Breed Breakdown – Australian Kelpie

APPEARANCE: Medium sized dog, muscular and lean. A short double coat coming in a range of colours from black, red, blue, fawn, cream, black and tan, red and tan, blue and tan, and fawn and tan.

TEMPERAMENT: Extremely energetic, highly intelligent, very trainable, loyal and willing to please.

AVERAGE LIFE SPAN: 12-15 years

MAINTENANCE: Apart from requiring a lot of exercise they are very low maintenance dogs, they do shed a lot of hair and benefit from a weekly brush.

SUITS: Best suited to be used as working dogs on farms where they will get plenty of exercise and have a job to do. They are instinctive herding dogs and will herd anything from sheep to chickens to children. They need a lot of stimulation and exercise (can run up to 60km per day) and will become bored easily. Their high intelligence and energetic nature makes them great for dog sports like agility and flyball. Not suited to small yards or apartments living. Ok with children if they have been around them since a puppy.

INTERESTING FACT: It is believed that Kelpie’s have interbred with Dingoes at various times in the breed’s history.