Hello All,
We are Linda and Andy. We are from East Warburton, Victoria, in the Yarra Ranges. We have recently aquired an adorable koolie from Tjukurpa. We have had her for about 4 weeks now, She is still a pup, but half grown, about 20 weeks old. We also have our old dog, Jess, who is a fabulous old kelpie. Andy was at Jess's birth, and they have lived together since day one, and they have an incredible bond. Jess is now 14 years old, she was showing many signs of age, She has problems with her back and was in pain, and was chewing her tail all the time because of that. We were thinking she wouldn't be with us much longer, and toyed with the idea of getting a pup. Then we found Sudo, and somehow we knew she would be fabulous. We took Jess to Rochester to meet Sudo, and we really werent sure about it at first. Sudo didn't seem to care about us or Jess at all, (she was intensely focussed on a cat the whole time) and we nearly left without a puppy. But there was just something about her, so we brought her home on a trial to see how she and Jess and us would go. The result has been amazing Sudo has bonded with Jess in the most wonderful way, she follows Jess around, and curls up with her, licks her, and basicly adores her. Jess has come to love Sudo too, and has shown genuine concern for her puppy friend. She has forgotten how old she is, and now runs around with a new zest for life, and is extra waggy. She seems to have forgotten most of her pain, and we haven't seen her chew her tail at all in the last few weeks. Sudo has also bonded beautifully with us, and is always keen to please us. She is extremely sensitive, and only needs a growly tone to be devestated at being in trouble, and if she has understood she goes out of her way to do the right thing next time. We are so attatched to her now, and we can see that she is really going to grow into a fantastic dog. We feel so lucky to have two such rewarding doggy companions in our family. We hope that by connecting on this site we can find out more about koolies and their specific ways so that we can bring her the most fulfilling life, as we can see is already doing for us.

Congratulations Linda and Andy on the new addition to your family, bet she will keep you on your toes!

Oh, you have Sudo, way cool :-) She is within a week or two in age of my wee Haze. I so nearly had her, in fact I was trying to convince myself why I should have both of them! Ultimately I couldn't justify getting two at the same time... :-/ and had to decide between them. You will love her. :-)
Love to see some photos of how she is growing up. I loved the bandit mask she had as a little one.

I'm sure you'll enjoy getting involved in the conversations that go on here, there's usually someone to talk to, and plenty of people to answer any questions.

Koolies are great to live with, I have two, Dice and my little Haze, as well as a Welsh Springer, Ashley and her Dad Quinn.

We live in Levin, New Zealand, and do agility.

Welcome Sudo Socks, its sounds like you are well and truly HOOKED! And you have come home, this is where you will find people who understand it all!
I hope you enjoy the forum and maybe can make it to a meeting sometime as well.

Welcome to the forum!!

I also have a Tjukurpa Koolie Boz. He is almost 1 year old.

Cant wait to see some photos of Sudo!!!

Congratulations Linda and Andy on the new addition she will bring you much joy

to the forum! Hope you get some pics up soon so we can see Sudo and Jess!

Hello to you all!
Yes, I want to post some pics of Sudo and Jess, we have taken some, but we arent computer people, so I'm not sure how to make my photos small enough files to uploa, but trust me they are georgeous together. I will experiment with the pics and see what I can do. Yes, Sudo does have a great bandit mask, and Jess has always had a great bandit mask too, so now they are very much partners in crime.
Sudo has been amazingly good for a pup. We have given her toys which she loves and chews, and she does chew up her bed, but she seems to know what is hers and what is ours, and our stuff has remained unchewed (so far). We have a wood heater, and she loves to chew on the split timber we bring in for burning, and she really loves to eat coal! She waits for coal to drop out of the fireplace, onto the tiles, and as soon as it is cold enough she munches it up. Wierd! I don't mind that, except that we often stomp on coal fragments left chewed up around the house.
She has been great at coming when she is called, and walking behind me, and stuff like that. I had some trouble at first because she doesn't care about food or treats, so you can't use them as motivating tools. She cares about attention, cuddles, and squeaky toys, so we can use these a little bit. Her main motivation seems to be that she doesn't want to do anything wrong, so once she figures out what is wrong she is reluctant to do it (so far anyway).
I'd like to share a little story with you.

We teach our dogs that the threshold of a house is a stopping point, and they must be invited in or out at that point. They musn't run in or out of the house without permission. Jess is used to this. Sudo was still learning, and one day Andy opened the door and she just rushed out. He called her back, she knew she was in trouble so she kept running. As he called her, she thought it was a game, and she kept playfully running away. He caught her and ggrrrrowled at her, and plopped her back inside on her bed. She came running to me like I would save her. I Ggggggrrrrowled at her and plonked her back on her bed, and we ignored her briefly (or tried to). She was DEVASTATED!! She sulked and was panting in short desperate distressed breaths. We hadn't hurt her at all, just spoken sternly in growly voices, but you would think her world had come to an end. We left her like that for about 10 mins, then we tried to let her know it was OK to come off her bed now. She wasn't ready, she stayed on her bed some time longer until she was sure she had sulked enough. A while later we took the girls outside, making them wait at the threshold first. (When we open the door even now she often takes a few steps backwards before she sits down and waits for permission - just to be sure). We took them out for a stroll down the bush out the back where both dogs go off and do their dos and come back to a whistle. Well, Andy whistled them back. Jess came. . . we thought we saw a movement down the side of the house in the dark . . but Sudo didn't come. I said to Andy, "I think I will go up and check the front door". So I did, and our Sudo was so desperate to do the right thing, she hadn't just gone to the front door. She had heard the whistle, run home, opened the front door, gone inside, and was waiting on her bed, hoping that was the right thing to do. Amazing!
She has been that way with a few things. Once she learns what you want, she almost takes it to the extreme. Often stepping backwards if she is approaching something she thinks she shouldn't do. She is such a gem. I can't wait to do more challenging things with her.
Thanks for the welcome. (and Penny, I'm glad you left her for us :-))
Linda, Andy, Jess and Sudo.

Sorry this is late, but A big welcome to the Koolie Forum.

I had to laugh when I read about when you both growled at at Sudo. Our boy is exactly the same. If you yell at him he puts his head down and heads for bed. If you say it cool and calm he's fine. Which is really hard when you are angry.

Yes, she definately makes me laugh too, in so many ways. She mostly tries so hard to be good. She does have a thing for my socks though. She doesn't seem to shred them, just throw them around and chase them. I shouldnt leave them lying around anyway. She teaches me to put them straight in the laundry basket (not a bad thing).
I would like to get Sudo involved in some training for her brain. I had heard that there was a group in Lilydale that trained working dogs how to work. I googled them but couldn't find them. Does anyone know people who do this sort of training in reach of the Yarra Ranges? We don't have stock yet, just the horses, but it is likely in the future that we will get a larger property (hopefully), and then I would like her to have had some exposure to stock as a youngster.
A note for Treen as well, we notice that you are from Menzies Creek. Andy grew up in Menzies Creek, and spent his whole life there until I lured him to this side of the mountain. We still head over that way often. I notice your Koolie, Boz, is also young it would be great to let the dogs have a play together sometime.
Cheerio,
Linda, Andy, Jess and Sudo.