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blue heeler

well i got him from just a old friend and he is long gone.the part i was afraid of was the stud and bench had to be put down for mauling a man.i didnt allow dakota to have those traits and he didnt but he is scared to death of thunder.he is weird,he will hide in the back of the house till you open the front door then he runs out into the storm,lol.he ran me 100 dollars,not a bad investment for a friend such as.and i guess by now you can tell im not a rancher,lol.not a city folk either.
 
hardrummer said:
i got him on triple joint max,its high on epa,msm,and dha.ive heard those are important part of giving them glucosamine.i reasearched it and found that most have low mg on the epa msm and dha.got to hunt for the right mix.he was down for the count but this picked him up to catchin the bone,problem is he is 10 yrs old and large.things are starting to happen.and to be honest im dreading his end.he has been a great dog.i dont cattle him but he has been very active,he wouldnt have it any other way,lol.
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Yep, you're right, age doesn't help things out. My dog will turn 11 this spring. As you can see in his conformation...narrow hips and broad shoulders from having to compensate for his hips since they went to heck on him when he was a year and a half. Glad to hear you've got a treatment which helps him out, it's hard to see our four-legged friends hurt.

Christmas2008205.jpg
 
he has been my bud for a while.just one day i heard a pop and the pain began.the vet said hips.but ever since he can just move and pop all over.he is not bad enough to put down but he knows hes old.he still loves to go and help me catch fish,lol.
 
I spoke to a purebred breeder of heelers a year ago. It seems that they now dont even differentiate between reds and blues. Calling the breed Austrailian Cattle dogs. Does anyone else hear of this. I have one that is slim and trim and 54 lbs.
 
Hi,

New here, my first post. We had heelers for 30 years. Got our first from a breeder who ranched in MT. Now they were dogs. Our last was an AKC out of two finished champions. She was a great pet and loved to hunt varmints. BUT had no herding instincts whatsoever. We went to an AKC dog from show stock to get a dog with good hips. A lot of ranchers don't pay attention to the quality of dogs they are producing and you end up with unsound dogs. But at least their dogs worked stock. :???: What to do.

I am 50 and have been in dogs all my life. We have always said a dog that can lay like your heeler lays, is a dog that has good hips.

Now here is where I may get in trouble and wear out my welcome ...... :D

I think you can give glucosamine, chondroiton, hyluronic acid, etc... till the cows come home BUT till you get some weight off him he will be in pain. You should be able to stand over your dog, look down and see a visable waist. I know, I know, it is hard. Heelers love to eat. I put my old Shane dog on a diet and she ate cow crap out of the feedlot. YUMMMM lots of protein too. You could put him on Purina Healthy Weight dog food and you would be surprised how much better he will feel.

We had a male heeler who was hit by a car and had his hips wired back in place. He always had it rough in the winter, the cold really bothered him. But we kept him at about 50 pounds and he lived till he was 12 relatively pain free. He died then because he chewed through a garage door during a thunderstorm and got hit and killed trying to get to my husband at the other farm.

But seriously. Put your dog on a diet and I BET he will make a radical change. He is way too fat.

Now that I have insulted you on my first post :shock: I hope you will give me a chance. I can talk heelers and dogs all day and look forward to visiting with you folks.

Regards,
Cyndi
 
You had asked what breed your dog might be. Let me interject a possibility. There is a cousin to the AuCaDo. It is the Australian Stumpy Tailed Cattle Dog. It is a breed all to itself. In the US there are both breeds present. Several years ago some confused souls who had seen the stumpy tail started docking the tails of their Australian Cattle Dog puppies at birth. Which is a NO NO for a AuCaDo. Therein lies the problem, AuCaDo's were bred to Stumpy tails and vice versa. So when you see a bobbed tail "heeler" is it a cropped AuCaDo or a stumpy tail??? AND some stumpy tails do produce pups with long tails. They are not always born with a short tail, although most are. The standards are nearly the same but the stumpy tail has more leg and a bit of a smaller ear. I have seen stumpy tails that seemed to be a bit bigger too.

I just did a web search for a breeder. I will include the link. They did a good job of explaining the difference and you can see pics of both.

http://216.128.19.27/Gravans/index_stumpy.asp
 
i know,your right.i would say i succummed to his eating prefrences.and yes this tail is croped.just how it was when i took him over.its caused some problems with ocassional irritation cause i believe they were quick cutters,not paying too much attention.i still get him out every day chasin that darn bone of his and have him on senior diet food but i think ive let him get too big.to get the weight off him now,i have not a clue.but i am giving him the minamal amount on the purina lable.i was wondering when i would be called on this one but expected it,lol.still in all he is a much larger breed of cattle dog that i want to replace him with when i dont have him anymore.i think next time for the sake of the dog i should be a bit more agressive on food dicipline.thanks for your input,and by all means please tell it like it is.
 
I've got a German Shepherd, and am always monitoring her weight for exactly this reason. It can be a problem in this breed too, and anything that lightens the load on their joints is a good thing.

Have you tried a weight reduction diet? There are some good foods out there that are especially designed for it. I'd ask the vet for a recommendation and have him/her set up a program. It's really quite amazing how little food they actually need when it's a good quality food.

He's a fine looking dog. He will probably be the one to whom any other dog you ever own will be compared. :D
 
the poor guy,in his prime he weighd at least 80 lbs.i could make him sit looking at me at my feet and throw a bullet with his favorite semmi deflated football and hed catch it every time.he was as quick and agile as any standard.and then i let him gain too much weight.at almost ten im afraid that a strict diet may be too much.but for sure too much weight cant be too good huh.like i said he didnt do to much with cattle but get kicked by them,lol but he was a very active dog.maybe i need to train him to chase the cat lol.hes happy just old.the glucosamine has helped a lot but his age is showing.im not hanging on to him,im letting him hang onto life.when the time comes we will both know.im an exterminator with trapping animals as part of my job,so you would think id be better prepared for the inevadable but im not.old crusty biker with a heavy heart for my friend.
 
You keep talking about the death of this dog.......why worry about that now....deal with it WHEN it happens.

You just keep referring to it.....kinda creepy. You'll never ' replace' him if he's that special to you.......you can't.
 
A strict diet won't be too much for him. It just might make him into a brand new dog! It's just that he's probably like the rest of us, and as he has gotten older and wiser, he has learned which buttons to push to mooch a snack. :D)

I don't think ten years old is too old either. I realize big dogs don't usually live as long as small ones, but there's no reason not to expect him be healthy into the early teens, even with a few aches and pains. 8)
 
You made the point that you are " giving him the minamal amount on the purina lable".. I never pay attention to what the purina or iams or any other brand of dog foods label says. They always recommend way to much. We have a 21 pound beagle and she gets 1/3 cup in the AM and 1/3 cup in the afternoon. She has been getting this for years (along with what she gleans from the kitchen floor, stolen dog food from the jagdterrier and occaisional treats) and she looks great. She has a bad stifle from years of running rabbits and I feel it imperative to keep her trim. If I can do it with a beagle who lives to eat .... you can do it with a heeler. . :wink:
 
My female Heeler ( 40lbs) and male Aussie ( 50lbs) only get 1cup in the AM after morning chores......and 1 cup in the PM after PM chores and at that time I split a can of wet food between the 2 of them.

No treats inbetween---well if you don't count what they glean from the barn and pasture :roll: :roll: -- and that's it.
 

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