What You Need to Know about Training Blue Heeler Puppies
Blue heeler puppies (actually known as Australian Cattle Dogs) are really, really cute. If you don’t know much about these puppies, we’d suggest learning more simply because they are so sweet.
They make wonderful family dogs. As puppies they are sweet and playful and willing to learn anything you throw their direction. As adult dogs, they are some of the hardest working animals you will ever encounter.
They don’t care how stubborn a cow, how difficult the task; they just want to do their job and make it known that they are there to do something specific. This is a dog that loves a good, hard job.
And these are puppies that make wonderful additions to any family. If you are looking for blue heeler puppies to add to your family, whether you have a farm or a house with a smaller yard, you will want to know a few things about this particular breed of puppies.
This very intelligent, very energetic breed requires a good bit of attention, love and affection; and positive reinforcement always helps in raising blue heeler puppies.
Introduce Your Dog to People and Animals Right Away
When it comes to blue heeler puppies, the more you socialize them the happier they will be. Dogs do require time around other people outside of your family as well as other animals to learn how to behave around them.
Just like children, blue heeler puppies will not learn to behave in public and around others if they are not allowed to spend time around them. Imagine sending a child to school if he or she has never been around another child or person other than you in 5 years.
Chances are pretty high that your child would be a wreck with no concept as to how to behave in social situations, and it would be difficult. The same is true of a dog; if you don’t teach the dog to socialize, how can you expect him or her to do it?
Use Consistency in Training
Because this is a dog that is very smart, you have to be very consistent when it comes to training. These are dogs that require a great deal of consistency. This dog is going to know that if you allow it to get away with breaking a rule; it will be able to get away with it again.
If you’re going to have blue heeler puppies, you have to be so consistent in training that you do not allow this puppy to get away with anything. It’s not always simple for people to do this since they are so cute, you are so busy and things get in the way of training on a regular basis. However, if you want your puppy to learn, teach it well from the start.
Create Boundaries
Boundaries are very important for this dog. These are puppies that love to explore, work and herd. If you don’t teach the dog where to find the boundaries, he or she is going to wander wherever it wants to go whenever it sees fit. Teach the dog to heel and stay and you will not have as much of a problem with boundaries as you think.
Additionally, make it a habit to go places you do not want to the puppies to go and teach them to sit outside those rooms or that fence or whatever so that the dogs will learn that this is as far as they go and everything past that is off limits.
Be the Boss
Blue heeler puppies are highly intelligent. If they suspect for even one moment that you are not going to stand up and be their boss at all times, they will take matters into their own hands and treat you as though they don’t have a boss.
You do not want a puppy that does not behave appropriately, especially one with this much energy and this much of a desire to work. You need to be the alpha or the issues with your dog will go from bad to worse in very little time.
Be Kind but Firm
Dogs like positive reinforcement, and the blue heeler is no different. This type of dog requires that you positively train and discipline him or her more so than just discipline the dog. For example, if your dog is caught using the bathroom on the floor in your house, be sure to discipline the dog so that he or she understands this is wrong and should not be allowed.
However, if your dog is caught standing by the door and asking to go out, uses the potty outside and then comes back in, show the puppy some serious reinforcement. Dogs respond very well to positivity, and you should show it as much as possible. Dogs learn just as much about what they should do as what they should not do by your use of positive reinforcement, and that’s a treat.
Encourage Exercise
If there is one thing that blue heeler breeders have to say to potential owners, it’s that these dogs require a great deal of exercise. They have a lot of energy and they are born to work and herd, and keeping them cooped up in the house without exercise for long periods of time is a bad idea.
These are dogs that love to run and play, they do very well with games of fetch because it is a purpose-driven goal for them to find and locate something and then to bring it back.
This breed considers this an actual job, and that makes it much easier for this breed to exercise and to feel it has a purpose. If you can’t get the dog out in the yard, take the dog on a long walk and take the dog to the park. These are dogs that love to run and play, however, so it will do you well to see if there are leash laws in your area that allow you to let your dogs off to run and play freely.
You can also read:
- 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Labraheeler
- Bringing Home Your Blue Heeler
- 10 Dog Breeds Sumilar to the Blue Heeler