Mel
Senior Member
Ok, I really think I want a Heeler, but I keep reading about the two and can't make up my mind.
This dog will mostly be a companion/guard dog, but I will tote him with me every weekend to either a cowboy event/chuck wagon cookoff, the barn or to a truck show/cruise in. He's gonna be my best little buddy and go everywhere with me.
But I just read a comment about a person's experience of having a Heeler at the barn and how it always chased the horses, but the Shepherd they had never bothered the horses.
I'll be around horses some, but he won't have free range because we have mules and donkeys and they'll kill a dog, but down the road, if I want to bring him along on a trail ride, I don't want him nippin horse heels trying to "herd" us along.
Is this something they learn, is it something I can train him to NOT do, or is it something that's just in their nature and I'll have to break him of it, or keep him away from the horses?
I'm just worried this dog will wind up smarter than me and I'll have trouble on my hands. All I read about is how smart they are and how you have to stay on top of things and keep training and never let them get away with stuff and all these things. I don't want to ruin the dog by not doing my part.
Is it really that involved...as far as training a really smart Heeler or Aussie Shepherd?
This dog will mostly be a companion/guard dog, but I will tote him with me every weekend to either a cowboy event/chuck wagon cookoff, the barn or to a truck show/cruise in. He's gonna be my best little buddy and go everywhere with me.
But I just read a comment about a person's experience of having a Heeler at the barn and how it always chased the horses, but the Shepherd they had never bothered the horses.
I'll be around horses some, but he won't have free range because we have mules and donkeys and they'll kill a dog, but down the road, if I want to bring him along on a trail ride, I don't want him nippin horse heels trying to "herd" us along.
Is this something they learn, is it something I can train him to NOT do, or is it something that's just in their nature and I'll have to break him of it, or keep him away from the horses?
I'm just worried this dog will wind up smarter than me and I'll have trouble on my hands. All I read about is how smart they are and how you have to stay on top of things and keep training and never let them get away with stuff and all these things. I don't want to ruin the dog by not doing my part.
Is it really that involved...as far as training a really smart Heeler or Aussie Shepherd?