Rescued puppy that was left to die -what is he?

tiggerhammon

My husband has been working up in the mountains, miles from any town. He sleeps in his truck at night, as there is no hotel anywhere near.
One night, late last week, he woke in the middle of the night. It was about 2am, snowing outside and he heard a dog crying. He went out looking and found this little guy tied to a tree. There were no tracks in sight, the puppy was skinny and very skittish. When my husband approached the dog cowered away, acting as if he was afraid my husband would hit him. (We did find marks too that we think are signs of abuse.)
The little guy ate everything he could get, like he was starving. He drank over 2 gallons of water the first day my husband had him.
He is home with me now, we have been feeding and caring for him and may keep him permanently. Not sure though because he has been playing a little rough with my daughter, if he can't learn to be soft with kids he will be moving to our friend's ranch before my baby is born.
I am posting this for a few reasons. One, I told a couple of my friends on here I would, mostly they wanted to see pics. Two, I am trying to figure out what kind of dog he might be, curious for some opinions. I am certain he is part blue heeler, but not sure what else he might be mixed with. Three, I have never had a dog before in my life and this dog needs some training. Any have any good book or website suggestions? Or even advice on training him. My husband is the one good with dogs but he is never home.
I am so happy someone explained to me not just 30 minutes ago how to post pictures so I can put these up.

eta: we think he is probably 5-6 months old

[img]http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j452/TineiseDavenport/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20131122_193115.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j452/TineiseDavenport/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20131122_193239.jpg[/img]

tlou5

What an adorable looking puppy. He looks like he may have some Australian shepherd in him?

If he is nipping in puppy play what worked for our Chesapeake was bite inhibition. When he nips or nibbles give a really exagerrated response "OW" loud and sharp. They respond similar to if they had bitten a litter mate too roughly and heard a yip and they learn to soften their bite. Hope that makes sense. Worked wonders for us and carried over to hunting too cause the Chessie has a very soft mouth with birds

ldrosophila

:sad: i cant see him

walleyclan1

Blue heeler

AwMyLoLo

It's a blue heeler. :smooched:

Eta: take him to the vet for a checkup and vaccinations and they should be able to advise if he is mixed or full blue heeler. I hope it works out for you and him.

1_JR_1

cattle dog/ heeler

shutyourpieholeandsquat

Soooo cute! Cattle dog and some Heeler I'd say. Thank you for being an awesome pet person!

ronrstaats

cattle dog/ heeler

^^This^^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Cattle_Dog

1longroad

He is adorable!!! I agree with bringing him to the vet as I am sure he has probably not been vaccinated. People who rescue dogs are wonderful people!!! :-)

RonnieLodge

He is very, very lucky to have found a good home!

I only got dogs a couple of years ago - I watched every episode of Cesar Milan 'Dog Whisperer' on Youtube and read all his books.

But if you have two small children a high energy dog (that needs to be taken for a swift walk at least 45mins a day + 30-60mins training) could be a bit of a stretch.

Well done you guys for saving him though!

tiggerhammon

We will be taking him to the vet after pay day.
He is going to need fixed too.

I Google Imaged Australian Cattle Dog and Blue Heeler Mix - I think this is him Thanks everyone!

srogers89

He is a heeler or cattle dog! Beautiful boy.... being a cattle dog/heeler he will need to be trained, given his age the sooner the better. They are such loving and beautiful animals, he would never harm your child on purpose but getting training in soon will teach him to be obedient and heel if he is getting too excitable playing with them. Having said that, they are (as the name suggests) cattle dogs or farm dogs, if you think he would be happy with your friends, the ranch might be the best place for him so he can run around freely.

Bless you for rescuing the pup, it breaks my heart people would abuse an animal good karma is coming your way!

marciebrian

Soooo cute! Cattle dog and some Heeler I'd say. Thank you for being an awesome pet person!

You are my new favorite person on this site. I'll never understand the cruelty of people to abuse an animal but find so much happiness when I know there are people like you and your husband who care.. thank you and good luck!

Slrajr

I recommend Jean Donaldson and Ian Dunbar. A good website is dogstardaily. It's not much like the dog whisperer. Take your lovely new puppy for lots of walks. Have rules and use treats to teach, and socialize him with men, women, children, people with facial hair, hats etc. and make sure to do it all over again when he is about nine months to a year. He's lovely, I think the breed has lots of energy, and I'm so glad you found him:)

michael1976_ca

awe cute can we track the person down and tie them to a tree. poor dog thank you and your family for showing him love

gingabebe

Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)- I have one myself and she is the best dog in the world. We have cattle, but she mostly herds our chickens. They can be very dominant and need a strong leader. She is fine with my oldest son, but my youngest she tries to nip at. We are working with her on that, it helps if they can be exhausted through long walks or runs and lots of fetch. They are extremely smart and very trainable. My Bindi puts her toys up and can sit and stay on command. I never had much luck training dogs before, but she's so darn smart she picks up on everything I teach her.

onmyown326

Happy ending...but people SUCK!!!!:explode:

pinktac0

A BLUE!! and a gorgeous one at that AMAZING DOGS SOOO LOYAL! you are good people for rescuing him/her. if you can't keep him ill take him

pinktac0

Happy ending...but people SUCK!!!!:explode:

ya and what she said

ldrosophila

Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)- I have one myself and she is the best dog in the world. We have cattle, but she mostly herds our chickens. They can be very dominant and need a strong leader. She is fine with my oldest son, but my youngest she tries to nip at. We are working with her on that, it helps if they can be exhausted through long walks or runs and lots of fetch. They are extremely smart and very trainable. My Bindi puts her toys up and can sit and stay on command. I never had much luck training dogs before, but she's so darn smart she picks up on everything I teach her.

put the toys up thats what i need to train the dogs to do I never even thought of that!! good idea. I assume they grab it, you walk over to the basket tell them to drop it and then give them a treat?

AwMyLoLo

I don't know specifics about the breed but generally, to raise a puppy...

Crate train. I always let my dogs sleep with me, but crate them while at work or away until they are older and trusted to not tear things up or go potty in the house. My 2 jack russels went 3 years without being in a crate and I recently started using one again at certain times. If we have company they go nuts at first so I put them in there and they are calm, one is scared of storms and likes to go in when its thundering, and the best is traveling in the car with them in the crate. It is a comforting safe place for them, not for punishment.

Get some Nylabones to keep him occupied when you cant play with him, and rope or tug of war type toys to play with you. Teach him what toys are vs anything he wants to chew in the house. This should also help with the nipping. Does he still have baby teeth? For the puppy bites, I used to turn my dogs' lip under its tooth while it was "biting" and calmly / sternly say NO. It kept my hand from getting scratched and let's them know that it hurts!

If there are any habits you might not want him to have when he's older, start on those now. For example, if you don't want him on the furniture when he's bigger, he can't get on now. I wish my couch wasn't constantly covered in hair, but I'd rather vacuum constantly than not snuggle them every night. :smooched: If I decided to try to keep them off at this point, there is no way they would have it. Lol

Hope that helps!

LishieFruit89

Not helpful here but hes beautiful!!

ldrosophila

I don't know specifics about the breed but generally, to raise a puppy...

Crate train. I always let my dogs sleep with me, but crate them while at work or away until they are older and trusted to not tear things up or go potty in the house. My 2 jack russels went 3 years without being in a crate and I recently started using one again at certain times. If we have company they go nuts at first so I put them in there and they are calm, one is scared of storms and likes to go in when its thundering, and the best is traveling in the car with them in the crate. It is a comforting safe place for them, not for punishment.

Get some Nylabones to keep him occupied when you cant play with him, and rope or tug of war type toys to play with you. Teach him what toys are vs anything he wants to chew in the house. This should also help with the nipping. Does he still have baby teeth? For the puppy bites, I used to turn my dogs' lip under its tooth while it was "biting" and calmly / sternly say NO. It kept my hand from getting scratched and let's them know that it hurts!

If there are any habits you might not want him to have when he's older, start on those now. For example, if you don't want him on the furniture when he's bigger, he can't get on now. I wish my couch wasn't constantly covered in hair, but I'd rather vacuum constantly than not snuggle them every night. :smooched: If I decided to try to keep them off at this point, there is no way they would have it. Lol

Hope that helps!

crate crate crate!!! Best thing we ever did for our dogs it's their home and their security. Once you get over the initial puppy protest and whines you'll be so happy you crated the dogs.

gingabebe

I put a treat in the box and took a toy and said here is where it goes - Toys Up is what I say now and point or walk over to the box to let her know. They really are a intelligent breed. I had a Bull Mastiff once and she was a big baby but not so trainable. Cattle Dogs go through the toys! She shredded a tire toy in a week or so into tiny little tire pieces. She only chewed up one chair leg as a pup and sticks with her toys now.

Here is pic of her as a pup- crossing my fingers this works, first time posting an image:

featherbrained

Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)- I have one myself and she is the best dog in the world. We have cattle, but she mostly herds our chickens. They can be very dominant and need a strong leader. She is fine with my oldest son, but my youngest she tries to nip at. We are working with her on that, it helps if they can be exhausted through long walks or runs and lots of fetch. They are extremely smart and very trainable. My Bindi puts her toys up and can sit and stay on command. I never had much luck training dogs before, but she's so darn smart she picks up on everything I teach her.

Ditto! Mine is half heeler half Border Collie, but the heeler personality is dominant. Best dog I ever had. But training is essential.

Mine is annhilating the coon population that is currently stalking my chicken flock. Every morning, dead coon in the yard, smiling heeler

gingabebe

i wish mine would have taken care of the fox that took out 9 of my chickens this summer. We have been keeping them in their yard instead of free ranging and they are not as happy as they should be. I know some people have problems with heelers killing chickens, looks like we have two well behaved ones.

To the OP, I am so glad your husband heard him barking. The cruelty of some people astounds and sickens me.

ldrosophila

I put a treat in the box and took a toy and said here is where it goes - Toys Up is what I say now and point or walk over to the box to let her know. They really are a intelligent breed. I had a Bull Mastiff once and she was a big baby but not so trainable. Cattle Dogs go through the toys! She shredded a tire toy in a week or so into tiny little tire pieces. She only chewed up one chair leg as a pup and sticks with her toys now.

Here is pic of her as a pup- crossing my fingers this works, first time posting an image:

too adorable

tiggerhammon

awe cute can we track the person down and tie them to a tree. poor dog thank you and your family for showing him love

Right!!! I can't believe someone could do this. Sometimes there is a dog that doesn't work out for a family (even I question still if he will for sure work out here) but I can't see how anyone could ever ever abuse an animal and how someone can feel good about leaving him to die!

tiggerhammon

Australian Cattle Dog (Blue Heeler)- I have one myself and she is the best dog in the world. We have cattle, but she mostly herds our chickens. They can be very dominant and need a strong leader. She is fine with my oldest son, but my youngest she tries to nip at. We are working with her on that, it helps if they can be exhausted through long walks or runs and lots of fetch. They are extremely smart and very trainable. My Bindi puts her toys up and can sit and stay on command. I never had much luck training dogs before, but she's so darn smart she picks up on everything I teach her.

I guess this partly sums up why I am scared. I am not a strong leader, not good at being the stern owner, lol. I am a pushover, which is why my only pet until now has been a tortoise
Also, with morning sickness and many other things, I dont have the energy, time or desire to go on long walks every day. My daughter takes him out 3 times a day. I will be taking them to the park to play and run around together after he's been fixed and had his shots.

mmipanda

awww, glad your husband found him! I have a cattledog x kelpie. He's insane. This is what photos of us look like:

tiggerhammon

Get some Nylabones to keep him occupied when you cant play with him, and rope or tug of war type toys to play with you. Teach him what toys are vs anything he wants to chew in the house. This should also help with the nipping. Does he still have baby teeth? For the puppy bites, I used to turn my dogs' lip under its tooth while it was "biting" and calmly / sternly say NO. It kept my hand from getting scratched and let's them know that it hurts!

If there are any habits you might not want him to have when he's older, start on those now. For example, if you don't want him on the furniture when he's bigger, he can't get on now. I wish my couch wasn't constantly covered in hair, but I'd rather vacuum constantly than not snuggle them every night. :smooched: If I decided to try to keep them off at this point, there is no way they would have it. Lol

Hope that helps!

Looks like all his baby teeth are gone but we have been struggling with him chewing on things. That is a habit I would definitely like broken - and soon! Oh, and face licking, he definitely can't keep doing that.