blue heeler

English

blue heeler (plural blue heelers)

(Australia) A blue-coated variety of the Australian Cattle Dog breed.
- 2003, Larry McMurtry, Duane's Depressed‎, page 75:
  Shorty the Sixth, as he was sometimes called, had been a very winning puppy, and they had kept him at home until he began to exhibit the same tendencies that Duane's blue heelers always exhibited, that is, a tendency to herd children in the same way they would have herded cattle or sheep: they nipped their heels.
- 2007, Graham Greenwood, A Truckie's Dream: The Allan Scott Story : His Official Biography‎, page 113:
  He always has his blue heeler dog in his office tucked away under his feet or near the door.
- 2008, Elizabeth Bruce, A Show Off, Just Like Your Father‎, page 92:
  For some time, Dan and Pat had been at me to get a dog so we took a trip to the Yagoona RSPCA and came back with a blue heeler pup.
(Australia, slang) A police officer; (in plural) the police.
- 2008, Deborah N. David, The Janus Project‎, page 382:
  “Take a gander son, but be quick about it,” he said lighting a cigarette. “The blue heelers come by here and start snoopin about.”