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Koolie Puppies for
Sale
Koolie
(Australian Koolie)
(German Koolie) (German
Coolie)
Photo Courtesy of Koolie Club of Australia
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Find a Koolie
Breeder
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Rescue a Koolie
List Your Rescue |
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Description |
It is common for dogs to have one or both eyes blue in
color. This breed is noted for its usual merle coloring, both red and blue
as well as tricolor. Some have white bibs, collars, and face markings.
Coat lengths come in smooth, short, medium, long is not Common.
Coat colors include red, blue or tri merle, solid red or black, usually with
merle points. Other colors are rare. Eyes colors include brown, black, blue,
combination usually with one blue. |
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Temperament |
It is said that the best trait of this breed is it's
personality. Energetic, Loyal, Adaptable. Can work anything anywhere. They are very dedicated and very willing to please their
owners. A very dedicated worker that will keep going until they
drop. In fact it is not uncommon for one to chase a hare using its great
speed and agility until it drops of exhaustion. They work at herding
anything that moves including sheep, cattle, goats, horses, and fowl. Koolies
are known to back (jump on the back of) sheep as well as cattle. Ann Worboys, an owner of the breed, had a dog that would heel the cattle and then
duck the kick! They also do very well in tracking, obedience and agility trials
since their will to please is endless. A Koolie won the high jump
competition at the Sydney Agriculture Show in 1998. They are not generally
dog-aggressive and are good with other pets if raised with them from puppyhood,
as they are a working breed and will work anything that moves! They are
usually good with children, but are recommended for children over 6 years
because they are said to be boisterous. This breed must have mental stimulation.
It will not do well in a small back yard with nothing to do. Australian Koolies
have been worked on stock in Australia since early 1800. In order to keep up
with the demands of the grassier and stockman the Koolie needed to have stamina
for 14 hour days, ability to move from one type of job to another, be it droving
cattle on the long mile, or backing sheep in the race, the Koolie had to do it
all. Their ability allowed them to be gentle and calm around the ewes and lambs
yet still know when to use their bite on mongrel bulls and steers. The Koolie
needed to be agile and quick, able to jump, dodge, chase, hold and drive and do
it well and the Koolie has. Not all pups are workers and these pups make
terrific companions. But it needs to be understood. Take an Australian Koolie
from the work it has been bred for and expect it to be happy in a suburban yard
and every time you will get trouble. Non working Koolies still retain the
stamina, ability and agility. Many non working Koolies have been late bloomers,
displaying their natural instincts as late as two years old. The Koolie Club of
Australia has addressed this issue by discovering markets for which the Koolie
is suited for. These are Search & Rescue, Pets as Therapy, Responsible Pet
ownership educators, Quarantine, Special needs providers, T.V stars and
demonstrators, Tracking, Agility, and all Obedience & Herding disciplines. The
Koolie has a brain which needs to be stimulated, its working frame requires
regular work and exercise. This is not a breed that will happily remain hours on
end in a backyard. We continue to warn the well meaning public, who continue to
buy cute unknown puppy breeds from pet shops and then discover too late that
they have invited an Olympic swimmer, jumper or runner into their beloved home.
Here are a few average samples, supplied by a Koolie Rescue Service which gives
a good clear picture of the problems which can occur. ---- A lady thought she
was doing a good deed when on impulse she bought a little Koolie girl from a
farmer she was visiting, the pup was runty, full of worms and looked like it
needed a good feed, her mother had been put back to work and the pup was only
five weeks old, she felt sure the pup would die if left. That is just what
breeders for profit and puppy farmers like the general public to think, the
sympathy deal, works every time. Instead of turning the farmer into the local
shelter and putting a stop to his harmful practices, she bought the pup, only to
hand it into a Koolie rescue six months later, because the little cute baby,
tore her clothes from the line, dug up every garden she ever planted, pooped and
wet where ever she pleased and rounded up the children of the neighborhood after
scaling their fences. The rescue placed her back on a farm where she has learned
to work the stock. ---- A young man saw and bought a cute fluffy, blue eyed,
mostly white Koolie pup from a pet shop for his sweetheart on Valentines day,
she was in love the moment he presented her with the pup. At first they never
noticed the pup didn’t jump at sudden noises or in thunderstorms, it didn’t bark
when the dog next door started up, didn’t turn his head when they entered the
room, around twelve weeks the couple noticed that he never came when they called
but always came when he saw them, then finally while doing the dishes one night
some were dropped and smashed, the dog continued to eat his bone with his back
to the kitchen, and they realized their special bundle of joy was deaf. Through
getting in touch with a Koolie Rescue they were able to support them and help
them train their deaf Koolie and they have never regretted getting him, now five
years old. These are just two incidents that are common for the Koolie breed,
the majority of Koolie Rescues are around ten weeks to six months old, pups from
disreputable breeders who can’t find homes for their unwanted pups or impulse
purchases who have discovered the error of their choice. Be wise and only choose
this breed if you can give it the kind of home it needs to truly be happy. The
Koolie Club of
Australia will be more than happy to assist you. |
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Height, Weight |
Height: 15-22 inches (38-56 cm.)
Weight: 21-44 pounds (12 - 20 kg.) |
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Health Problems |
Merle Gene may produce blind or deaf pups, recommend
only breed strong colors or Merle to solid to avoid this problem. They can occasionally suffer joint
problems due to their extreme athleticism. If they do a lot of jumping on
and off things or after Frisbees and balls they can damage cartridge and
ligaments, particularly as they get older. These dogs are active and
fun-loving for many years |
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Living Conditions |
This breed is not recommended for apartment life.
They are moderately active indoors and will do best with at least a large yard. |
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Exercise |
This energetic working dog needs plenty of
vigorous exercise to stay in shape, or better yet, some real work to do. They
need to be taken on a daily, long
walk or jog. It will
not be happy laying around the house all day long. This is a breed you will have
to schedule in come good exercise sessions daily, or have a job for it to do. |
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Life Expectancy |
Average
age is 18 years, some have reached 26 years |
Grooming |
The coat is easy to groom and needs little
attention. Brush occasionally with a firm bristle brush and bathe only when
necessary. This breed is an average shedder. |
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Origin |
All breeds began from many; the Australian Koolie is no
different. History books show that serious importations of working breeds began
around the 1800s; many books on the Kelpie, Australian Cattle Dog and Stumpy
refer to the influence of the Merle breed in their own breed’s foundations. One
such book, by author Angela Sanderson called "Australian Dogs", out by the
Currawong press refers to the Australian Koolie; then called the German Collie.
What is of most importance in her book is her own reference to a much earlier
German writer Von Stephanitz and his book "The German Shepherd In Word and
Picture" released 1925 in which he writes "The Australian grazier were
sufficiently impressed with German sheep dogs to import them”, he then names one
of the breeds which were imported, as the German Tiger (pronounced with a long
"e" not a short "i") and describes them as “long or short coated, prick eared
type of Merle coloring similar to the type already found in Australia called the
German Collie.” ( this proves that German Tigers were imported, but it proves
more importantly that the Koolie was establish and recognized by its own name
before actually recorded imported Tigers arrived). There is evidence that
Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of John Macarthur who began the Marino industry in
Australia transported a German by the name of Joseph Pabts to her property in
Camden New South Wales in 1825 to care for her flocks; Joseph arrived with his
family and a number of his German working dogs, believed to be Tigers. This
report indicates that Tigers could have been in Australia 100 years earlier. The
earlier Tigers would have merged with other working bloodlines, most commonly
the smooth coated Collies which were found readily in the southern and central
regions and possessed the shorter coat desire in this hotter climate.
More on the Koolie |
| Group |
Working, Herding |
Recognition |
KCA, APRI |
KCA = Koolie
Club of Australia
APRI = American Pet Registry
Inc. |
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Photo Courtesy of Toolalla Koolies
Photo Courtesy of Koolie Club of Australia
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Koolie Picures Page 1
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Where there
is Wool, there is a Way… The Koolie Way!
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Thanks to Cory
Leed for providing Dog Breed Info with this information.
Also thanks to Ann Worboys for helping with the information provided on
this page. |
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