Breeds / Medium
Working Kelpie puppies
Intense, tireless and highly trainable, the Working Kelpie is an Australian sheepdog bred for stamina and independent work, and it needs a job rather than a garden.
The facts
- Size class Medium
- Country of origin Australia
- Adult weight 12.7 to 27.2 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 28 to 60 lb
- Adult height 48 to 64 cm
- Energy level Very high
- Grooming Low
- Coat type Short smooth
- Typical lifespan 12 to 15 years
- Good with children Reliably good
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
Where these come from:
About the Working Kelpie
The Working Kelpie was developed in Australia in the late nineteenth century from imported collie stock, to move large mobs of sheep across big, hot country with very little direction from a handler. It is a medium, lightly built dog with a short weather resistant coat, pricked ears and remarkable stamina, bred for work rather than for a show ring, so type varies from line to line. The temperament is intense and biddable at once: quick to read a handler, one of the most trainable dogs going, and never satisfied by doing nothing.
This is one of the hardest breeds to tire out. It needs hours of activity, and the head needs occupying just as much, through herding, obedience, agility or scent work. Grooming is trivial, a hound mitt over the coat now and then and regular nail trimming. It rates top of the scale with children and only middling with other pets, and the herding instinct often surfaces as chasing and nipping at heels. The usual mistake is buying a working bred dog for a suburban house and then calling the result a training problem.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Working Kelpie puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A medium breed puppy at eight weeks is a manageable armful that will not stay that way. Most of the growth happens between now and six months, so buy for the adult dog where you can. This is a very high energy breed. The mistake owners make is trying to tire it out physically. Training, scentwork and puzzles will do more than distance ever will. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Cerebellar abiotrophy, a progressive loss of coordination in young dogs, detectable by DNA test
- Collie eye anomaly and progressive retinal atrophy, detectable by DNA test and an ophthalmologist evaluation
- Hip and elbow dysplasia, screened by hip and elbow evaluation of breeding stock
From Working Kelpie breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/working-kelpie/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Your Working Kelpie puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Medium for a Working Kelpie.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 12.7 to 27.2 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Other medium breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.