# A Blue Heeler?



## scott_rn

My little brother is a little impulsive and now he has got a blue heeler. Apparently she is the runt of the litter because she's only about as big as a kitten. She's almost 5 weeks old, any chance she'll be ready to hunt grouse in 4 hours? :wink: 

I'm sure she isn't going to be able to do anything this season, but are they decent upland game dogs?


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## guner

A blue heeler as a hunting dog !?!?!?
No way !... family has them to herd sheep and I have seen em go toe to toe against a yote but never heard of anyone hunting with em. they are very smart and a good working dog, but you better tell your brother to keep looking for a hunting dog.


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## Duurty1

best dog you will ever own..............just not for hunting. had one growing up and he would not back down from anything hell i think he would have taken a grizzly on if givin the opertunity. but like evrybody else said she would probably eat the bird. i did hear of a lady a while back here in Utah that hunts behind both a red and blue heeler. I think it would take a lot of time and energy to train one to be a bird dog though.


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## scott_rn

Crap. I guess I will have to wait until I can get my own dog.


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## CC

I have a buddy who has trained and hunted behind two blue heelers. They have been excellent quail dogs, and can go all day long. He used to shoot a lot of ducks off of stock tanks / ponds out on the AZ strip, and both of those dogs were excellent retrievers in water, and land. Neither dog seemed to be hard mouthed that I recall. We lost his first heeler on a grouse hunt, when some SOB laced a dead deer with poison for coyotes. His second heeler is now about fifteen. She slept on his hunting vest friday night, and was heart broken when he left her home saturday. So from my experience, I think you can train them to hunt and retrieve.


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## buggsz24

A good hunting dog is either well trained or natural hunter, heelers aren't natural hunters. The up side is they are one of the brightest breeds around and easily trained. 

I have hunted with a blue/collie mix that was a brush beating SOB, but as others have already pointed out they aren't the softest mouthed critter.


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## chkrhntr

I have a red heeler that has tags along with me and my setters all year in the chukar hills. She walks right behind me the whole time until a bird is flushed. After the shot )wich she is not scared of) she will beat ANY dog to the downed bird and retrieve it softly to hand! (If she doesn't beat the other dog to it she will definately steal it)  

That is not to say heelers make good upland dogs. Mine has just been around the game enough she has picked up a few tricks. She even makes water retrieves on wounded birds.


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## T.C.

I had a blue heeler that retrieved every duck and dove I asked him to. He was relentless and NEVER lost a bird. He would hunt, kill, or retrieve any animal, through any terrain. Rabbits were a breeze as he would course them in a wide circle back to me. Often times, he would chase them under my truck where they would mysteriously jump into the undercarriage ending their own lives. He died last summer in Alaska. It was a week after treeing his first bear. I never trained him to do ANY of it and he learned to soften his bite.


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## Pops2

heelers are great warm to hot nosed trail dogs. should be great on fur. don't know about birds but they are right smart so you may be able to train one to be serviceable.


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## scott_rn

I've grown to dislike that stupid heeler. Now I have my own dog and he is kind of a pain in the butt too.


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## one hunting fool

People that buy dogs on impulse are never happy with what they get. A dog should be something that you look into the blood lines and history of the parents. I have raised and breed field trial labs until last year. not one of my dogs sis you have to teach anything more than once. I would not take a back yard bread dog for a years wages. never know what yoru going to get. That being said the best hunting dogs I ever owned where mix breeds. a GSP and Lab mix, and a redbone lab mix, both took sent from the air and the ground so you never lost anything you started them on. Both where breed on purpose knowing both sides of the breeding and knowing what to expect out of the pups.


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## M Gayler

T.C. said:


> I had a blue heeler that retrieved every duck and dove I asked him to. He was relentless and NEVER lost a bird. He would hunt, kill, or retrieve any animal, through any terrain. Rabbits were a breeze as he would course them in a wide circle back to me. Often times, he would chase them under my truck where they would mysteriously jump into the undercarriage ending their own lives. He died last summer in Alaska. It was a week after treeing his first bear. I never trained him to do ANY of it and he learned to soften his bite.


...and he had a red cape... o-||


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## Sprig Kennels

healers are a working breed but not a hunting breed. they are like border collies, herding dogs. they are bred to chase. they are typically used to herd cattle and sheep because of this chase and herd instinct. i have heard of a healer or two that people take out for hunting but they typically dont have prey drive for birds like bird dogs do. they do make great family dogs but one problem they do have is often times they get a bad rap because they will chase kids and nip at their feet so people think they are mean but that is the herding instinct in them, they see something running and they are compelled to chase and bite its feet. its what they do when they herd cattle but people often think the dog is mean and they end up in shelters when infact that is just their instinct.


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## Pops2

i'd have to say they're better for fur than feather. most all dogs will hunt something if given a chance. it may not be what you want them to hunt, but nearly all will hunt something even if it's just bugs or moles in the yard.


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