Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog - History

History

The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog descended from Smithfield Cattle Dogs in England, which were brought to Australia in the early 19th century and crossed with the dingo. Records of working dogs are scarce from this time period, and there are several different accounts of the breed's development. One is that a drover named Timmins from Bathurst, New South Wales, crossed the Smithfield dogs with the dingo, producing a type of working dog called Timmin's Biters. In order to mute their dingo characteristics and make the dogs easier to handle, further crosses were made with Scottish smooth collies, producing speckled red and blue dogs that were often born tailless.

In the book A Dog Called Blue, author Noreen Clark makes the case that both the tailless Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog and the Australian Cattle Dog descended from the same stock, called Halls Heelers, kept in the 1830s by a very large cattle operation run by Thomas Hall. The dogs which were also crosses of Smithfield Cattle Dogs and dingo, but the breeds diverged at some point in the late 19th century. Selective breeding of the tailless or short tailed dogs has fixed the characteristic of today's breed. A summary of both versions of the breed's history is found in the Fédération Cynologique Internationale breed standard.

The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog is recognised in its native country by the Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog Club of New South Wales and by the Australian National Kennel Council in the Working Dogs Group. It is also recognised by the New Zealand Kennel Club in its Working Group, and in the United States by the United Kennel Club in its Herding Group. The Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog was provisionally accepted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 2005, in Group 1, Section 2 : Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle Dogs) as breed number 351. The breed may also be listed by minor kennel clubs, working or herding dog clubs, or internet based dog registry businesses, and promoted as a rare breed pet.