Both obsessive blue heeler cross border collie, sparks fly in a VIDEO.

This is one of the most amazing video dog subjects I have ever shot. The dogs in the video are blue heeler cross border collie that walks regularly and meets in the park.

This is the answer to what happens when a dog obsessed dog, meets a ball obsessed dog.

Blue heeler ball obsessed dog

Firstly the owner of the blue heeler is to be praised for the dedication she has shown to his development. We regularly talk during our walks and it turns out that from a very early age the blue heeler was given 2- 3 hours of off lead time per day in the park to socialise.

However the fact is that a blue heeler is a working dog and unless you are a highly skilled trainer, from the evidence around me, it doesn’t seem to matter much what you do, they will become obsessed over something.

The reasoning goes that these dogs were bred for Australian conditions and to work on stations and do 30-40 km of hard running a day. Sometimes they round up sheep sometimes they do other mentally challenging tasks. Their ability and need to do this has been bred into them over hundreds of years.

Invariably many working dog owners have been unable to provide these dogs with sufficient exercise and have decided to placate them with some version of fetch. Unfortunately when you are a smart dog and geared towards really pleasing your owner, and there are no sheep to round up, obsession in another physically activity usually sets in.

In fact for this blue heelers owner, her dog will bark at her loudly and incessantly until she throws the ball. It will generally ignore all other dogs thus completely destroying the value of taking it to the park to socialise.  When a dog gets in the way of this blue heeler when they are trying to retrieve they will either run through it or find that the obstacle is a threat and try and nip it.

Enter the bluies worst nightmare.

Border Collie Kelpie Cross with dog obsession

Of course this dog is two working dogs in one, potentially compounding the issue. The border collie stock gives this dog a fierce desire to herd, even more so than the blue heeler.  But what is a dog to do when there are no sheep around?

Urban dwellers who own these kinds of dogs usually resort to long periods of repetitive fetch or letting their dog round up other dogs. Some people see this as cute, but it can be very frustrating and stressful to both the dog doing the rounding up (with non compliant dogs) and the dogs being round up (having non social etiquette thrown at them).

While this dog may only get four or so good off lead sessions per week, and is not as fit as the bluie, it has decided to bond exclusively with working dogs. And given the preference and seeing the high energy level of the blue heeler, it has decided to become obsessed with rounding up this dog.

So there you have it, two working dogs with an almost sympathetic bond. However that is not the case. You might think that the less fit smaller border collie might provide a challenge or some form of entertainment to the blue heeler, but typically the blue heeler tolerates this dog for a while until it snaps and tries to play/ serious bite the border collie.

When rebuffed, the border collie responds by presenting its back to the dog so that the blue heeler can’t get a purchase with its teeth on it. This all happens within five seconds, and then the blue heelers attention is snapped back to the owner, who potentially has a ball to throw.

Ball or no ball, this ballet can continue on for hours. When the blue heeler gets frustrated enough to leave its owner and explore, the border collie follows it. Interestingly though, instead of going into a full rounding up mode,  the border collie cross tends to try and shadow the blue within a few meters. The border collie sticks by the blue heeler no matter where it goes.

I hope you find the video entertaining …

Article by Bruce Dwyer. If you wish to use any of this information please refer to the article as a reference and provide a link to https://www.healthydogtreats.com.au

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