The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD) and Heeler Rescue of Michigan-Founded 1990

Please also note: ACD Rescue Groups are numerous and are not necessarily interconnected or associated. Please look up ACD Rescue in your individual state with the Google Search Engine.

HOW MUCH DOES A RESCUE DOG COST TO ADOPT?
Normally, the price breakdown is as follows:
Transportation to get dog from the average distance shelter: $20 in gas
Bail out of shelter fee: $25
Heartworm test at Low Cost Clinic: $20
Neuter/Spay at Low Cost Clinic: $85
Rabies shot at Low Cost Clinic: $25
Distemper shots at Low Cost Clinic: $10 each
Worming for hooks, whips and rounds from Low Cost Clinic: $10
Worming for heartworm (in season) from Low Cost Clinic: $5 each month
Food eaten while in Rescue: (average) $20
Wow! Our adoption fee should be at least $220!

OUR ADOPTION FEE AND WHAT YOU GET FOR IT
Our adoption rate is $160.00 because we are not squeamish and can do distemper shots and worming ourselves and we are lucky because we have caring vets who sympathize with Rescue groups. We also throw in a few training freebies. Our adoption fee covers:
*Dog--FREE!
*Bail out of shelter fees
*spay or neuter
*heartworm tested negative (if dog is over a year old)
*on heartworm preventative in season
*wormed at least once for rounds, hooks and whips (follow up worm check after adoption is recommended)
*rabies shot
*at least one distemper combo shot: (Puppies get at least two of their four 3-week interval distemper combo boosters- given at 6, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age- while they are in rescue. If they are adopted before their series is done, you must oversee the puppy's shots to completion according to the shot record we will give you. )
*temperament evaluation
*transportation costs (gas, time, etc)
*some basic manners lessons such as riding in cars nicely, doing stairs, coming when called
Now, what was that about wanting a discount because it's 'just a rescue dog someone was throwing out anyway?' or 'I can get one from the paper for $50!' ???

PETS AS GIFTS We do not condone the idea of adopting out a pet as a gift. Read why here!

WHAT IS "PUREBRED" DOG RESCUE?
If a rescued dog of an obviously recognizable breed does not have its registration papers, does this make it a mix automatically? Of course not!
This fresh, new and crummy attitude about whether or not a dog of obvious breedhood (no matter how poorly it is representin' it) is "purebred" is one that the show world is spreading out there. Don't buy it! A lot of rescue people are also show people (some dog, some horse, some other) and we know better and so should you.
Of course it is possible that a given rescue dog could have a dash of this or that in its unknown history, HOWEVER most of its recent ancestors had been or have been bred to ACDs enough times to have it look and act just like an ACD at the present generation. Even so-called "purebred" show dogs harken back to other breeds if you go back enough generations!
So here's the reality: NO dog can be considered to be 'purebred' in the literal sense of the word. Even if it has AKC Registration Papers.

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck, it must be a duck!"

A chihuahua does not look or act like a collie. An ACD does not look or act like a golden retriever.
Robert Kaleski (who drew up the first standard for the ACD in 1897) himself spent many years mixing and matching a variety of breeds to invent an ACD that would reproduce itself.
Rescue people are much better experts at their breed than even the 'good' breeders, since they get to experience all the extremes of behaviors their breed is ca pable of, at all ages, in the wrong hands (on a regular basis!). Sadly, they are not at all respected for their vast knowledge and frequently looked down upon by a lot of show breeders for saving 'junk' dogs that should be put to sleep simply because their parents are unknown.
This is why rescue dogs are spayed/nuetered. We know they are of unknown parentage and genetic quality and are therefore not qualified to become parents.
This petty and cruel argument is pointless, irresponsible and harmful to the value of Purebred Dog Rescue and the lives that we save every year from CERTAIN shelter death.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BREED RESCUE
Read here about about what rescue isn't.
Common Misconceptions about Breed Rescue

RESCUE/ADOPTION GUIDELINES
Since the ACD Rescue of MI is not associated with the national club's rescue program in any way (since 1997), we are free to rescue wh at we want, which is any temperamentally sound ACDs, not just ones fortunate enough to have their tails (farmers and amish dock tails, it's a fact of life that is getting better with modern knowledge).
We rescue only through animal shelters and humane societies and other real groups. We keep tabs on where the homeless ACDs are in shelters around us, via Petfinder and we call on them ourselves and/or wait for shelters to call us, that is, IF there is room. We have very little room at any given time, and always have a list of dogs we have committed to from shelters waiting to fill in an open slot. It is a sad reality that we cannot and do not save them all.

BECAUSE OF SPACE CONSTRAINTS, WE CANNOT ACCEPT UNWANTED ACDs DIRECTLY FROM PRIVATE OWNER SURRENDERS. SHELTERS KEEP US FULL!
Some shelters that work with rescue people are: Capital Area Humane Society in Lansing, Humane Society of Huron Valley in Ann Arbor, Michigan Humane Society in Rochester Hills, Detroit and Westland, Grand Rapids Humane Society in GR, Holland Humane Society in Holland, Wood County Dog Shelter in Bowling Green OH. If in doubt, ask them on the phone prior to dropping off your unwanted dog.

IT IS A SAD FACT THAT WE CANNOT and DO NOT SAVE THEM ALL
We are not a 'collector' rescue organization. We do not overpopulate our homes with rescue dogs with crates up to the sky and we can foster only 1 or 2 dogs per foster home. We do the best we can within the constraints of sanity and the value of our own personal lives. We do not believe in kenneling our rescue dogs. They get a similar home experience to what they will be adopted in to. The lucky few that we had space for at any given time are listed here. They represent approximately 50% or less of all dogs we hear of or are called about.

WHAT ABOUT MIXES?
Most times we do not accept mixes since the shelters keep us plenty busy with 100% ACDs. If we have room and if a mix is VERY high percentage of ACD and looks and acts like an ACD (see above) it may be possible to accept it into our rescue but ONLY if we have space. We will also sometimes refer from our Petfinder site an other group's high percentage ACD mix.
We do our best to keep our breed rescue operation from 'straying' into breed characteristic territory we are not knowledgable about. There are few possible mixes our adopters will consider for adoption, mostly the border collie/ACD, or 'border heeler.' It has to have an ACD head with erect ears and black spots on the body should be no bigger than a dinner plate.

WHO CAN ADOPT AN ACD?
What we are looking for are homes with good, positive dog experience, preferably pointy eared breeds (higher drive/intelligence). ACD experience is a plus! Positive motivation/clicker training for obedience is preferred for ACDs (as opposed to traditional, coercive training). More traditional methods for manners training might be discussed if your ACD is a particularly hard headed one! You will be interviewed via the phone. We do not use a written adoption questionairre because it is so easy to lie.

ADOPTION AREAS
We rescue from:

*Michigan (upper and lower peninsulas)
*northern Ohio
*northern Indiana
*northern Illinois
*sometimes Wisconsin
*Occasionally Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina where we have transportation routes with volunteer drivers available to get the dog to us

Our adoption area is:

*Michigan (upper and lower peninsulas)
*Ohio
*Indiana
*Illinois
* Wisconsin
*southwestern Ontario (Canada)
* Upstate New York
*sometimes New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, although we prefer to refer to The ACD Rescue Associa tion of the eastern states in those areas.

If you live in another state (or nearer to one) that has an established and repected ACD Rescuer or group, we will refer you to that person/group. We believe it is inappropriate to adopt into states that already have hard working ACD Rescuers in them unless the dog is really, truly a one of a kind creature that you are absolutely in love with.
Please email us for information. Dogs are housed here in Michigan or in Toledo, OH area

SPECIAL NOTE FOR OWNERS OF OTHER DOGS
If you want to bring your other dog at the first meeting, especially if you might adopt that day, you MUST bring a CRATE for your new ACD when picking it up. No exceptions!
The ACD does much better meeting new dogs when off leash, where they can work out their differences and jockey for position without being held back.
A medium size crate will even fit in the back seat of a small car sideways. We don't want you getting into an accident on the way home! Dogs will be dogs upon a first meeting. It most likely will take days for the dogs to work out their differences. Rarely do two dogs love each other upon first meeting, especially cattle dogs!

MY NEW DOG HAS A COUGH! WHAT'S UP WITH THAT?!
DO NOT be surprised if your new dog comes down with a cough! Sometimes dogs that have recently come from shelters have kennel cough, a common respiratory ailment similar to the human cold. Sometimes a new rescue dog will also acquire it as a result of changes in its environment, such as being in a new home.
It is very common and will run its course within 7 to 14 days and associated illnesses (that can exploit the dog's compromised immune system while it has KC) can be prevented or treated with antibiotics from your vet. There is no cure for kennel cough but, just like people, they love chicken soup and hugs!

MORE GNAWSOME DOG LINX

Medical
Encyclopedia of Canine Veterinary Medicine
Vet Info.com
Revival Animal Health-vet supplies

Shopping
Hand made tennis ball/fleece dog toys!
Calling All Dogs-Exceptional Products for you and your dog to enjoy!
Lilawasta Dog Carts-extra super cool!
Dog Wise-The Web?s #1 source of dog books and products!

Training
Karen Pryor-the big Kahuna of clicker trainers (she trained dolphins!)
Gary Wilkes (ACD guy) Clicker Training for Dogs
Great info on clicker training, targeting, getting your head screwed on right, etc.
The Australian Clicker Connection (there some horse stuff here but think: DOG)
Good Article about fence jumping

Travel
Nationwide listings of places to go with your pet
A list of Dog Parks Nationwide

Dog Sports
Jim Hutchins (ACD guy) plans for agility equipment you can make yourself!
Frisbee dog information!
Dog Sledding! Yes, you can with ACDs--Fear not the black ice!
This ebay seller makes agility equipment and sells it CHEAP!
Dog Play-Fun with your dog
ACDs in agility! By the way, TACDROM adopted out 2002's #1 ACD in Agility-Canada, Badger!

General Info
The Dog Owner's Guide-Best info site on the net for training, behavior, etc etc etc!
The Directory of Dog Websites
Articles from "Ask the Dr." in Bear DE's newspaper
National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy-learn all about pet overpopulation here!
Pet Rescue.com's great library of articles and info
Michelle Welton's great and brutally honest site about which breed is right for you
Doggie Door Dog Behavior site
Nobody reiterates the history of the American ACD better than good ole Esther Ekman!
To breed or not to breed?

PUPPY MILL DOGS
At TACDROM we believe in being honest with ourselves and our abilities, the dogs we choose to help and the valued integrity of the relationship with our adopters.
We do occasionally rescue puppy mill dogs but are honest about our limitations in the temperamental tweaking of a total basket case. Some of these dogs are beyond the scope of being helped and also have severe temperamental and behavioural limitations, too.
We feel that it is important to have the realization and intelligence to be completely honest about the ability of a dog to 'come back' after abuse, mistreatment, cruelty or neglect, no matter how glamorous the publicity may be. If a 'project' dog is deemed to be dangerously skittish or unsavable after our evaluation/temperament testing or is going to desecrate valuable resources in our shoestring budget, we do the responsible thing and have the dog humanely put to sleep.

WANT TO BREED YOUR ACD?
The ACD is famously being overbred by horse people and the amish. Here is a real email response we gave in 1997 to someone that wa nted to breed her docked tail "blue heeler" simply because she had a 'great spirit.'

Dear "X"

The term "blue heeler" is a country nickname for The Australian Cattle Dog, which has been registered with the AKC since 1981.

The tail is NOT to be docked. No exceptions.

There are many many backyard breeders in our area, accounting for the vast amount of abandoned ACDs we have had to rescue from dog pounds all over the state. Since 1990 we have saved hundreds of homeless dogs from pretty much certain death.

You want to breed your dog because she has a "great spirit"??

This is NOT a breed for everybody, 'great spirit' or not.

Most people can't stand what we would consider a 'great spirit.' This is why the easy to train, loafish labrador is the number 1 breed in the country.

We will tell you from experience, this breed is extremely difficult to place, regardless of how easy it is to find puppy buyers at horse shows and auctions. Unless you are consci encious about helping your adopters through the inevitable ACD adolesce nce, which we all know is difficult AND more than willing to accept the dog back if it doesn't work out, at any time for the rest of its entire life (you *will* be responsible for th at life) you should rethink breeding your dog.

There is absolutely no guarantee that a dog's 'spirit' will reproduce, particularly in our breed. They are part wild (dingo) and the genetics are not the same as a regular domestic breed. We have seen countless examples of parents being the opposite of the puppies, temperament-wise. Besides, there are a few other things you should know:

1. Our breed is prone to deafness. You need to get your dog checked out to make sure her hearing is clear in BOTH ears. We recommend Michigan Vet Specialists in Southfield, MI. The test is at least $50.

2. Our breed is prone to progressive blindness, specifically Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA). You need to get your dog's eyes checked out to make sure she will not be passing along this ailment. Some dogs will develop this as a part of natural aging, however, we are primarily concerned with preventing young dogs under the age of ten from developing it. We also suggest Michigan Vet Specialists in Southfield for this, too. The test will be at least $25. You need to have this test done every year that the dog is actively being used for breeding.
You can also get an australian cattle dog-specific genetic prcd test done for about $250 th at is a one-time test through Optigen's Canine Genome Project.

3. Our breed is dreadfully prone to hip dysplasia. You will need to get your dog checked out to make sure her hips are at least certified as 'good' by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals in St Louis, MO. The initial x-ray will have to be done by preferably an OFA-qualified vet (there is one at Michigan State) and will cost at least $150.

The review of the x-ray by the OFA will cost at least $100. Your dog must be at least two years old (the hips must be fully matured and developed completely). You will also need the dog to be permanently identified with tattoo or microchip before OFA will review your hip X-rays. This usually costs anywhere from $50-$150.

Alternately, you are now able to get a PennHIP (University of Pennsylvania Hip Improvement Program) test that incorporates a new method for evaluating the integrity of the canine hip. It is accurate in puppies as young as 16 weeks of age. It has great potential to lower the frequency of CHD when used as a selection criteria.

And that's BEFORE we start to think about how pretty the dog is, how it compares to the official 100+ year old written standard for the breed and how it would improve the breed at large to create progeny from these specific dogs (remember...you only get 50% of each dog's genetics and most times it's not just the good genes...the only true reason to breed is to improve the breed; with all the money it costs to prepare fo r a proper breeding there is no money to be made. Also, with well over 40 dogs being born to each human being born there really is no need to do any additional dog breeding unless it will improve t he breed-not just for you and your emotional wants but for the breed community in gene ral. It is difficult enough to find homes for the properly and carefully bred dogs let alone the careless/backyard bred kind).

We suppose we don't need to mention that the stud dog must be tested for all of the above, too, not to mention he must be highly scrutinized by you for faults and improvements he will make on your bitch and pass on to the next generation in this breeding. Just using whoever's convenient is irresponsible and stupid. BE PICKY!!

If you do not at least do the above three items in preparation for breeding (and make sure the owner of the carefully selected stud dog does so as well), you will unfortunately be contributing to the physical and health decline of a strong, honest breed that we in the front lines of the breed have been fighting long and hard to prevent.
You do not breed dogs that are sub-par. We have known of some people that have spayed their prized show bitch, who've been shown for years (and thousands of dollars in showing costs: conformation classes, travel, hotels, entry fees and suppli es, not to mention what she cost, which, at $450.00 in 1995 dollars (breeding/show worthy potential bitches nowadays are aroun d the $900-1200.00 mark), we guarantee you was a lot more than th e puppies at the horse shows or in the paper, which is a place that properly bred dogs should never need to be advertised. She, also had a 'spirit worth reproducing' and was a great all around dog! She failed the OFA test and therefore wouldn't be improving the breed (which is, of course, the ONLY real reason to breed).

99% of all of the rescue dogs we have managed to save came from backyard breeders who didn't care about any of the above ailments. Some of our adopters have had to deal with hip and elbow problems, PRA, deafness, epilepsy, cancer, kidney or liver trouble and over-developed herding instincts.

That's not to mention the countless dogs that had to be put down for te mperament problems and therefore coul dn't be saved from the shelters. Or the dogs th at we simply did not have the space or resources to save. They probably died in shelters, too. Or the dogs that failed our own careful ACD-specific temperament evaluat ion and had to be put down.

You should seriously rethink your decision to breed this dog whose back ground you know nothing about, save that her 'breeder' wasn't even savvy enough to know that the tail is not supposed to be docked! Now what does THAT tell you?! What would you think of a dalmatian breeder that docks tails? Or a labrador breeder? Or a German Shepherd Dog breeder? That *they* know what they're doing??

If you would like to be hooked up with some excellent ACD breeders here in Michigan, if you are interested in showing them against the standard (if you have a great looking dog, there is nothing snooty or pointless about it! Show the other ACD people that you have a great looking dog that closely resembles the written standard! That is SO basic! The horse people do it!), by all means contact your local kennel club to help you find a high quality dog whose health history may be more worthwhile of reproducing in due time.

Your friends at

The ACD Rescue of MI
Since 1990
"Breeding is for dogs of QUALITY parentage who might they themselves become QUALITY parents"

---AKC Judge Anne Rogers Clark on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, 1999

TACDROM HISTORY
TACDROM began through the coming together of two ACD fanciers/rescuers. Each had been independantly involved in the ACD breed within months of each other in the early 1990's. Ironically, both had become attracted to the breed through the classic punk armageddon movie,THE ROAD WARRIOR (aka MAD MAX 2, 1979)starring Mel Gibson, in which a blue ACD named simply "Dog" appears as Mad Max's companion (thank you, Mad Max, for proving to us that the ACD is the ONLY type of dog that will survive Global Thermonuclear War!! That's at least a little comfort in these unsure times).
These two women met at the Humane Society of Huron Valley in October 1992 quite by accident. They realized their interests in ACD Rescue were one and the same and with this common bond began to work together as Great Lakes ACD Rescue and later as Second Chance Cowdogs of MI. Both realized the need for ACD Rescue, as they are not a breed for everybody and downright difficult in the wrong hands. There surely MUST be ACDs in shelters every where!
Indeed, they were right. From that year to 1999, the yearly average was about 5-8 rescue dogs per year. Now the yearly average (thanks to Petfinder, internet networking and added awareness, not necessarily numbers of total dogs) is about 50 to 70 dogs per year for our group alone.
After one of them moved out of state, Mary Dixon did ACD Rescue in MI alone from 1997-2001. Within that time, the OH Rescue started, relieving some of the burden. Jan Campbell, owner of Echolane Arabian Horse Farm, joined The ACD Rescue of MI in January 2001 and is the head of TACDROM today.
TACDROM is now a highly respected, well-known and networked private shoestring budget non-profit rescue group with just a few part time foster homes. We try to maintain dignity and respect for our own real lives and families by controlling how many rescue dogs we have in at any given time.

"Sanity is the key to rescue longevity!"

All text and images on this page ©2004 The ACD Rescue of MI. Unauthorized reproduction is unlawful.

Click here for a list of fantastic australian cattle dogs available now!!

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