Hunter, the big red dog.

This is Hunter.  He is a red heeler.  Not the medical kind of healer mind you, although his fondness for walks certainly helps the cardiovascular system.  Blue and red heelers are a breed of dog from down under.  They were originally bred in Australia as cattle dogs; the name heeler comes from their nipping ability at the heels of larger animals such as cattle.

Their history is very interesting.  To get the full version, click here (you have to scroll down once there).  The breed didn't exist before the 1800s.  Cattlemen, looking for a hardy beast that could cope with the punishment the continent dished out, crossed various breeds with each other to finally come up with the existing version.  Most notably the dingo, Australia's wild dog, was used in the mix.  Other breeds included dalmatians, sheepdogs, and collies.  

That's my friend Bert in the background.  Hunter and he make quite the pair.  Both of them have red hair, square jaws, and don't mind taking on big jobs.  For Hunter, its cattle, for Bert, there's not an electrical challenge he can't meet.  I suppose you could say they are both very fond of beef; Hunter prefers the living kind and Bert the flat disk-shaped kind you barbeque.  Another thing they share is their love of the outdoors.  Hunter's breeding made him a frontier lover and he would be right at home in any western movie, sans the dungarees.  I think the same could be said of Bert, although he would be better with dungarees on (we can all agree to that).

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com