Blue Heelers—also known as Australian Cattle Dogs—are intelligent and adorable dogs, but because of their extremely high energy levels, they can be tough for their owners to handle.
This isn’t a generic rule that applies to all Blue Heelers, though. It’s much more about the pet owner and how the pet is trained from a young age.
There are some exercises and activities that you can do to calm down Blue Heelers and make them listen to you. We’ll shed light on these exercises and activities in this post. Stick around!
When Do Blue Heelers Calm Down?
When do Blue Heelers calm down? It varies from one Blue Heeler to another, but in general, a Blue Heeler will begin to calm down when they’re about 2-4 years of age. Don’t expect them to do so any earlier if they’re not exercised and trained properly.
How to Calm Down a Blue Heeler?
Most people don’t know how to go about calming down their Blue Heeler, so they end up turning them over to shelters.
If you have an energetic Blue Heeler dog, proper exercise and training are key to calming down your pooch. Here’s what you need to do:
Exercising a Blue Heeler Dog
To calm down a Blue Heeler dog, you need to allow them to use up all their energy. You do so by giving them enough exercise.
Since they are very energetic dogs, a half an hour walk around the block or a fetch game in your backyard won’t do it for them. They need a 2-hour run or a hike daily to get that energy out.
Playing and exercising for Blue Heelers should only be outside. Don’t play with your Heeler dog indoors that much or throw a ball and ask them to catch it.
This will help them understand that the house is where they should be quiet and obedient. This will make it kind of a subtle rule that will be hard to break.
That said, Blue Heelers are more suitable for people with farms, ranches, or large backyards as they would love to play around all day.
Training a Blue Heeler Dog
Agility training is advised along with other activities to keep your dog’s energy at bay.
- Agility Training
Blue Heelers are eager to please, and agility training helps them feel like they have a job to do. It will also create an unbreakable bond between the dog and you.
- Obedience Training
Obedience training is a big pillar in raising a Blue Heeler pup. Training your Blue Heeler early on in their life commands like sit, place, and stay will help you control and calm them down.
It will take them some time until they learn obedience, but regular and consistent training from a young age is going to speed up the process.
Blue Heelers have a pleaser personality and a high mental stimulation need that will make them do anything to get praised. Thus, they will hate disappointing you.
So express and communicate with them when they do something wrong and be firm with them when needed. Communication is key with these dogs.
- Control Their Biting
It’s essential to train Blue Heelers to control their instinctive behaviors like biting. These doggies herd cattle by nipping at their heels. That’s how they got the name Heelers.
If their biting isn’t controlled from a young age, it can turn into an irritating problem because the older they get, the harder it will be to get rid of.
In Short
Blue Heelers are naturally very active. They’re not going to be your couch potato buddies all day long. They need to be occupied with a job and exercise outdoors in order to feel happy and stay healthy. If they don’t get enough exercise, they could get depressed and develop health issues.
So, the ‘When do Blue Heelers calm down?’ question should instead be ‘How can Blue Heelers calm down?’ This only happens after some good exercise. This is the only way you can control their natural energetic behavior. This is why Blue Heelers are best suited for people with a lot of outdoor space.
Train them good enough and praise them when they do something right, and they’ll be the most loyal, well-behaved dogs you’ve ever seen.
