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{{Infobox_Company |
{| border=1 cellspacing=0 align=right cellpadding=2
company_name = General Motors |
|- align=center bgcolor=pink
company_logo = [[Image:GM,_logo.png|70px|GM logo]] |
!Australian Cattle Dog
company_type = Public ([[NYSE]]: [http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=GM GM]) |
|-align="center"
company_slogan = N/A |
|[[Image:AustrCattleDogBlue_wb.jpg|thumbnail|250px|none|Blue coat color; this dog's tail is docked.]]
foundation = [[1908]] |
|- align=center bgcolor=pink
___location = [[Detroit, Michigan]]; manufacturing facilities in 30 U.S. states and 32 countries |
!Alternative names
key_people = [[Rick Wagoner]], Chairman & [[CEO]]|
|-
num_employees = ~340,000 ([[2004]]) |
|
industry = [[Automotive]] |
{| align=center
products = [[automobile]]s<br />[[engine]]s<br />[[electronics]]<br />[[communications]] |
|-
revenue = [[image:green up.png]]US$193.5 [[billion]] [[U.S. dollar|USD]] ([[2004]]) |
|Australian Heeler
homepage = [http://www.gm.com/ www.gm.com]
|-
}}
|Blue Heeler
'''General Motors Corporation''' {{nyse|GM}}, also known as '''GM''', is a [[United States]]-based [[automobile maker]] with worldwide operations and brands including [[Buick]], [[Cadillac (automobile)|Cadillac]], [[Chevrolet]], [[GM Daewoo|Daewoo]], [[GMC Truck|GMC]], [[Holden]], [[Hummer]], [[Opel]], [[Pontiac]], [[Saturn automobile|Saturn]], [[Saab Automobile|Saab]], and [[Vauxhall Motors|Vauxhall]].
|-
|Red Heeler
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|Hall's Heeler
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|Queensland Heeler
|}
|- align=center bgcolor=pink
!Country of origin
|- align=center
|[[Australia]]
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!Common nicknames
|- align=center
|Bluey, ACD, Cattledog
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!Classification and breed standards
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{| align=center
|[[Fédération Cynologique Internationale|FCI]]: ||Group 1 Section 2 #287
|-
|[[American Kennel Club|AKC]]: ||Herding
|[http://www.akc.org/breeds/australian_cattle_dog/index.cfm Std]
|-
|[[Australian National Kennel Council|ANKC]]: ||Group 5 (Working Dogs)
|[http://www.ankc.aust.com/austcat.html Std]
|-
|[[Canadian Kennel Club|CKC]]: ||Group 7 - Herding Dogs
|[http://www.nwstar.com/~acdcc/standard.htm Std]
|-
|[[Kennel Club (UK)|KC(UK)]]: ||Pastoral
|[http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/discoverdogs/pastoral/p835.htm Std]
|-
|[[New Zealand Kennel Club|NZKC]]: ||Working
|[http://www.nzkc.org.nz/br504.html Std]
|-
|[[United Kennel Club|UKC]]: || Herding Dog Breeds
|[http://www.ukcdogs.com/breeds/herdingdogs/australiancattledog.std.shtml Std]
|-
|}
|}<!-- end of breed table -->
The '''Australian Cattle Dog''' (ACD), also known as the '''Queensland Heeler''', '''Blue Heeler''', and '''Red Heeler''', is a [[herding dog]] developed in Australia for controlling [[cattle]]. It is a medium-sized dog with a lot of energy and an independent streak.
==Appearance==
Chevrolet and GMC divisions produce [[truck]]s, as well as passenger vehicles. Other brands include ACDelco, Allison Transmission, and [[General Motors Electro-Motive Division]] that produces [[diesel-electric locomotive]]s. GM also has stakes in [[Isuzu]], [[Subaru]], and [[Suzuki]] in [[Japan]] and a joint venture with [[Lada|AutoVAZ (Lada)]] in [[Russia]]. In [[December]] [[2003]], it acquired [[Delta Motor Corporation|Delta]] in [[South Africa]], in which it had taken a 45 percent stake in [[1997]], and which is now a fully-owned subsidiary, General Motors South Africa.
[[Image:AustrCattleDogBlueFace_wb.jpg|thumbnail|left|One variant of Blue face markings]]
The Cattle Dog's coat comes in a variety of markings, sometimes quite striking. The basic coat colors are ''blue'' and ''red speckle''. For dog owners whose interest is primarily in their qualification for [[dog show]]s, even markings are preferred over uneven markings, and large solid-color marks on the body are undesireable. For owners who are more interested in their dogs' performance in activities such as [[herding]] or [[dog sports]], the breed's strong work ethic and intelligence are of more importance than the exact coat markings.
The mask is one of the most distinctive features of an ACD. This mask consists of a darker red patch over one or both eyes (for the red speckle coat color) or a black patch over one or both eyes (for the blue coat color). These are called, respectively, ''single mask'' and ''double mask''. ACDs without a mask are called ''plain-faced''. Any of these is correct according to the breed standard, and the only limitation is the owner's preference.
GM's headquarters are in the [[Renaissance Center]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]].
[[Image:AustrCattleDogRed_wb.jpg|thumbnail|left|Red speckle coat color with undocked tail]]
Many Australian Cattle Dogs have a stripe of white hair in the center of the forehead, usually 1/2 inch to 1 inch by 2 inches to 3 inches (about 2 cm by 7 cm) called the ''Bentley Mark''. This is similar in appearance to the blaze markings sometimes found on [[horse]]s. According to legend, a popular dog owned by Tom Bentley passed on this distinctive mark to all Australian Cattle Dogs.
A female Australian Cattle Dog should measure about 17 to 19 inches (43 to 48 cm) at the [[withers]]. A male Australian Cattle Dog should measure about 18 to 20 inches (46 to 51 cm) at the [[withers]]. An ACD is a well-muscled, compact dog with a short, dense coat and a naturally long tail. An ACD in good condition should weigh roughly 40 to 50 pounds (18 to 23 kg).
General Motors is the world's largest vehicle [[manufacturing|manufacturer]] and employs over 340,000 people. In [[2001]], GM sold 8.5 million vehicles through all its branches. In [[2002]], GM sold 15 percent of all cars and trucks in the world. They also owned [[Electronic Data Systems]] from [[1984]] to [[1996]] and, prior to selling it to [[News Corporation]], [[DirecTV]]. GM owned [[Frigidaire]] from [[1918]] to [[1979]].
Some breeders [[docking|dock]] ACD's tails. This is a controversial practice and, in some countries, is illegal or is prohibited for dogs in the [[dog show|show ring]].
The current chairman (since [[May 1]], [[2003]]) and [[chief executive officer]] (since [[June 1]], [[2000]]) is [[Rick Wagoner]], succeeding [[John F. Smith, Jr.]]
Docking Australian Cattle Dogs' tails is a practice peculiar to the United States - ACD tails are not docked in their country of origin, Australia. This is not to be confused with the Stumpy-tailed Cattle Dog, which is born with a naturally docked, or 'bobbed' tail; this animal strongly resembles the ACD in colouring, but has a slightly taller, leaner conformation.
==HistoryTemperament==
Like many [[herding dog]]s, Cattle Dogs have high energy levels and active minds. They need plenty of exercise and a job to do, such as participating in [[dog sports]], learning tricks, or other activities that engage their minds. Some individuals find repetitive training frustrating and dull, so owners should aim to make training sessions varied and more exciting in order to keep their Dog intrested. Cattle Dogs who do not receive the appropriate exercise and entertainment will invent their own, often destructive, activities. These Dogs are, by nature, timid or wary. They are naturally cautious, and grow more so as they age.Their aggresive nature on strangers make them perfect gaurd dogs.
[[Image:General_Motors_building_089833pv.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Albert Kahn]]'s General Motors Building, 3044 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI]]
Cattle Dogs drive cattle by nipping at their heels, but they have also been known to herd other animals, such as ducks or chickens without instruction when left to their own devices. When around people, their instinct to herd is sometimes hard to suppress and they can nip at people to herd them. If these dogs will be around children, they and their owners must have sufficient training to know how to manage or avoid such situations.
==Australian Cattle Dog activities==
General Motors was founded in [[1908]] as a holding company for Buick, then controlled by [[William C. Durant]], and acquired [[Oldsmobile]] later that year. The next year, Durant brought in [[Cadillac]], [[Elmore]], and [[Oakland automobile|Oakland]].
[[Image:Acd_diving.jpg|thumbnail|left|ACDs need and enjoy any activity, such as diving and swimming.]]
Australian Cattle Dogs not only tolerate a high level of physical activity, they almost demand it. Like many other [[herding dog]] breeds, they have active and fertile minds that turn mischievous if not properly channeled. ACDs are highly intelligent and can be very bossy.
During the [[1920s]] and [[1930s]] General Motors bought out the [[bus]] company [[Yellow Coach]], helped create [[Greyhound Lines|Greyhound bus lines]], replaced intercity train transport with [[bus]]es, and established subsidiary companies to buy out [[trolley|streetcar]] companies and replace the rail-based services with buses. GM formed [[United Cities Motor Transit]], in 1932. ''See [[General Motors streetcar conspiracy]] for additional details.''
General Motors bought the [[internal combustion engine]]d [[railcar]] builder [[Electro-Motive Corporation]] and its engine supplier [[Winton Engine]] in [[1930]], renaming both as the [[General Motors Electro-Motive Division]]. Over the next twenty years diesel-powered locomotives and trains, the majority built by GM, largely replaced other forms of traction on American railroads.
When not active, an ACD can be kept occupied with mental puzzles such as a [http://www.kongcompany.com Kong] stuffed with treats or a [http://www.sitstay.com/store/toys/toysd.shtml Buster Cube].
On [[December 31]], [[1955]], General Motors became the first American corporation to make over one [[billion]] [[US dollar|dollars]] in a year.
Among the most popular activities for Australian Cattle Dogs is [[dog agility]]. While the ACD is ideally suited for this work, since it is a [[herding dog|herding breed]] and thus very reactive to the handler's body language, some ACDs become easily frustrated at the repetition and routine necessary to hone agility skills. As for many breeds, frequent brief training sessions are more effective than infrequent long training sessions.
For this reason, many handlers find training an ACD to be challenging. It is important to always change the methods and exercises and not allow the dog or handler to get into a rut. ACDs thrive on change and new experiences.
[[Image:Acd_scent_articles.jpg|thumbnail|right|An ACD finding a scent article as part of obedience competition.]] Only a few ACDs, therefore, have excelled in [[obedience training|obedience competition]]
After GM's massive layoffs hit [[Flint, Michigan]], in the 1980s, budding documentary filmmaker and Flint native [[Michael Moore]] focused on the company and its chairman and CEO at the time, [[Roger B. Smith]], in his first big hit, ''[[Roger & Me]]''.
For example, the [[American Kennel Club]] awards an "Obedience Trial Championship" (OTCh) to the dog-and-handler team that defeats a large number of other teams in open competition. A handful of ACDs have reached this level. While ACDs enjoy the challenge of obedience competition, such as retrieving a scented article, the majority of ACDs are easily bored with precision drilling.
===Australian Cattle Dogs in movies===
A [[Strike action|strike]] began at the General Motors parts factory in [[Flint, Michigan]] on [[June 5]], [[1998]], that quickly spread to five other assembly plants and lasted seven weeks.
* ''mad dog'' (blue) and a Dingo (red) in ''[[The Sundowners]]'' ([[1960 in film|1960]])
* ''Dog'' in ''[[Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior]]'' ([[1981 in film|1981]])
* ''Zip'' in ''[[Last of the Dogmen]]'' ([[1995 in film|1995]])
==External links==
At one point it was the largest corporation in the United States ever, in terms of its revenues as a percent of GDP. In [[1953]] [[Charles Erwin Wilson]], then GM president, was named by [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] as [[Secretary of Defense]]. When he was asked, during the hearings before the [[Senate Armed Services Committee]] if as secretary of defense he could make a decision adverse to the interests of General Motors, Wilson answered affirmatively but added that he could not conceive of such a situation "because for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa." Later this statement was often garbled when quoted, suggesting that Wilson had said simply, "[[What's good for General Motors is good for the country]]." At the time, GM was the one of the largest employers in the world – only Soviet state industries employed more people.
*[http://www.acdca.org Australian Cattle Dog Club of America website]
*[http://www.acdcc.ca Australian Cattle Dog Club of Canada website]
*[http://www.cattledog.com CattleDog.com Centralized repository for all things ''"Cattledog"'']
*[http://www.acdagility.com ACD Agility website]
*[http://www.australiancattledog.com Australian Cattle Dog website: Breed FAQ, Photos, Breeders]
*[http://www.cowdogz.com/ CowDogz.com]
==References==
In May 2005, [[Standard & Poor's]] downgraded GM's credit rating to [[High-yield debt|junk bond]] status. ''See below under financial woes.''
*Buetow K. ''The Australian Cattle Dog : An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet'' ISBN 0876054467.
On April 4, 2005 General Motors Corp. sold is Electro-Motive Division to Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Berkshire Partners.
===General Motors Hughes Electronics===
[[Hughes Electronics]] was formed in 1985 when [[Hughes Aircraft]] was sold by the [[Howard Hughes Medical Institute]] to General Motors for US$5 billion. General Motors merged Hughes Aircraft with its Delco Electronics unit to form GM Hughes Electronics (GMHE). The group then consisted of:
*Hughes Aircraft
*Delco Electronics
*Hughes Space and Communications
*Hughes Network Systems
In August [[1992 in aviation|1992]] GM Hughes Electronics purchased [[General Dynamics]]' Missile Systems business. In [[1994 in aviation|1994]] Hughes Electronics introduced [[DirecTV]], the world's first high-powered [[direct broadcast satellite]] service. In [[1995 in aviation|1995]] Hughes Electronic's [[Hughes Aircraft#Hughes Space and Communications|Hughes Space and Communications]] division became the largest supplier of commercial satellites. Also in 1995 the group purchased [[Magnavox Electronic Systems]] from the [[Carlyle Group]]. In [[1996 in aviation|1996]] Hughes Electronics and [[PanAmSat]] agree to merge their fixed satellite services into a new publicly held company, also called PanAmSat with GM Hughes Electronics as majority shareholder.
In [[1997 in aviation|1997]] GM transferred Delco Electronics to its [[Delphi Automotive Systems]] business. Late in the year the defense operations of Hughes Electronics (Hughes Aircraft and missile business) were merged with Raytheon.
Hughes Space and Communications remained independent until [[2000 in aviation|2000]], when it was purchased by [[Boeing]] and became [[Boeing Satellite Systems]].
In 2000 the remaining parts of Hughes Electronics: DirecTV, DirecTV Latin America, PanAmSat and Hughes Network Systems were purchased by [[NewsCorp]] and renamed The DirecTV Group. Newscorp sold PanAmSat to [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.]] (KKR) in August 2004.
==Social policies==
General Motors was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers in [[2004]] by Working Mothers magazine.
It has the highest health care and labour costs in the industry, and some analysts have criticized the company for this.
== Subsidies ==
In March 2005, the [[Government of Canada]] "gave [[Canadian dollar|C$]]200 million to General Motors for its Ontario plants, and last fall it awarded C$100 million to [[Ford Motor Co.]] to expand their Canadian auto production, provide jobs and contribute to the economy", according to [[Jim Harris (politician)]].
== Financial woes ==
In April 2005, General Motors posted a US$1.1-billion loss, for the first quarter of that year. Its debt was downgraded to [[junk bond]] status. It announced plans to cut 25,000 jobs in the United States. It did not announce any job cuts in Canada:
For the first time ever in 2004, the total number of cars produced by all makers in [[Ontario]] exceeded those produced in [[Michigan]]. GM officials cited profitability of their [[Oshawa, Ontario]] plant in refusing to distribute the job losses.
The anger was obvious at the shareholder meeting. Explanations were not long in coming. While the company pleaded its high health care costs, amounting to US$1500 per vehicle on average (a veiled excuse to move jobs to Canada where health insurance is public), others blamed the product line.
[[Green Party of Canada]] leader [[Jim Harris (politician)]] was quoted in an article in the [[Montreal Gazette]] in claimed that "high oil prices have led consumers to demand more fuel-efficient cars, which also claimed that "Ford and General Motors's core profitability comes from gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks," and that accordingly their problems could be blamed on a failure to build [[hybrid vehicle]]s.
General Motors competes with foreign automobile companies such as [[Toyota]], [[Honda]] and [[Nissan]], all of which have non-union automobile production plants in the United States. These companies have a significantly lower compensation cost per employee at their U.S. plants than General Motors does at its U.S. plants. Toyota and Honda have also introduced gasoline/electric or diesel/electric hybrid vehicles into their product mix whereas, as of July of 2005, General Motors has not. Starting with the 2007 model year Chevrolet Tahoe GM will introduce a two-mode Hybrid system. The two-mode system offers better fuel economy and towing ability than the one-mode system found in Toyota, Ford and Honda vehicles. GM and DaimlerChrysler Joined Forces to Develop the two mode [http://www.gm.com/company/gmability/adv_tech/100_news/hybrid_121304.html Full Hybrid Propulsion System].
===The Hydrogen Solution===
[[General Motors]] has recently recovered from their losses suffered from their proposed battery technology and has invested over US$1.1 billion dollars into developing and researching [[hydrogen]] [[fuel cell|fuel cells]]. They plan to slowly convert the infrastructure from an oil based one to a oil-hydrogen based to a purely hydrogen based. Their first hydrogen vehicles are slated to be released by 2010. Hydrogen can be obtained by splitting water molecules and it produces no harmfull emissions, merely [[water vapour]]. However hydrogen is not a ''source'' of energy, but a storage and transmission medium. The energy to split hydrogen from water must come from some other source: oil, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, etc. ''See'' [[hydrogen economy]]. The first hydrogen pumps are being tested out at various [[Royal Dutch/Shell]] stations across Northern [[California]]
==Related topics==
*[[General Motors streetcar conspiracy]]
*[[List of GM platforms]]
*[[List of GM engines]]
*[[List of GM VIN codes]]
*[[:Category:General_Motors_vehicles|GM vehicles by brand]]
*[[EPA 2004 fuel economy report appendix M2#General Motors|EPA 2004 fuel economy report (General Motors)]]
*[[GM Acceptance Corp]]
==External links==
* [http://www.gm.com/ Official Website]
* [http://www.gm.com/company/corp_info/history/gmhis1900.html Corporate history]
* [http://www.gminsidenews.com GMInsidenews] GM Enthusiast forum
* [http://www.vlturbo.com/ General Motors Holden VL Turbo]
<gallery>
{{General Motors}}
Image:ACDRedChampion.jpg|Champion Red face markings
Image:Acd_a_frame.jpg|A young ACD at the top of a dog agility A-frame
Image:Acd_jump_chute.jpg|An ACD in a jump chute, practicing [[dog agility]]
Image:Stripepuppy.jpg|Puppy with blue coat color
</gallery>
[[Category:GeneralDog Motors|*breeds]]
[[Category:Fortune 500 companies]]
[[Category:Car companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Corporations sponsoring NASCAR drivers]]
[[Category:Corporations with naming rights of indoor arenas]]
[[Category:Companies based in Michigan]]
[[de:Australian Cattle Dog]]
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