[Janarealiti]

@ Dervish: Australian Cattle Dogs do have some Dalmatian in them. And now that scares me.

The children thing isn't an issue. They get along fantastically with all of my friends' giant dogs, and with all of my cats. The kids are quite gentle, but my daughter likes to give hugs to tiny animals a bit too much. If they lick back though, then that solves the issue; she won't stick around to get her face licked.

Alison, I really appreciate your input on the AuCaDo behavior. I've worried about having the energy to keep up with such an active dog. Part of the reason why they interested me in the first place was because I knew that I could have a partner who could keep up with me while I went running everyday. However, at this point, I'm not sure if I can keep up with one of them yet. My wife and I were talking about this yesterday, and we decided that I need to continue to work on exercising regularly and getting my endurance up sufficiently before I can properly take care of a heeler.

So, it is sounding like I am going to be in for a year of research, reading, and training before I get one. Hell, I hadn't realized that kendo could be training for dog owning, but before taking it up, I don't think that I ever would have been able to prepare properly for this.