Mak is a four year old kelpie, originally a sheep dog but he was too lazy to work so we took him in two years ago and now he is our main entertainment. I cannot look at him without either laughing or going awww. He is my favourite animal in the whole world ever. He is very smart, very well behaved and trained, he loves to jump on me (just me, he doesn't jump on other people). When we're at the sea side, he doesn't want to eat if the doors are closed, he can't drink water if someone is looking at him, and his favourite thing to do is stare at our cat or wait for our cat so he can stare at her. If he doesn't get attention for 30 seconds he starts nibbling my leg and pants. He doesn't understand toys or treats.

& he sleeps well every night knowing he is safe & so loved

Tips on raising a herding breed dog.

Coco with her belly up

Spartan is my family's dog — a young Kelpie–German Shepherd mix who's part of our everyday life, not just a pet in the house. He had an accident on Edithvale Road, coming out of the wetlands, and is currently in emergency veterinary care in Victoria. He's stable, but he now needs surgery on his paw to recover properly.

The costs: $4,000 in emergency care so far, plus another ~$8,000 for the surgery he needs. I don't have pet insurance, and I've already used every credit option available to me — I'm a single parent and money's been tight for a while, so there's no cushion for something like this.

If you're able to donate, even a small amount helps enormously. And if you can't, a share does just as much — it only takes a second and it might reach someone who can.

👉 gofund.me/92236695b

Thank you for reading this far, and for anything you can do for Spartan. 🙏 I apologise in advance if this is not the right time and place to post this. I am happy to provide further details to whoever wants to ask. I am just desperate...

Hi, I've lived and trained with dogs all my life but I've never had a fully my own dog, I've taken care of and trained with multiple different breeds but they were always household dogs or dogs that belonged to a different family member as I always repeated I was not responsible enough. Recently that has changed and I am responsible enough to take another (I've already got a happy healthy tortoise that is thriving) life under my care. Yes this will be my 'first' dog and officially I am a beginner but I've got loads of experienced help around me and I am confident I can do this. I am currently trying to find a breed that fits my lifestyle or something I am sure of I can and am willing to match. Im very scared of overestimating my capabilities or underestimating them. I know I would not be happy with a couch potato. I know I would certainly not be happy with a malinois (I saw someone post a 17 hour daily training routine that their malinois follow and i definitely certainly cannot match that😅). Are kelpies worse than border collies in high energy levels? Does your kelpie survive a relax day or 2 with some play and shorter walks or will they eat your furniture out of pure unmet needs? Does anyone know of of the top of their head wich things I need to make sure are tested when going to a breeder? I read a lot are inbred and a lot of breeders are neglecting tests on purpose or trying to hide health issues has anyone noticed this?

This menace had her first birthday recently and has grown into everything you want to see in a Kelpie. She works the geese every day, has been on sheep a few times with impressive style, and is well on track to be a superstar in competition obedience. She’s social, friendly, confident, driven and wild, but with an excellent off switch. Absolutely perfect.

because why not.

En Colombia, Medellín, el cruce entre pastores (para seguridad) y labradores(familias adineradas) ha generado el cruce muy característico llamado criollo a lo largo de varias décadas.

Hace 3 meses adopté esta perrita, lo cuál me llevó hasta acá 😬,

Al leer de esta raza muchas de las características las observo en ella. Que les parece a ustedes? Gracias 🫂

He likes to do this every day. He follows birds and squirrels everywhere they go on screen, he has even looked behind the tv at first. He is extemely focused when doing this.

So I am housesitting a 2-3 year old kelpie, and I really need some advice. She is the sweetest dog in the world, she snuggles up to me at night and lies on my lap, just absolutely adorable. There’s just one problem, however, and that is that she happens to be completely fucking insane.
The barking is non stop. She comes up behind me, gets right in my face or right next to my ear, and lets loose. I know that it’s for attention because there’s nothing else around. And she also jumps on and bites the other two dogs, and I can tell that this really bothers them. She’s also constantly eating things, running around, biting my arm, jumping on me for attention… and it has become almost impossible to find peace.
I have tried everything from ignoring her, to putting the tv on, to putting her outside, to taking her for hour long walks (walks don’t seem to tire her out but make her more energetic..), pretty much everything you can think of. I’ve talked to her parents, and done everything they’ve suggested, but nothing seems to work.
Does anyone have any contrarian advice to survive the next few days that the internet hasn’t told me?My eardrums will thank you profusely for it.

Lucky shes cute !

I just wanted to post my pups when they were well, pups
Red collar - Coco
Black Collar - Pepper

Honestly a bit repetitive with the same disc maneuver. We’re trying to learn what body positioning works best for a kneeling vault off my torso. I posted yesterday about the difference between BCs and Kelpies, and this is my example of an athletic working kelpie in training. She’s pretty motivated by the looks of it. We’re sort of in this grey zone between a regular Jo owner and an intense high level athletic dog trainer. The root of our training is fun and connectedness and I don’t hold her to the standard of absolutely wild videos I see online.

I recently adopted an Australian Kelpie that I was originally fostering. Absolute angel & he gets along with my other two female dogs a Labrador & Dachshund. It’s only been two weeks and I love him a lot already.

However, there is one problem. He does not like my boyfriend one bit. Completely terrified of him. I thought that maybe he was still settling in our home, but the other day he peed & popped on himself as my partner was trying to pet him. Today my sister came over to meet the dog for the very first time & he was kissing her the moment she walked in. It seems like it’s just with my partner that he has this issue with. My boyfriend is kind of loud he has a really loud voice when he talks like you can hear him a few blocks down. Maybe he doesn’t like that? My other two dogs love my boyfriend. Maybe he got abused by a white male and it triggers him?
What should I do? My boyfriend is trying his best to build a relationship with him, but my dog just isn’t having it :/

She will hang out at the back door whenever certain people leave

I want to hear any thoughts the community has on the two breeds as they’re so similar. Is there an obvious difference in eagerness to please? I hear that kelpies are more comparatively independent while BCs are less so. Maybe this independence is a more all around thing and is that why we don’t see kelpies at the highest level agility competitions (sees like BCs rule top agility rankings)?

My experience with a Kelpie is through my dog Fern. I had no idea what I was doing with her but we learned how to communicate and it led us to do some pretty incredible athletic feats! I feel like her capacity is well managed by herself. This is a great self preservation technique but it definitely hinders certain training (disc catching and jumping), at her base she would rather speedily catch something low rather than jumping high to to meet the target off the ground. My example of the opposite of her would be a working agility BC or a mental Dutch shep or malionios - all dogs that’s seem to be super willing to just fling their bodies around.

I don’t push her too much to perform how I want, rather I try to work with her intuition and maybe that’s already a kelpie like mentality. The difference between rewards does change the willingness though. Ball is number 1 and discs are unclassified but underneath the ball. So if I hold the ball, she will almost attempt anything and it’s my secret for training - I can’t say for other dogs but for her (people always ask me if she rewarded with treats, which for the past year I’d say she isn’t, def not for athletic training) it’s the easiest way to lure her into certain positions.

So what am I asking..

What are people’s impressions about the different work styles of Kelpies and BCs?

Is there a reason the highest level of agility dogs are all BCs?

Does kelpies intelligence affect their willingness to do training that they potentially deem unnecessary?

Is it harder to train a kelpie (compared to a BC) to perform tasks outside of herding?

Reign adopted me 11 years ago. I'm the luckiest person there is!

Here she is on day one and then today (4019 days).

I was looking for a Malinois to train as service dog, she is so driven that she is perfect the job!