WORKING DOGS IN THE CATTLE INDUSTRY

© Warren Fahey 2008

(quotes from: Excerpts from "Over-Halling The Colony", edited by Russell Mackenzie Warner.)

In the first period of the NSW colony the livestock was mostly contained to small, fenced paddocks in Sydney, Parramatta and Green Hills (Windsor/Richmond), very similar to rural England. Dogs were not required to work in such a controlled environment.

There is little argument that the ‘Blue Heeler’ is synonymous with the history of rural working life in Australia. Much of the following information comes from the Hall family history in Australia for it was one Thomas Simpson Hall, born in the colony, who bred the first working dogs.

“From the early to mid-1820's, settlers began to move out from the settled areas and follow the region tracks of explorers. The first farming areas were grazing lands in the Bathurst and Upper Hunter Valley. These were larger properties, still wild in terrain, and this resulted in the cattle and sheep becoming more difficult to control. Dog historians, and there are such individuals, tell us the first working dog introduced appears to be the Smithfield, a large, long-haired dog, thought to be bred from the Old Bobtail, or Old English Sheepdog. This dog worked at and derived its name from the Smithfield Meat Markets of London.

The English Sheepdogs were suitable for working the sheep but not for herding or yarding stubborn cattle, especially cattle bred in wild terrain.  Cattle and sheep need a dog that works silently from the rear and be forceful enough to move the most stubborn beast. Of course the longhaired, large breed dogs were unsuitable for the Australian terrain and weather.

According to legend, around 1830, a drover by the name of Timmins, who worked between Sydney and Bathurst, developed a cross breed between the dingo and the Smithfield. Following the dog’s original name the crossbreed was called the Red Bobtail; however they were more commonly referred to as ‘Timmin’s Biters’. As you can imagine, they were fierce and had more than a nasty bite!

Cattlemen desperate for a good working dog tried to overlook their failings. However, the dog's bite was just too severe to be tolerated, so the breed was gradually allowed to die out. Various other people experimented with cross breeding but with no success. The dog was considered too unreliable to continue the breed and it eventually disappeared.

As it happened, Thomas Simpson of the pioneering Hall family had been studying the Dingo and he had kept selected specimens at the Dartbrook property. He decided the Dingo would form a major part of his cross-breeding but in none of the other dogs, existing in the colony at that time, could he find the attributes he wanted for the other part of his cross. He eventually imported a pair of Northumberland Blue Merle, commonly used in North England for farm work.

The Hall family history relates: ‘At Dartbrook Station Thomas Simpson selectively crossed the progeny of the Drover's Dogs with progeny of the Dingoes. How many back crosses he made is not known. We do know that by 1840 he achieved what he, as an experienced stud master, considered to be a suitable cross. The resulting dogs were called Hall's Heelers. Much later they became universally known as Blue Heelers. Halls Heelers were the foundation breed of the present day Australian Cattle Dog.’

‘It is recorded how Hall's Heelers were a marvel at working wild cattle. From the dingo they inherited their stocky powerful body, their quick brown eyes, their double coat of hair, the wedge shaped head with powerful snapping jaws, the heavy foot pads, the stamina to work long hours in extreme conditions, with the instinct to dart in suddenly from behind and sharply nip the heels of stubborn beasts. From the Drover's Dog came the intelligence and obedience plus the ability of that dog to faithfully guard his master’s possessions. ‘

As large properties were split up and cattle became generally quieter, then the need for a forceful working dog like the Hall's or Blue Heeler diminished.