Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Any one have a kelpie? I've been researching them for a while now. I've been thinking about getting a puppy in the summer of 2008.
Anyway have any advice? I haven't found any breeders near Maine or even in New England.
We would like to learn how to do agility with the pup.

I used to have a kelpie x lab and she was gorgeous. There are many kelpies at our agility club and at the place where I took Cody to do his sheepdog work. In my experience they are like shorthaired border collies. The 2 breeds have similar herding and agility styles, as well as the usual herding dog traits. Not quite as tough and get-right-into-it as cattle dogs and aussies are.

Same as any herding breed, they need a lot of exercise and a job to do. In terms of training this is the order I will start things with my border collie Delta (5 mnths old). Im not sure what you plan on doing but the more the better or you end up with a dog that can jump 6 foot fences or dig their way out. Puppy preschool if you find a good one (mine was a waste of time) then Id start obedience ASAP (I started Delta as soon as she had her final puppy shots). Some places will let you start working with sheep after they have some basic obedience training and they listen to commands (about 6 months). I will start agility next month with Delta. Many clubs let you start with puppies they just cant jump or weave until about 12 months. Puppies can still jump over poles on the ground. When Delta is about 12 months old I will start flyball with her.

It depends on the dog, Cody was content with agility, obedience, and the occassional sheepwork. Delta is not as laid back as he was and she is going to need something almost every night of the week or she will go mad.

One of the trainers has a 14 year old Kelpie who still does obedience and needs an hour walk every day. She is too old for anything too extreme as she has bad joints but will still dig holes and destroy things if not exercised enough. She also has a 6 year old that is the craziest dog Ive ever seen. She will suddenly decide in the middle of a course to run as fast as she can in circles around the handler, the table, the A-frame, etc until she is caught and taken off the course. Luckily its something she saves for training, never in competition. One of the other trainers has a 2 year old Kelpie who is the most mellow dog there. She is quite happy to sit and watch the other dogs and gives an "alright if I must get up and jump over that thing I will" look when its her turn.

I know that Kelpies are the preferred dog for sheep work around here but that could be more to do with their coats being short in this heat than anything else.

No idea where you can get one from though. I live in Sydney so being an aussie dog they are everywhere here. Many mixes have kelpie in them, almost as many as lab mixes.