Australian Kelpie

The Scottish and Irish Kelpie is a mythical water horse that intends harm to humans, particularly children. However, the Australian Kelpie is not at all like this. He’s an intelligent herding dog breed used for working sheep and other livestock in Australia and the United States. These dogs were reproduced by interbreeding early Collies with other herding dogs, as well as Dingoes potentially. They are medium-size breeds weighing anywhere from 31 to 46 pounds on average.

If you think you can provide this smart dog with a difficult job, daily exercise, and leadership while also being loving and consistent with training, then the Australian Kelpie might be right for you. If not, it’s understandable that you would hesitate before getting one. An underemployed Kelpie can wreck havoc as he tries to find a job for himself.

Before you adopt an Australian Kelpie, make sure to understand their natural herding tendencies. By nipping at the heels of livestock, they encourage them to move in a certain direction. If there’s no flock for them to manage, they may start redirecting this behavior towards children and other pets in the household – as well as vehicles such as bicycles and cars passing by. It’s important to never let this go uncorrected, through proper dog training. You can also redirect their energy by providing demanding work or interactive games that will give them the exercise and mental stimulation they need.

The Kelpie is a versatile dog that excels in search and rescue, detection, hearing assistance, therapy work, and various dog sports such as agility, flyball, disc games, herding trials, obedience and tracking. This breed requires a lot of exercise; therefore regular long walks, jogs or hikes are essential to keeping him happy and content. The Kelpie is an excellent watchdog, as he is always alert and quick to bark at anything or anyone unusual.

The Kelpie dog breed is not meant to stay isolated in a yard; they are bred to work with people. If you own one of these dogs, it’s important that he lives inside the house with your family—except for when he’s playing, jogging or working outside with you. Otherwise, he’ll become lonely and destructive from boredom.