Koolie

The Koolie is an Australian working dog that herds sheep and cattle. It has been in Australia since the early nineteenth century, when it was bred from imported British working dogs. The old name “German Coolie” is a misnomer: the dogs behind it were mainly British.

History

The Koolie’s ancestors are thought to be collies brought from Scotland. In 1903 Robert Kaleski described a blue-gray, often wall-eyed dog the size of a smooth collie, the “Welsh heeler or merle, erroneously known as the German collie”. Over time some lines took in Kelpie and Border Collie blood, because farmers bred from the best worker at hand, and the Koolie registries still accept such outcrosses.

The Koolie Club of Australia was formed in 2000, followed by the Working Koolie Association and the Australian Koolie Association. None of them seeks a show standard, believing it would harm the dog’s future as a worker, and none existed as of 2013. Since 2004 Koolies on the Australian Sporting Register have been able to compete in herding, obedience, tracking and agility trials. In 2006 the Australian Shepherd Club of America and the American Herding Breed Association added the Koolie to their lists of accepted herding breeds.

Appearance

Koolies are bred for work, so they vary by region. In northern Queensland and New South Wales they are tall, medium-boned and agile, for mustering cattle over long distances. Elsewhere in New South Wales they are shorter and thicker-set, for flushing cattle out of dense bush and gullies. The smallest are in Victoria, where they mostly work sheep. Males stand 43 to 51 cm at the shoulder and females 41 to 48 cm, and most are slightly longer than tall.

The coat may be short and smooth, short, medium or, uncommonly, long. Most owners prefer the short coats, which are easy to keep and do not pick up grass seed. Koolies are either solid or merle. Solids come in black, red, chocolate, cream and dilute shades, with or without white and tan; any of these may carry the merle pattern, which is the look most people know. Solid red or black Koolies are often mistaken for Kelpies.

Temperament

Koolies are described as patient, dedicated and keen to work. Some people read them as shy or reserved. They are silent, upright workers that circle wide around stock and bring it back, and they are as comfortable in yards and trucks as in open paddocks. They will head, heel, cast and block, and will jump onto the backs of sheep if needed. They need consistent training, mental challenges and plenty of exercise. Besides farm work they are used in agility, tracking, therapy and assistance work, and as companions.

Care and health

Median lifespan is about 15 years. The gene pool is varied but small, and Koolies can have the inherited problems found in other breeds; hip and elbow scoring is used against dysplasia. Mating two merles risks blind or deaf puppies, and because a solid-looking dog can carry merle, DNA testing before breeding is advised. In 2003, tests on 56 Australian bloodlines found none carrying the mdr1-1 mutation, which causes dangerous reactions to drugs such as ivermectin.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.