LONG before they became recognised as the blue heelers, the popular Australian working cattle dog was in fact known as Hall’s heelers.
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History books confirm this, as do Bendemeer brothers Stephen and Randel Hall, who are distant cousins of Thomas Simpson Hall.
He bred up and perfected what he thought early Australia lacked in a good, tough, working dog on wild cattle.
“It’s all well documented in the two books (The Colony Over-Halled and Over-Halling the Colony) the family had printed many years ago,” older brother Stephen said.
The Hall dynasty dates back to colonial Australia, when family head George Hall started with a 100-acre block at Hawksbury, which expanded over years to two million acres, stretching from Auburn in Sydney to Surat in Queensland.
Until 1820, cattle were kept in small yards near dwellings which made them quiet, so the need for working dogs didn’t exist.
In chasing grazing, pioneers began to move from settled areas and follow the tracks of explorers, rendering the previously quiet cattle into wild stock once they hit unfenced country.
By 1830, Thomas Hall (born 1808 and son of pioneer George Hall) had established his own cattle runs around the Liverpool Plains and was well known for breeding of quality cattle, sheep and horses.
With holdings now around Manilla and Moree, the cattle were turned out onto thousands of unfenced acres of virgin land, making them wild and unmanageable.
The only available dogs then were imported Smithfields and English sheepdog types. But Hall wanted a much tougher dog that could sustain hard work for prolonged periods and cover all types of timbered terrain.
So he set about breeding his own.
After studying the Australian dingo long and hard, he decided to use it for his major cross-breeding program.
His father, George, had always used the Northumberland blue merle drover dog, a derivative of collie types. It was heavier boned, aggressive, obedient and faithful, with the ability to work stock from the rear. In 1840, and after many back-crosses between the merle drover and dingo, emerged the Hall’s heeler – later to be named the Australian blue heeler cattle dog.
It’s officially documented what a marvel the Hall’s heelers were at working wild cattle.
From the dingo they inherited a powerful body, heavy foot pads, stamina to work long hours and the instinct to dart suddenly and nip the heels of stubborn cattle.
From the merle drover came intelligence, obedience and faithfulness – traits the blue heeler of today is still renowned for.
So right up until his death in 1870, Thomas Simpson Hall didn’t find it necessary to infuse any other blood into his dogs.
He had in the Hall’s heeler everything he required.