Groovy Gals Dog Portrait by RD Riccoboni. Four Austrailian Cattle dogs in different color daisies make up this groovy feeling doggie masterpiece. To order an original portrait of your pet, please contact the artist at director@rdriccoboni.com Randy RD Riccoboni is an insightful, American born artist (California, 1960) influenced by a plethora of sights, sounds, colors, textures and emotion. This self-taught artist acquired his drive and inspiration from encouragement given him by family, friends and public school teachers. Riccoboni’s profound love for art and architecture are evidenced in his paintings, landscape and portrait masterpieces; art work that captures the essence of a person’s spirit, the love given from animals as well as the beauty and intensity in his land and cityscapes. Austrailian Cattle Dog also know as, Australian Heeler, Blue Heeler, Red Heeler, Hall's Heeler, Queensland Heeler is a breed of herding dog developed in Australia for controlling cattle. It is a medium-sized dog with a lot of energy, intelligence and an independent streak. The precise origins of the "Blue Heeler" are not known, but they appear to have been a distinct breed as early as 1897. It began when Smithfields were originally used in Australia for herding cattle. They were noisy and bit too hard, so they were bred with the Dingo, a wild dog prevalent in Australia. The resulting crosses were known as “Timmins Biters,” which were quieter, but still bit hard. Border Collies and Smooth-coated Collies, used for herding sheep, were then bred to the Dingo. In 1840, Thomas Hall bred a couple of Blue Smooth Highland Collies with dingoes and got the “Hall’s Heeler.” Then, in the 1870’s Fred Davis bred some Bull Terrier into them to make the dogs more aggressive. These were relatively common as sporting and guard dogs in the late 19th and early 20th century they were bred with dalmations.