1813 was an important year for cattlemen in Australia. The discovery of a route westward from Sydney through the Blue Mountains of the Great Dividing Range opened up thousands of acres in New South Wales ideal for cattle grazing. That was the good news. The bad news was that this vast acreage of land far away from everything minimized contact between cattle and humans, and it made them a little wild. Ok. A lot wild. The Smithfield sheepdogs that had been used to move the cattle when they were more docile were no longer “cutting it.” Too slow to move a prickly cow, unable to deal with weather extremes or a vast territory, and relying on barking to move wild cows that found all that noise really annoying  (leaving the Smithfield to think, “Well, it worked on sheep!), these dogs quickly let ranchers know that they needed a new kind of dog.  This dog had to tolerate heat, work quietly, and be able to cover a lot of land.

Enter the Australian Cattle Dog. 

It didn’t happen overnight, of course, and the Australian Cattle Dog Club of America does a nice job of explaining what happened after one rancher said to the other, “The cattle are three days ahead of that Smithfield….”

Image: Australian Cattle Dog by Ursula Dodge
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