Australian Kelpie, also known as a Kelpie or Barb, is a medium-sized Australian Sheepdog. Kelpie is one of the best dog breeds that is used for droving and mustering in the US and Australia. Kelpie is highly smart and doesn’t need much supervision.
Kelpies are still popular as herding dogs in the US and Australia. They like to be kept as working dogs because they get bored if they have nothing to do.
As we have selected the Australian Kelpie as our dog breed for the month of April 2019, we have gathered some interesting and fun facts about them. Hope you’ll like these facts, and yes, don’t forget to tell us which dog breed we should feature on our “Dog Breed of the Month” category in May 2019.
Read about Groodle Dog Breed
Quick Facts about Australian Kelpie
Origin: Australia
Average weight: 14 – 20 kg
Height: 39 – 51 cm
Average Lifespan: 12 – 15 years
Colors: Black, Red, Chocolate, Blue, Fawn, Black & Tan, Red & Tan, Chocolate & Tan, Blue & Tan, Fawn & Tan
Coat: Short double coat
Specialty: Easy to train
Best for: Herding the cattle
Check this adorable Australian Kelpie in this video
Interesting Facts about Australian Kelpie
High energy
Australian Kelpies are like a powerhouse and they need a lot of daily exercise and activities. They love to do different jobs in order to avoid boredom. If not given enough exercises or tasks, they are likely to develop destructive behavior such as excessive barking or destructive chewing.
Easy to train
They are very intelligent and are easy to train. They can learn new tricks without any special hard work but you need to be polite and rewarding while training them. Still, they are not for the first-time and inexperienced owners.
Dingo Bingo
It was believed that they were bred with dingoes. According to Wikipedia, it was illegal to keep Dingoes as pets in those times; therefore, some Dingo owners crossed them in order to register them as pets. But now, their origin has been confirmed, they were imported from Scotland and their ancestors are Collies.
Multi-talented
They are not only used for Herding sheep but also as a guide dog, search and rescue, therapy purposes, and detection work. With proper training, they can become an ideal family dog that could do certain jobs for you.
Great as a Watchdog
As they don’t trust strangers, they bark excessively over predators making Kelpies one of the best watchdogs where needed. If you are planning to keep them as a pet, you’ll have to put extra effort when socializing them.
Best for an athletic family
If you belong to an active family who loves to spend their time doing exercises and other activities, as well as, training dogs, the Australian Kelpie is the right dog for you.
The best talent
Kelpie is the boss because it often jumps on the back of sheep to walk across the other side of the herd to break up the jam and guess what, it walks across the top of the sheep.
Not suitable for a small apartment
Australian Kelpies are not for small apartments. You should consider getting one only if you live in a house with a long backyard so you can entertain your Kelpie well.
Final words:
So, it was the Australian Kelpie, one of the best herding dogs. We hope you have liked the article and the information was fruitful for you.
Recommended read: Australian Collie
Image credit: shellandshilo
