Sharing your life with an ACD (Australian Cattle Dog)

Madelein Wolf
10 min readOct 13, 2023

An Honest Guide for First-timers

Dragonstones Kennel ACDs red and blue dogs together.

Forget everything you know about raising a puppy and having a dog. You have no clue.

My husband and I grew up with dogs. We also had a beautiful soft-natured German Shepherd and a witty Golden Retriever together, both of whom passed away of old age in the same year. It was a massive blow, and we waited 3 years before we felt ready to add a new puppy to our family. We thought we knew everything to get a new one. If only.

How we discovered this breed

While scuba diving in Mozambique, we met an ACD for the first time. The dive center owner had a red male who was an impressive dog. He only had eyes for her and followed her everywhere. He came out on the boat with us and waited for her to surface after every dive, licking her face as she got back in the boat. Happy to see her and made sure she was okay.

They are extremely loyal and bond strongly with one or sometimes more of their family members.

I contacted a local breeder to visit her dogs and learn about the breed since we didn’t know much about them. I wanted to do my research and make sure this breed would fit our lifestyle. We arranged a date and visited the farm. It turned…

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Madelein Wolf
Madelein Wolf

Written by Madelein Wolf

I’m a business owner, underwater photographer, life coach, writer, course developer, and more. Writing from my experiences, I hope to inspire.