Our Task: Finding The Perfect Dog For The Job!

The Assignment!

What's in a breed? 

Tau and his sisters

When we decided to pursue this project we intended  to use a German Shepherd. After talking with Cheryl, I realized that we needed a smaller, robust breed with a balanced nature.  After some thought I realized the Australian Cattle Dog would be the perfect breed.  

The Australian Cattle Dog is a robust, smaller framed dog with a lot of energy.  They were originally bred for the Australian Beef Industry and were crossed with dingos and blue merle collies.  Pups from these litters were then crossed with a male dalmatian making the merle color into red and blue speckle.  These dogs were originally called Australian Heelers but are also known as Queensland and Blue Heelers today.  In 1980 the Australian Cattle Dog was accepted in the American Kennel Club miscellaneous class and later moved to the working group where they remain today.  

These little dynamos have a rough coat and tolerate high temperatures well. They are a herder, need a job, are intelligent, well rounded and have high energy.  They are small in structure and are agile.  The perfect combination for a dog that will spend his days and nights on the beaches of Maui.  

The task was to find a perfect dog for the job.  I began scouring rescue groups in search of a puppy or younger dog who could be trained to find odor.  After several months of searching a litter of pups were going to be surrendered and needed a foster.  I found myself with five flea infested rolly polly pups who needed a good bath, vaccines, wormer and some antibiotics for coccidia.  The pups were isolated from my other dogs until they were healthy. This litter had four females and one little male.  In the quest for the perfect Honu hound I also found a happy older male who needed his forever home.  He was successfully placed with a family as a companion to a preteen who needed a running buddy. 

The puppies were each screened for personality, agility, play drive, hunt drive and fearlessness.  After several weeks of observation two remained, the little male (orange puppy) and a female (pink puppy) while the other three sisters found their forever homes.   After a couple of months it was clear that the little boy was going to be the choice as Tau, our "Honu Hound" and his sister was placed in her loving new home.  Tau was the lone ranger and quickly adapted to his training regime and easily adapted to our rowdy pack of four and two legged creatures!