Bigpallooka

Good lookin' dog Megs. Post some pics when you can. We all like admiring good dogs!

Wow! Grandpappy was a BIG cattle dog! I haven't been back in years but the original pups went straight up. The parents have both been gone for more than a decade and I have no idea what happened to the line. My girl (the cattle x collie) lived out her last years as a throw cushion on my Mums couch. I didn't realise your dog was so big too. 28kgs is pretty big for a fit young cattle dog. In fact the breed standard is about 15 to 23 kg and 12 to 14 years. It's always sad to see them go young especially from disease. Good luck with him.

I wrote somewhere else about a blue cattle x bull terrier dog that was the most courageous dog I've seen. He was a little bulkier than a straight blue heeler but saved his owner once in a blackberry patch. The doofus (owner not the dog) went in to a crawl hole after a pig only to find himself face to face with a big tusky boar and no where to run. The little dog flew in and gave him time to back out. He was a treasured dog after that and I bred him over my cattle x collie bitch for some excellent pups. This dog changed hands a couple of times due to his unfortunate habit of getting stuck into anyone who raised their hands to any kids. Good for the kids of course but in those days smacking the tykes wasn't a problem.

Bit chancy if you come across a big one? The size in dog's crossed to Bull Arabs, Danes, Wolfhounds and Mastiffs etc. is all about the safety of the hunter and the dog. They can lug and protect you from a big one and not get hurt as easily themselves. That's the way I see it anyway. If it works for you and your feel safe then that's good too. Smaller dogs and bailers are great if your using a gun to dispatch but I reckon it could get a bit dicey with a big boar if you were using a knife.

Just joined. Haven't been hunting in years and thinking of getting back into it via the use of dogs. Always hunted with firearms in the old days prior to handing in my guns at the buy-back. Hunted mostly on the Darling Downs and Central QLD. Now I'm in NQ and 'pigging' is very popular. Have to work on my fitness first then try and get friendly with some hunters.