Any Australian Cattle Dog/ACD Mix/working breed owners out there?

[jennybvcr]

This is my ACD/Velociraptor/maybe beagle mix Huckleberry. He's about a year and 8 months (give or take) and we have had him since August 2019. He is a total lunatic but he's my best guy. I've never had a working breed dog before and boy-o is this different than my ol' lab/hound who came before him. I didn't mean to get an ACD but now I'm pretty stuck on the breed. They're fascinating dogs! So smart. So stubborn. And I've noticed they're either pretty standoffish or complete snuggly babies and mine, fortunately, is the latter. I don't think I'd ever go out looking for a pure-bred dog but I'm certainly interested in keeping this breed at least partially in my world.

Any ACD or other working breed dog owners out there? Share your stories, tips, tricks, training... whatever.

 

[CJLR]

I have a cattle dog mix named Jaxx cattle dogs are a very smart breed and need a job they really are not happy with just a walk. Here are my tips: 1 train them constantly they are very smart and can learn a lot of tricks no matter what age.
2 work his brain you can use puzzle toys to exercise his brain. You can make a puzzle toy by putting balls in a cupcake tin and hiding treats under the balls 3 give him a job training him to do basic agility is a good way to give him a job
4 one thing i like to do with my dogs is is play fetch but before I throw the toy I make them do a trick like sit down or touch

 

[Cecisflock]

I have 2 rough collies that are working dogs

 

[EverV]

All adorable! I have an Australian shepherd/boxer/treeing walker coonhound mix, does that count? Working breeds are the best.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Haven't taught any of my dogs herding yet, but my family had a Sheltie whom had passed in April of last year at age 16, and he would contently sit near the chickens, as he was a calm soul.
I currently have a 6 year old Sheltie who is is a bit more on the rambunctious, hyper side. He is VERY agile and fast, which would be a wonderful quality for livestock herding, but he's a bit jumpy around my birds. I intend to tame him in that manner a bit more, although the chickens are always attended by a person while roaming, so he'd be under my watch as well.
At the end of February, we'll be getting another Sheltie puppy. Having 2 at once feels normal.
I have hopes to train him young, as our flock is always expanding. As well as maybe one day we'll visit the idea of livestock. Specifically as a future addition, sheep would work for our property.
Shetland Sheepdogs are wonderful companions. They're very intelligent.
To the OP: Huckleberry is handsome! I plan to follow this page even though I'm not of much helpfulness when it comes to talking about working dogs, but I'd love to hear stories and tips as well. To @Ceciliasflock , your Rough Collies look very sweet! And @EverV , what a great, handsome mix!

 

[EverV]

Haven't taught any of my dogs herding yet, but my family had a Sheltie whom had passed in April of last year at age 16, and he would contently sit near the chickens, as he was a calm soul.
I currently have a 6 year old Sheltie who is is a bit more on the rambunctious, hyper side. He is VERY agile and fast, which would be a wonderful quality for livestock herding, but he's a bit jumpy around my birds. I intend to tame him in that manner a bit more, although the chickens are always attended by a person while roaming, so he'd be under my watch as well.
At the end of February, we'll be getting another Sheltie puppy. Having 2 at once feels normal.
I have hopes to train him young, as our flock is always expanding. As well as maybe one day we'll visit the idea of livestock. Specifically as a future addition, sheep would work for our property.
Shetland Sheepdogs are wonderful companions. They're very intelligent.
To the OP: Huckleberry is handsome! I plan to follow this page even though I'm not of much helpfulness when it comes to talking about working dogs, but I'd love to hear stories and tips as well. To @Ceciliasflock , your Rough Collies look very sweet! And @EverV , what a great, handsome mix!

Thanks! Shelties are awesome. I also have no experience in the actual working front, but I'm hoping to get an Aussie and some sheep at some point in the future.

 

[The Angry Hen]

Thanks! Shelties are awesome. I also have no experience in the actual working front, but I'm hoping to get an Aussie and some sheep at some point in the future.

The best of wishes to you for achieving that hope! Aussie's are great.
I met a red-Merle Australian Sheppard the other day. Their colors are magnificent, and the breed is overall very swift and friendly.

 

[EverV]

The best of wishes to you for achieving that hope! Aussie's are great.
I met a red-Merle Australian Sheppard the other day. Their colors are magnificent, and the breed is overall very swift and friendly.

Yeah I love that breed

 

[jennybvcr]

3 give him a job training him to do basic agility is a good way to give him a job 4 one thing i like to do with my dogs is is play fetch but before I throw the toy I make them do a trick like sit down or touch

Right now I'm working on teaching him "find it" by hiding treats around and making him sniff them out. I follow a search & rescue dog in Instagram who shared that advice. He can only do about 5 minutes at a time before getting frustrated right now, but we're working on it. I also make him "back up" and "wait" before I throw his ball - I'm tired of being bitten! He knows what is expected of him now during fetch, but sometimes he's a little overzealous.

 

[jennybvcr]

Haven't taught any of my dogs herding yet, but my family had a Sheltie whom had passed in April of last year at age 16, and he would contently sit near the chickens, as he was a calm soul.
I currently have a 6 year old Sheltie who is is a bit more on the rambunctious, hyper side. He is VERY agile and fast, which would be a wonderful quality for livestock herding, but he's a bit jumpy around my birds. I intend to tame him in that manner a bit more, although the chickens are always attended by a person while roaming, so he'd be under my watch as well.

My old hound could be left alone outside with the ducks for hours. She'd just lay down and watch them - never cared much about what they were doing. Huck likes to chase the ducks so I don't leave him outside alone with them. He doesn't want to hurt them, but sometimes he pounces them and I'm afraid he'll hurt them by accident. Sometimes his instincts kick in and he helps herd them back into the pen at night, but most of the time, I'm just trying to keep him from chasing!