New pup

[220]

Picked up an 8 week old Kelpie pup yesterday.
Struggling to decide between a bitch or dog, ended up looking at the litter and picking a black and tan dog.
Just liked the personality it displayed, not as outgoing as a few of its brothers and sisters, would sit back and observe things for a little bit before deciding to jump in. Certainly not timid as once he has made up his mind he is all in.
A bit of a run around the yard this morning and time for a sleep, seems to have settled in


Might take him to the farm latter in the day and see what interest he has in sheep, way to early to start any real training on livestock but a little exposure wont hurt. Will pretty much be just obedience training for a few months before we start with livestock.

[markiver54]

Very cool. Congrats! Looks like he's gonna be a big boy.

[Shakey Jake]

We have a dog that I swear is a kelpie mix of some kind. I could be wrong but everything I've read sure matches her character. Congratulations on your new addition.
Jake

[BrokenolMarine]

We have been lucky with dogs, but have been unlucky a few times when we tried rescues as well.
Glad you found one that seems to fit. Good luck with the new working dog, I'm sure the rest of the team will help train him. Ours always did.

[JEBar]

thanks for introducing me to a breed of dog that I'd never heard of .... doubt I'm the only one so I looked it up and found the info below :

"The Australian Kelpie is a lithe, active dog, capable of untiring work. He is extremely intelligent, alert, and eager with unlimited energy.

As a herding dog, the Australian Kelpie is intensely loyal and devoted to duty. He has a natural instinct and aptitude for working in sheep, whether it be in open fields or enclosed yards. This breed originated from Collie type dogs imported from Scotland, but was developed to withstand the harsh heat and dry conditions of the vast open spaces of Australia."

please post updates and pictures as you bring him along and put him to work

[Hatchdog]

Note to self: DO NOT SHOW MRS. HATCHDOG THIS PICTURE.

My wife is talking about getting a second dog. Her heart will melt if she sees this pic. Very nice and what a good looking pup. Thanks for sharing.

[220]

Very cool. Congrats! Looks like he's gonna be a big boy.

17lbs at present and from the size of his feet a lot of growing yet, both his parents are on the larger size for kelpies so expect he will stand at least 20" tall once he finished growing.

We have a dog that I swear is a kelpie mix of some kind. I could be wrong but everything I've read sure matches her character. Congratulations on your new addition.
Jake

She certainly has similar head and face to most kelpies

We have been lucky with dogs, but have been unlucky a few times when we tried rescues as well.
Glad you found one that seems to fit. Good luck with the new working dog, I'm sure the rest of the team will help train him. Ours always did.

The dog the pup is asleep on is a rescue dog my son has, claimed to be a terrier cross but doubtful given the size and markings are very similar to an Aus red cattle dog.

thanks for introducing me to a breed of dog that I'd never heard of .... doubt I'm the only one so I looked it up and found the info below :

Quite a popular breed in Aus but like a lot of breeds has almost become 2 separate breeds once people decided to start showing them, keeping them as pets, moved away from the working traits they were developed for and started breeding for appearance. The working lines place very little importance on appearance, and you will see working kelpies of almost every colour. The black and tan like my boy is the most common and then red or tan but you will see blue, cream straight black and just about every other colour combination.

Note to self: DO NOT SHOW MRS. HATCHDOG THIS PICTURE.

My wife is talking about getting a second dog. Her heart will melt if she sees this pic. Very nice and what a good looking pup. Thanks for sharing.

We have 3 here currently, 2 of them we have been baby sitting for our son while he has been deployed overseas. We lost our labrador 4 months ago at 12 years old. Our jack russel terrier is 18YO this year. The Lab was 18 months when we got here so this boy is the first pup in 18 years, You could say the wife is spoiling him

[220]

Had to move some sheep Sunday, had rain early so a bit slippery for 4wd or bike and the quad is currently being repaired.
Did it on foot and took the pup, very happy with him, walked at my side for nearly a mile, constantly watching the sheep but happy to stay with me. Wife gave me a hand and once they were closer to the yards and in a mob, the pup would run around the outside of the mob to my wife behind them, walk with her for a bit then run back around the mob to where I was on the side of the mob and walk along with me for a bit.
Didnt try to chase them and moving between the two of us kept about 5y back from the mob.
Just what I was hoping for with him, interested in the sheep but not overly excited by them, should make training a little easier. A lot of pups seem too keen and excited and just want to chase anything that moves. Think it should be much easier to encourage him than trying to rein in any over exuberance.

[markiver54]

Great; sounds like you're off to a good start with him.

[220]

Great; sounds like you're off to a good start with him.

Yeah real good, would like to get some basic obedience done before we try too much with the sheep. Just sitting, healing etc but a bit of exposure to sheep wont hurt. Wont even think about putting him near cattle until he is probably 12 months old.

[220]

Had the pup around the yards most of yesterday. Similar to earlier in the week and quite happy to be under my feet not overly concerned by the sheep and not really trying to work them.
Got his first introduction to cattle and they freaked him out Was setting up a few things in the yards prior to getting sheep in and a mob of cattle walked up to the fence 20y away to check out what was going on, pup was under my feet whimpering, whining and barking. Picked him up and carried him over to the cattle so he could have a closer look. Settled him down and he wasnt worried about them after that.
Made sure I had the sheep penned so if the pup was under my feet there were no sheep in the yard with us. He is quite happy to stay by my side or have a bit of a camp under the ute outside the yards. Proving to be quite sensible for a young pup, with sheep in the yards between the ute and me he would walk around the outside of the yards to where there were no sheep before coming in.
Still doesnt have a lot of confidence but not a bad thing in a pup, should prevent him getting hurt.
Under the ute seems to be his safe space and he is a bit more confident, was letting them out of the yards in small lots as I finished with them, a few times a couple would graze right up to the ute. When the pup couldnt use eye contact to get them to move he would bark. Wasnt worried about chasing them just enough barking to get them to move a bit further away and settle down again.

Was struggling to come up with a name, he was black boy when we picked him up being a male pup with black collar. Has been taking a liking to some of the wife's flowers so she has substituted bastard for boy a few times so BB it is, might be what she gives him if he keeps at the flowers

Like most pups finds a way to get himself into trouble, a few limping sheep so wanted to put them through a zinc footbath, was using the floor of my weight crate as a flat surface to sit the scales on and mix up and he decided he could squeeze through the bars. Buggered if I could get him out forward or back but he managed to extract himself eventually.

[markiver54]

Great update 220.

[220]

Bit of an update on the pup, I took on a bit of work that meant I was 800miles from home and it stretched out to over 7 weeks. Got home to find my pup was no longer a pup. He will be a big boy once he finishes growing,
Wife and daughter had been taking him to the farm once a week or so just to keep up the exposure to livestock.
I have been home for a week and he has been at the farm almost every day with me. Still showing good instinct to work although at nearly 5 months he is sort of like a teenager a bit lost as to what to do at times and listening is optional.
Still he is more help than hinderance the majority of the time, super keen to work livestock with good instincts. Gets a bit overwhelmed with bigger mobs of sheep but with smaller lots he is doing better.
Had a few escapees the other day so let him have a run at them, the herding instinct is stronger than the instinct to just chase them.
Gathered them together nicely and when one sheep came out of the mob towards him stomping and trying to chase him away he just stood his ground.

[BrokenolMarine]

Good deal. Nice to have the help.

[Hatchdog]

Awesome, a working dog is such a treat. I used to hunt an area that was open range and a guy ran his cows there. Used to watch him on horseback with his healer round up cows. So impressive.