Anybody have experience with this breed? I just bought one today that I am picking up on Sunday. Friends of ours have 2 of them and they are highly intelligent dogs. Just looking for a little feedback.

I hear good things about them but I am nervous about having a dog that is smarter than I am.

Gimme a "pretty smart" but appealingly dumb black lab.

I understand these are a lot like Border Collies. If so, I hope you have lots of room for it to RUN, and lots of time to spend with it, because that's what high-energy/high-intelligence dogs require. If you do, then you'll LOVE the dog - easy to train, eager to please, and very sociable. It's a working dog, and NEEDS a job. If you don't give it one......it'll FIND things to keep itself entertained and occupied - you probably won't like what the dog comes up with on it's own, lol! Having dealt with my parent's Border Collie, I MUCH prefer my GSD, but that's just a personal preference.

Tammy

Good article for you.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/australiancattledog.htm 

Very smart and intense. Make sure you are the alpha dog in your pack and you will be blown away by what this dog can/will do for you.

Queen, he will have a job. He is going to be a playmate for my 2 year old Akita/Lab mix. She is a great dog but is stubborn as all hell. She just needs a companion to show her the ropes. I know they will have a great time playing together. We rescued her from the humane society about a year ago. She was there twice before turning a year old so its been rough trying to break her of some bad habits, but she will come around for us.

These dogs need jobs????

Can they mow grass?

No Andy, they are Australian, not Mexican.

^^^LMAO!

Think I have one, loves to RUN, needs exercise and lots of training. She is is a good dog and behaves-plays well with others but is headstrong. Good family dog for us.

What Queen Bee said.

Very smart. Escape artists. MUST be kept busy/employed. Need lots of room to roam/run.

If you can't engage these dogs with a herding task, they will go find one, and you won't be able to stop them.

I've watched these dogs herd cattle, maybe 50 head...unbelieveable. These are a 'working'dog---I don't think it would be very suitable breed for most people.

I have an Aussie shepherd if that's like the cattle dog.

Very intelligent, natural herder, and VERY possessive. She is extremely skittish though. She hates thunder, the fireworks, and any other loud noises.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Australian+Cattle+Dogs&btnG=Search 

or

http://tinyurl.com/cg8jl2 

they are smart, they need to be worked, run or anything to give them something to do.

these are not lap dogs.

11. Author: surfish1961 Date: 03/27/2009 11:59 PM Reply

I have an Aussie shepherd if that’s like the cattle dog.

Very intelligent, natural herder, and VERY possessive. She is extremely skittish though. She hates thunder, the fireworks, and any other loud noises.

__________________________________________________

Aussie Shepherd is a lot more like Border Collies that we've owned, while the Aussie Cattle dog is more like a Dingo. All 3 are excellent herders, very smart, and very energetic. The Cattle dog can be a lot more possessive and even vicious. We have a couple of them at our dog park and they are incredibly focused on whatever task asked of them. The do not like anything getting in the way of that task though.

40 head of sheep and an AndyTV proof fence and you're in business.

Ron