Blue heelers are known for their herding ability.
Blue heelers are working dogs known for their ability to herd animals. These dogs are very active and need plenty of exercise and attention, or poor behaviors will develop. They are natural pack leaders, so plenty of training and leadership by an owner is needed to prevent blue heelers from becoming aggressive and suspicious of other dogs and strange humans. Training from an early age is necessary to prevent biting.
Instructions
1. Start bite prevention training when your blue heeler is a puppy. If you are playing with a blue heeler puppy and it bites or nips at you, stop playing with it, so it associates biting as a bad behavior. When they are young, most puppies learn not to bite when they are playing with their kin. This happens when they bite or are bitten by brothers and sisters, and they start to associate pain with biting. Making sure puppies spend enough time with their litter before being separated is a good way to prevent future biting.
2. Discourage young blue heelers from biting at all times. When you catch a young blue heeler biting another dog or human during play, punish the behavior. Place the dog in its kennel for a couple of minutes, say no or spray it with a spritz bottle of water. Make sure your puppy has a lot of toys to chew on to encourage chewing on the right items. Do not play tug of war with a dog toy, or you will encourage rough behavior and biting.
3. Socialize your blue heeler dog. The more time your blue heeler gets to spend in the company of other dogs and humans, the less likely it is to have aggressive tendencies toward them. Keep your dog on a leash at all times to stay in control of it. Discourage negative behaviors toward mailmen and other professional workers near your home. Invite people over to your home and backyard to let your blue heeler know it is OK for other people to visit. Let your dog have supervised interaction with kids.
4. Become the pack leader. In adulthood, blue heelers that are not sure of their role in the family might start acting out with aggressive behaviors. If the human takes the active role as leader of the family, your blue heeler will behave better. This includes doing simple things like not allowing dogs on furniture, never letting your dog go through a door before you, never playing tug of war with your dog, and making sure you eat and clean your plate before feeding your pet.
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