
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog is a close relative of the Australian Cattle Dog. Short, heavily built, short-haired, often born with a naturally residual tail. Tireless at work and in play, full of temperament, smart, strongly attached to the owner.
Nature
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog, or Australian short-tailed cattle dog, is a close cousin of the Australian Cattle Dog. Stumpy in appearance, it resembles an Australian Cattle Dog, but it is slimmer and lighter. The coat is also similar to it – the only difference is that blue dogs are devoid of arson.
Most puppies are born with residual tails, but long-tailed pups are also born. Because this breed’s long tail (or duplicated) is a disqualifying defect, such dogs are not exposed.

When it comes to mental traits, stumpy and cattle dogs are practically the same. Stumpy is a family dog, a very devoted owner. Bred to cooperate with a man, he needs closeness and does not leave him a step.
In relation to children, representatives of this breed are usually friendly, gentle and patient. These lively and functional dogs react spontaneously, so games with children should be supervised. Stumpy raised with children refers to them as his own offspring and tries to protect them. It is worth remembering when we invite people unknown to our pets. Most of these dogs do not like strangers in their area – even guests already sitting in the living room can be slandered. Therefore, you must be especially careful during the first meetings. For friends, stumps are usually nice and fun to play with.
With the proper familiarity with domestic animals, relations are going well. It can chase a hare or a deer, but it will usually stop when it loses eye contact with the owner. Like a sheepdog, he sometimes tries to herd the animals he encounters.

He can live in the city if we provide him with a solid portion of various activities and activities. Garden owners must reckon with the fact that dogs of this breed like to dig holes and gnaw plants. Stumpy raised in the company of other quadrupeds, as a rule, there are no major problems in dealing with kinsmen. They can appear when a strange dog suddenly approaches the owner or when the stumpy finds the quadruped encountered as a rival.
Skills
Stumpy is intelligent and clever, and smart – nothing escapes his attention. Although he has inexhaustible energy and endurance of a marathon runner, he doesn’t show any tendency to vagrancy. However, if we care little about it, it can cause destruction. It requires mental activities – physical exercise alone will not meet his needs.
It works well as a companion of mountain trips, a dog sports athlete: obedience, agility, flyball or frisbee, but above all he is an excellent shepherd dog. It will be a great companion for an athlete or an active person who likes to spend time outside the home. It can accompany jogging, cycling, swimming.
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog. Training and education
In the upbringing of a representative of this breed, you must not use coercion – and he does not bring results anyway. The best results are rewarded with the desired behavior and iron consistency. You should also remember about early socialization – without it, stumps get wild.
Who is this race for?
It will be appreciated by people who want to have an independent dog. He has a strong character, so he needs a guide that will clearly define the rules.
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog. Advantages and disadvantages
Disadvantages
- It requires a lot of movement and mental activity
- has a strong character and requires an experienced guide
- may show aggression towards dogs
Advantages
- willing to cooperate
- very attached to the family
- suitable for dog sports
- easy to care for
Health
This breed is very resistant to harsh climatic conditions, healthy and long-lived. The only significant genetic problem is progressive retinal atrophy. Fortunately, a genetic test for this disease is now available.

Dysplasia is rare but x-rays of the elbows and hips are recommended for breeding animals. Deafness is much less common than Australian Cattle Dog, but it is also associated with the extreme spatio gene (excess white). It is desirable to have a hearing test (BAER) of puppies around seven weeks of age.
Feeding
Stumpy is not a dog with special dietary requirements. It can be fed with ready-made food or food prepared at home.

Care
Care for the breed is uncomplicated, just brush the dog once in a while with a rubber comb to remove dead hair. It is worth doing it more often during the molting period.
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog. History
Stumpy and Australian Cattle Dog has a common ancestor – it was Hall’s heeler, or heeler (cattle dogs sometimes referred to as cattle dogs today) bred by Thomas Hall.

The history of these breeds dates back to the early nineteenth century. Quite heavy and shaggy Smiths (ancestors of the Old English Sheepdog, for example) brought from Europe did not prove themselves in the difficult Australian climate.
That is why cattle breeder Thomas Hall brought drovers dogs – short-haired, with a characteristic roan coat and often shortened tails from Great Britain, bred in Northumberland. He crossed them with dingo, which was supposed to give the breed immunity, and also gave a red color.
The new breed existing since 1840 remained only in the hands of the Hall family. However, after Thomas’ death in 1870, the animals were sold. One of the buyers was probably Jack Timmins, later known for breeding dogs called Timmins biters.
At the end of the 19th century, cynologists drew attention to cattle dogs. In 1897, a pattern was created. Initially, both long- and short-tailed dogs were exhibited. In the 1920s, the popularity of quadrupeds with short tails began to decline. 40 years later, only one of them was active. In 1988, a breed reconstruction program was established in Australia, and in 2005 it was approved by FCI.

These dogs are the most popular in Australia. It is estimated that there are less than 3,000 of them worldwide, of which 100 in Canada and the USA and two in Europe – a bitch in Germany and a dog in Poland.
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog. Template
Australian stumpy tail cattle dog – group I FCI, section 2, reference number 351
- Country of origin: Australia
- Character: hard – working, brave, dedicated to the owner, obedient; smart and alert, distrustful of strangers
- Size: dogs 46-51 cm, bitches 43-48 cm
- Weight: 16-23 kg
- Double-layer coat; ground coat relatively short, dense, straight, quite hard, undercoat short, soft and dense; the shortest hair on the head and limbs, the longest – on the neck
- Ointment: blue roan (a mixture of white and black hair) or red roan (a mixture of white and red hair); acceptable black or red patches on the head and torso; puppies are born white, only patches – if any – are visible immediately
- Lifespan: 16 years
- Vulnerability to training: very high
- Activity: high; needs a daily dose of exercise and mental activities
- Resistance / susceptibility to diseases: very resistant
- Possibility of buying a puppy: only imports from the country of origin
Interesting facts
Although Australian breeders have strived for this, it is not possible to breed only short-tailed dogs, due to the nature of the mutation responsible for this trait.
All short-tailed dogs are heterozygous, which means that they have one gene from the mutated and one normal pair. Embryos that receive two mutated genes usually die at an early stage of development, so when crossing two short-tailed dogs sometimes statistically smaller litters (by 1/4) can be observed than if they cross a tailed dog with a short-tailed dog.
Statistically, when crossing two dogs with a short tail, 1/3 long-tailed dogs and 2/3 short-tailed dogs are born, and when crossing long-tailed and short-tailed dogs, half the litter will have short tails and half normal.

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