Lilly was born around Mothers Day 1999. She was born in Shasta County although we picked her up at a ranch in Petaluma. Her mother was a Queensland Red Heeler and her father was a Blue Heeler. Her tail has been docked, as her parents are both working dogs and on the farm it seems anything with a tail is soon without it...
The first day she was at our house she was afraid to even come in the house, being that she had always been an outside dog. She has slept outside comfortably in the basket (that she customized by chewing) since her first day here. She is getting more and more comfortable in the house. I catch her sleeping on the couch in the sun looking like she just won the lottery.
Lilly is a very agile dog. She runs like the wind and can stop on a dime. While running she can jump and change directions in mid air. She really does have a 'herder' instinct. When the the kids are running in the yard, she always stays behind the smallest one.. pushing them to catch up with the others by nudging at their heels (hence the name 'Heeler', I guess..)
She loves to chew on things. A list of things she has chewed can be found Here. She is a very intelligent dog. She has learned to sit, stay and she is learning to fetch as well. She had maybe 5 accidents in the house before she got the picture. She learns commands quickly and loves to be praised. She also takes scolding very hard, almost disappointed in herself for failing. We are quick to let her know that we still love her and she perks right up.
Lilly loves to play with our 3 cats. They seem to have mixed feelings. Although they attempt to scratch her (she is much too quick..) they search her out to "play" with her. She bites at their tails as they walk away and they turn to swipe half-heartedly at her. It gets fairly amusing at times..
Our latest discovery is that some of the best 'Frisbee' dogs are Australian Cattle Dogs. We have gotten her a Frisbee but up till now she just looks at it when we throw it. She thinks chasing balls is much more fun. We will work with her on it and post some shots of her when she masters the trick.