Well with Bug turning 6 months tomorrow I thought I would put up some photos of her. Those from the Koolie club would have seen the photos from Pet expo in the newsletter and boy she has changed since then.

Thanks to everyone who answers my questions that I post here. It all helps and I have to say that if all Koolie's are as lovely and calm as her I am won over thats for sure. I think the comment that amazes me the most from people including vets is that she does not appear to be a "Normal" koolie. As a 6 month old puppy she is calm and quiet with a fantastic off switch. We have only lost 1 shoe ( mine - Italian leather) since she has been here and she will just sit on a mat and wait until I get her a toys out. Much better behaved than my other lot.

I am now getting very used to

1) waking up to a Koolie tucked up on my pillow in the morning ( my husband lets her in at 6 am)
2) a permanently wet dog running through the house as she swims in her pool numerous times a day or chases the hose/sprinker
3) seeing a dog spend her day with a big smile on her dial showing her shiny teeth in a goofy grin
4) my brain being challenged – in a nice way
5) having a dog follow my every move around the house.
6) being adored again.
7) and seeing a dogs life through a whole new set of eyes. Today we went for a walk and when we got home we played with the hose which she loves.

As you can see with the photos below, we are enjoying each other and I am pleased to report that I am no longer the surf board and she sits in the pool on her own boggie board now while I swim.






















so thanks again for all the help and I am sure I will be asking many more questions in the future. My gratitude to Kerrie for breeding such a remarkable little girl, letting me come and visit and spend time with her Koolie's and allowing me to constantly pick her brain

Natalie and "Buglet" ( as my boys call her)

6 months!! Happy half Birthday!! She sounds like a lovely girl, hope she stays that way for you and she is certainly a very pretty young girl!!

She sounds just like Dice as a baby! He never chewed anything either, and always had a great off switch too, while still having plenty of pzing when I want it. :-)

I just love her ears!

I thought Dice was one of a kind, and kept telling people about all these unique things he does, and heaps of people wrote back "Oh my Koolie does that too!"

Kerrie breeds great dogs. :-)

Bug was a cute puppy and has grown into a beautiful dog. I wish I could say Perry never chewed anything but several things in my house bear her signature.

they are gorgeous pics :) she sure is a beautiful girl and i do love her ears :)

yes I very quickly got used to being challenged..raz still outthinks me and he is also the best companion, follows me everywhere, checks in with me constantly raz loves water though...he wouldnt sit on my back he would race me round the pool...wish i had one for him haha he also chases the hose too...raz did have a bit of a thong (shoe) fetish...destroyed about 1 and a half pairs haha but apart from that everything else he has destroyed has been his own toys

She has grow into a beautiful looking girl...how much is she weighing now?

Boz has the same non- chewing behaviour which is awesome! He chews bark but that is so cool with me :-)

Bug is a beautiful Koolie and she does have the best set of ears!

Not trying to boast here but Flek turned 11 weeks on Wednesday and is exhibiting many of the same characteristics. She is a hose chaser and a water bowl paddler but is not too keen on the river yet - it is BIG but I'm sure she could be enticed if we were to get in ourselves. She is a little bit of a chewer but it is mainly her toys and chunks of wood (including the chunk called the coffee table!). Her attention is easily switched though.

Friends have commented on how carm she is. I'm not sure if they are a good judge being owners of a German Wire Haired Pointer - an absolute nutter! But she does have a sweet nature, follows us around everywhere and certainly seems to have an off switch as well.

Life has certainly changed in the last 2 weeks and the house is more of a home now. Love my Koolie!

(Just having a few dramas posting photos - hope I have not duplicated or maybe failed completely - nothing is showing up....)

I'll send you a detailed email on how to... :-)

she does have pretty cool ears. They have 3 positions.

up = happy
side wards = Ill trust you but I aint to sure about this
back = ummm...nope

Treen, I have not weighed her lately but she would be about 12.5 kg.

Muddle earth, with all the rain we have been having our dam is finally filled up so I took her down yesterday and she took to it like a duck to water. Funny - a dog that has trouble chasing a ball on the ground just LOVES fetching the ball from a dam. Ill upload photos in a day or 2.

Glad to hear other TJ Koolies have the same personality.

Natalie

Sound like pretty standard koolies to me!
Wish our dam had water in it, used to love entaining visitors throwing sticks in with a ring of koolies waiting around the edge to launch themselves into the water.
Natalie would you mind if we 'borrow' some of your photos for the website etc?

they are both smart looking dogs nice shape clean lines very nice

Sil, you may borrow what every photos you like. Bug would be honoured.

Yes Royalla, they both have very shape lines as I love that style. Ben the dog in the weaving photo and pictured next to Bug is an RSPCA rescue dog . We know part of his history and he is a BC x Kelpie ( supposedly) however they think that a foxie may have gotten to his mum first which actually would explain a lot. WE are also able to confirm that he is a true street dog and had spent from 6 month of age to 10 months of age living on the streets( after he escaped) which as you can imagine has presented us with a number of "Challenges". He is an exceptionally cracking dog and very tiny (42cm) and would be the perfect dog for agility. However I didnt get him until he was 10 months old and he had been through hell and back. He also had a slipping patella which required him to have his bones cut and rotated into place and is held together with a huge amount of metal.

Having said that, that photo of him weaving was taken almost 1 year after his 4 surgeries and is blown up on the vets wall as well as the RSPCA where he came from. The sad thing is he trusts no one, is crowd shy and has gone right off agility all together as he just cant cope with the stress of it. He is the main reason we got Bug (well okay - I am but he is as well) and she has already shown him lots of things he missed as a pup and he is steadily growing in confidence.

I doubt he will make it back in the ring for a while but thats not important. This year I will spend a huge amount of time just trying to get him to trust me. Bug adores him and he adores her so I am sure she will be a big part of his recovery process. Either way, we all love Ben and are very happy to have him in our home.

Thanks Natalie. It will be interesting to see how Bug goes rehabilitating poor little Ben, I hope you let us know how things progress.

Bug is cute, his name suits him. Bug will help Ben with his confidence for sure.

Your story with Ben sounds similar to my Izzy. I got her after I got Ceejay my koolie, the reason is that Ceejay and Izzy bonded well. Izzy had some real fear issues, the car, women, kids, men, dogs. Now she loves the car, is good with women, men are coming along, children not so great a bit unpredictable and she loves little dogs we are still working on the bigger dogs. I can take her places to the beach, herding, training, walking but it has taken a lot of time and effort. She trusts me which took a little while, she is the only dog that I know that stares intently into your eyes as though she is trying to read your soul. Her only big issue now is bugs that buzz. If anyone has any ideas to cure that phobia I am all ears.

Dogs are very rewarding and I am pleased that you are getting such joy from yours. Koolies are a special dog, I think they are the only herding breed with an off switch (thank goodness). Ceejay is also my alarm clock, nothing beats waking up to kisses.

Gorgeous little lady there.

Do most Koolies with upright ears have big ones? Mac will be 2 later this year and he still has these big ears. But I love him, and his ears.

I can defintely relate to points, 3, 4 - I now have to check Mac's bed for squeaky toys every night, otherwise you hear 'squeak, squeak squeak, etc.). I always make sure there are no toys around and the other night he must have hidden his squeaky beer bottle in his bed. Cause it sure wasn't anywhere around when I put him to bed, 5, 6 - "There's dad, there's that annoying kid, now where is, where is, there she is, there's mummy" and 7.