Whats your favorite stock dog breed?

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midTN_Brangusman

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Tex my Texas Heeler was killed last night. Smartest dog I ever had, got ran over. Thought more of that dog than I do most people. Thinking about getting a pup, not that he can be replaced, but I think it would help my daughter. She took it pretty hard. I have had border collies, aussies, texas heelers. What is yalls favorite stock dog breed? Anyone have any experiemce with a Hangin Tree Cattle dog? Thanks and hope everyone has a blessed day!
 
I have had most of the breeds that you listed at least one time in my life... to me, it would be hard to beat an Australian Sheppard. I currently have a female as well as a male Blue Heeler. Both of them have their Pro's and Con's, but my Aussie is just so smart that I think she knows what I'm thinking even before I say anything. As with anything, a dog is only as good as the time that you are willing to invest in them. A smart dog like an Aussie, will become extremely bored and start developing bad habits unless you are willing to spend a lot of time with it. Good luck with whatever you decide on... post some pictures of the new pup!
 
I'm partial to blue heelers myself, but TN cattle man says it right... you need to invest time into a dog to make it really something.. It's not what I'm good at, and don't need a dog though
 
I just Googled Australian Shepherd as I didn't know what they were but see that they were developed in the US so no wonder I wasn't familiar with them. They sound like a good dog.

I have had a couple of Kelpies and I love them, they work straight out of the box and are very athletic, not as aggressive as Blue Healers have natural instinct to go around to the front of a mob, they will bite front and back leg and turn back aggressive cows by biting on the nose. There is supposed to be dingo in their breeding and I would believe that. I currently have a 3 yr old male Jed and he is my right hand man, everyone comments how obedient he is yet he will use a lot of his own initiative. I lost my faithfull Kelpie bitch Bo last year, I believe shot by some hunters in my neighbours late last year when she went off after a kangaroo.

I have just bought a working Border Collie pup Millie, now 8 wks old, very strong working bloodlines. I have decide to try the BC this time hoping there is a bit less natural hunting instincts to go off after the roos. They say you tell a BC to do something and they just do it, you tell a Kelpie to do it and they say "why", but still they are great dogs and I believe are just so loyal to their master, a bit of questioning gives them a lot of character.

Ken
 
I've tried just about everything except kelpie and that's only because I've never had access to any good ones.
Border collies are far and away the easiest to get to where they are of real use but they drive me nuts so I've only had a few and the one I liked the most was free because he was "untrainable" even though he was trained. I liked him because I could yell at him and lots of BC's don't like to be yelled at. :D
The only aussies I've had were dumped on me but my parents love them and have had a bunch of great non cattle dogs through the years that they bought to be cattle dogs. Most now are bred to be pretty. The ones I've been around that were supposed to work were zero help with cattle.
Heelers have a special place in my heart. They won't go gather for you but they'll help you push cattle around once you get them in and don't need much training besides a knock on the head every now and then. If I have to be around rank cattle on foot, Lucy (aka lucifer) goes with me. She's old now but she still takes good care of me.
Catahoulas can be good if you don't mind your cows getting chewed on. They have no quit. I haven't had any with natural instinct to work but they pick up on whatever I do and join in including gathering cattle. I have had to shoot more of them than any other breed for disposition problems, though.
Corgi's are a fantastic choice as long as you don't need a dog to travel very far. They're border collie smart, tough, trainable, and low maintenance.
Mcnabbs are a favorite of mine but I had access to some really good ones for awhile that had a heeler build to them and not the little light framed dogs. All of the ones I had worked both ends and would gather cattle with very little training.
 
German Shepard - best dog ever...put a lot of time in with him long ago.
Never replaced him because I know I won't put the time in working with him that they deserve and need to be of value.
 
I'll second the Corgi vote. Both of mine work. They are low key, don't get wound up like a BC. But much, on any breed, depends on bloodlines. Some work harder than others.
 
Our Border's seemed just a bit too timid but they are really loyal. My Australian Shepherd is one tough smart little dude. He's so active and always ready to go help Mike!
 
How does spaying or neutering affect working dogs? Would you use a shock collar to get their attention when they're being bull headed and won't listen to you?
 
My brother has three Aussies. The one female, which was also the first one he got, is very smart, listens well and isn't afraid of anything. I've seen her more than once get trampled on and go right back to work hopping around on three legs. The other two are a different story. They didn't get the time and effort and usually only get in the way and make things worse. I finally had enough working cows with them one evening and told brother "Working cows with those two dam dogs is like having two good men not show up". They get left at home now. I would heavily agree that you have to spend the time, effort and training with any dog.
 
rnh2":2vob2inz said:
How does spaying or neutering affect working dogs? Would you use a shock collar to get their attention when they're being bull headed and won't listen to you?
I prefer them uncut. It does seem to give the males a little more punch and staying power plus if I have a good one I always want pups. If the drive is there they'll still work just fine if they are cut.
I don't like shock collars on a working dog. I want a dog that thinks for himself as quite a bit of the time they're out of collar range so I don't like one to be over trained where it's reliant on me for everything. I do submission training with all my dogs so that all I have to do is look at them funny and they quit whatever they're doing. Every so often just grab the dog, roll him on his back and get a handful of hide on his neck and hold it until they quit squirming and they wag real timid and won't look at you. A dog like most border collies needs that about once a month and they give up right away. A catahoula or queensland can do that daily and still be a handful but it keeps them in check. If you have a bunch of dogs swat the rest of them if they get close when you do that. You'll be amazed at how much better they listen after a few rounds of that.
MOST dogs feed off of you naturally. You can get a lot done just by praising them when they do something right. Most people tend to praise everything and then yell at the dog when it does something wrong and then praise it again when it stops doing something wrong... Just praise when they do it right and ignore the rest unless you have to correct them.
That being said, I'm down to two retired dogs and a couple of hounds and they're all fixed and the hounds don't listen. :dunce:
 
Nesikep":2y881rf4 said:
I'm partial to blue heelers myself, but TN cattle man says it right... you need to invest time into a dog to make it really something.. It's not what I'm good at, and don't need a dog though
You hit the nail on the head fro me.. Do I need a dog or want a dog? I guess I just want one, not an inside dog, but a near barn dog. My fear of a pet dog is that he'll spook the cattle. I have my guess, but how would break or stop a dog from chasing cattle except on trained command?

I am getting two pups here in a week or so. 1/2 Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepard to keep 'yotes and coons away from goat/sheep/chickens. These will always be working and sleeping with the small critters.

This guys sounds nice as my truck buddy.
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My neighbor has 3 dogs.. a golden retriever, a chocolate lab, and a black lab pup (had 2 more goldens before that)

Every dog they have is dumber than a stump..
They had an old riding mower I was given permission to strip some parts I needed off, so I jumped over the fence and started working.. the bunch of dogs ran *right* past me and went to barking at my dirt bike for 10-20 seconds before they finally noticed I was in the fence.. bloody morons
 
pdubdo":23fecn7o said:
Thanks to this post, I am now obsessed with watching cowdog videos on youtube.


Have you seen the guy pull his trailer in the middle of a field and two stock dogs loaded his bulls? Pretty impressive. But my look they would run them through the fence.
 
midTN_Brangusman":1ktvwukm said:
pdubdo":1ktvwukm said:
Thanks to this post, I am now obsessed with watching cowdog videos on youtube.


Have you seen the guy pull his trailer in the middle of a field and two stock dogs loaded his bulls? Pretty impressive. But my look they would run them through the fence.

Yes! As a guy who works alone most of the time, that kind of help is very appealing...but like someone else said, I'd have to be willing to invest the time.
 
Boot Jack Bulls":3kog9kjr said:
I love my Australian Cattle Dogs. Don't plan to ever own another breed.



Those look nice! I have had several but none has been as impressive as the first one I owned. The one I have now has more grit than a bulldog and is a bit touchy at times but he's old and cantankerous.
 

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