Hi All,

Does anyone know "Salty" and his wife Wilma from the Bridgewater/Serpentine area in Victoria. Salty died a few years ago now but they bred Koolies which is where my husband first met them. He was a family friend of my husbands parents. We were offered one of his dogs after he died but couldn't take him at the time. My husband was wondering what became of his lines.

Thanks
Nikki

Hi Nikki

We aren't far from Serpentine (1/2 hour)I don't know anyone of that name, if you knew their surname we could ask anyone we come across with koolies if they know anything, which could take time for a result. Those of you new to the breed may not know that the club has only been operating for 8 years so there are still a lot of people who we don't have contact with or don't know we are here. Before this the only contact was word of mouth and why so many are suprised to hear there a so many koolies and a club. More often than not puppies were sold or swapped but not names and addresses, so there was little record of what happened to line. And before you all say that the whole world should know about koolies we should all be shouting from the treetops about them, we would prefer that people interested enough research the breed find us and this forum and educate themselves to the needs of a very clever active breed before buying that cute little puppy and then not being able to manage it and dumping it in the pound. Koolie Rescue is busy enough without adding to the problem...off soapbox.

i'm not sure of their surname but will ask my mother and father in law from Echuca, when I speak to them next. I wasn't actually expecting anyone to have to do any research for me. I only asked on the off chance that someone may know them. I'm sorry Silhouette if I've offended you in any way.

I do agree though that shelters are over run nationally and do a thankless job imo. So many good animals are destroyed due to thoughtless people. I find them very depressing to visit and I come away very upset at being only able to take one. We rescued our boy (and our previous dog of 15 years) from a large shelter in Melbourne. We can't bear the thought of any animal being put down unnecessarily if we are in a position to rescue. Any future dogs that come to live with us will be rescues too.

Nikki

I so agree about the rescue, even though we don't have a kill policy it is still heart breaking to see how some Koolie’s have been mistreated, it is just not conceivable that a human could inflict such thoughtless or heartless damage on a defenceless animal.

And don't get me started on the mindless money grabbing backyard breeders who intentional starve their pups to suck some poor big hearted person into a sympathy purchase.

Nikki your wonderful to give a rescue a second chance at the life it deserves, if only we could clone people like yourself and ethical breeders who micro-chip and remain the second contact for life of any pup they every bred the dog world would a far better place.

And you didn't offend anyone, Silhouette's a straight talker.

Good luck locating Saltie

Hi Nikki

No not offended!! A bit frazzled yes, but also trying to cut corners - when people that find the breed delightful and say we should shout to the world about koolies my blood run colds - when I was explaining that a lot of people don't know about the club yet I pictured someone standing up and saying "but you must tell everyone" and then my imagination runs riot and a half asleep mind goes into damage control early. Sorry!

I asked if you knew the surname by chance, because being farmers we sometimes come across truckies or agents etc that travel around different areas and there is a chance they have met up with Salty & co in their travels. The amount of times an agent has seen the dogs and said "Oh koolies, old so and so had real good koolies...." would amaze you.

TJ I do the straightest talking to YOU

That's just cause I gets so confused

Talking about rescues and a bit off topic. I was chatting to a lady in the library and chatting about dogs as you do, and showed the photos of my two. Well she got excited and said that is what my dog looks like when I showed Ceejay's photo. She thought that her dog was some strange cattle dog mix. lol. She is coming in tomorrow with some photos of her dog, but get this she rescued it from the Gladstone pound as a cattle dog mix in 2006. I would love to know where it came from and whether it was bred around here? Will keep you guys posted if it is a Koolie, but fancy dumping a brilliant breed like that. I cannot understand people that get dogs and then suddenly realise that oops you need to do more than feed them.

I was a bit taken aback by your response Silhouette only because i thought it was an innocent question and thought that somehow I had said something I shouldn't have. Thanks for clearing it up for me though. From what my husband has said (and he only met Salty a handful of times) he had had the Koolies for a lot of years which is where he (my hubby) fell in love with them.

As with anything there are horses for courses and as much as I have come to love the breed they are definitely not for everyone (like anything you should research which is best for your lifestyle). Both my husband and I are shift workers (I'm part time) and 9 times out of 10 there is someone at home. Even so there are times where Choccy just destroys the place although it seems to be more so when he is playing with our 2yo son. They seem to compete for the honour of most noise and destruction. I can see how someone with a pristine backyard or house would think they had been besieged by a terrorist!! LOL In saying that I still wouldn't swap my boy for the world. Provided our son is not around he is a very loyal and loving companion. (They do seem to bring out the worst in each other - Choccy is obsessed with him and vice versa and blocks out all else!)

How exciting Ceejay. I look forward to hearing the result! I don't understand how people can dump anything. The animal is better off being put down humanely if things are that bad (not that I could).

There should be a licence (or similar) for having animals and I believe that people should be checked out thoroughly before being allowed to take home a pet. Those backyard breeders need to be reported if their animals are neglected. The penalties just aren't harsh enough to deter them though.

The Lost Dogs Home have you fill out heaps of paperwork before you are allowed to take any animal home. They also notify your local shire of the adoption. Every animal is microchipped and registered with the National Pet Register with all your details. Should be compulsory in my opinion.

Sorry, I'll stop my waffle now. I too feel strongly about the plight of animals and just wish that people would act sensibly and humanely.

Nikki

Don't you find though that when ppl don't know much about dogs what they see when they look at one is very different from what those of us who are obsessed see?