drovers all over Australia.

For the next 50 or so years multiple breeders around the country continued refining these rugged working dogs, notable among them was Robert Kaleski who took up breeding the dogs, commonly referred to as Queensland Heelers, in 1893.  Nine years later in 1902, Mr. Kaleski wrote the first breed standard. After gaining the support of the major breeders of the time, he submitted the standard to the Cattle and Sheep Dog Club of Australia, and the original Kennel Club of New South Wales.  A year later, in 1903, the standard was approved and the breed became known as the Australian Heeler, the name was later changed to the Australian Cattle Dog.

The Australian Cattle Dog was accepted into the American Kennel Club as a Working group member on September 1, 1980.  When the Herding group was established in 1983 the breed was moved there.

Information gathered from: https://www.acdca.org/breed-history/