Frequently Asked Questions

Here you will find a selection of questions.

Here you can find all the answers on most frequently asked questions we get.

What specialties do you take in account when breeding?

Before we breed with any of our dogs we have them tested for HD and PRA (eyes). We don’t breed dogs with eye problems. Before we breed any of our dogs we test them for eye problems and repeat this after a couple of years.
Because there is a relative small population of Australian Kelpies we do breed with dogs who have HD A and HD B. We do try to breed a dog with HD B with another dog who has HD A. This could mean you have to travel many kilometres to come to a good breeding pair.
Unfortunally it isn’t usual yet to test for CA, but if we ever have a litter which has pups who have CA we absolutely wouldn’t breed with those dogs anymore or one of their descendents.
For more information concerning HD and CA see Health.
Further we look to family relations. Next to the health aspect and the family relations w think it is important that are dogs have working capabilities and a friendly character. The Australian Kelpie is a social dog and we like to keep them that way.

Do your dogs have a pedigree?

We only breed with registered dogs. So al our pups get a pedigree from the directorate.

Do the Kelpies have health problems?

Off course do the Kelpies, just like any other breed, have health problems. But because the population isn’t to big there are relatively little health problems.

Our dogs are tested for HD and PRA and this will not occur to often. In male dogs the testiness won’t always ?. Further the dogs could have demodex (youth scab), but this can be treated, teeth problems, brain disease (CA, rare and could be mistaken for epilepsy), epilepsy, etc.

Those problems are in general not common however. And our dogs won’t be sold before being checked by a vet.  

Do the dogs have genealogical trees?
We're only breeding with registered dogs. After birth they all get one from the FCI.

Do these dogs have health issues?

Of course, just like other races, Kelpies might have health issues but because of the small population these aren't as big as can be seen by other races. The dogs are being tested on HD and PRA what won't be so very common also. Sometimes the male dog's testicles not always decrease and there might be the demodex-problem but that's treatable. Just like teeth-, brain (rare) and epilepsy (also rare).

However these abnormalities aren't common and our dogs do not leave the place before fully checked by the vet.

Why are you no member of the Australian Cattledog and Kelpie Association?
We found that there is, just like many associations, too much talk of importance tangle. We also find that the association provides no appreciation and there it is no added value by being member of such a group.

However, we have of course much contact with other people in the Netherlands and foreign countries. We like going to shows once in a while, enter in contests and we keep up with the developments among certain bloodlines.

Further we do have much contact, both private and professional, with vets and animal scientists.

What's the dog's character like?
Active, open-minded and friendly. They love being around people.

Should you do sports with them?
No, not necessarily. It's more important your dog gets enough space to run around and when it gets older you can take him out for a walk or cycling.

Can these dogs be kept as pets?
Of course, and so do we. Our dogs are both outside and inside a lot and we gained the knowledge that when it's getting enough attention and movement the dog is perfect as a pet.

Does it swim?
Basically the Kelpie isn't much of a swimmer. But when it's getting used to water from its youth you might have a chance it starts to enjoy it and dives right in himself.

Does it goes well with other animals?
If you learn the dog to trust other animals there isn't going to be a problem. They might seem dominant sometimes towards other same-sexed dogs but we believe that's more of an individuale (dogwise) matter than a racial issue.

 Australian kelpie versus Working kelpie
Australian kelpie have FCI papers and Working kelpies not. Australian kelpies have their own racial marks and appearance. Working kelpies do not have a racestandard.
Every dog with FCI papers have to breed in the racestandard. Some breeders have Australian kelpies with FCI papers and they are saying that this are working kelpies. The most time these dogs have other colours and an other appearance than the Australian kelpie.
The Australian kelpie knows the colours black, chocolate, red, red& tan, black &tan, fawn and blue.

Are Australian kelpies difficult dogs
Certainly not but they need a consequent hand of raising. Further you have to know that it are working dogs!

Wat are we (as a breeder) doing with our pups.
We like to have contact with the buyers, certainly for the first year because we want to know how our pups are develop. We give also guarantee on some healthaspects.

Is the kelpie a familydog.
A lot of our kelpies are in families with little children. The kelpie loves children and plays a lot. A kelpie is a social dog who fits in active families.

Is there a waiting list?

This is a question we often get.

Yes, in general we do have some people, interested in the Kelpie, listed. A waiting list is however, subjected to changes. People change their minds or forget to tell us that the circumstances have changed and therefore don’t want a pup at the moment ‘supreme’.
On our side it might happen that we still take interest in a pup; that people who already own a dog from our kennel want another pup, that breeders who are friend want a pup from the litter, etc. Further the demands the buyer suggest play a part, because the more demands the harder it is to fulfil these. For example, if someone gives a preference for a bitch we don’t expect that a male is good as well. In that case both sexes should be given as a preference.
Good communication is very important!
Also we –luckily- can’t control if there are pups born, and if there are how many and which colours, etc. We also can’t control when our bitches go into season. That is nature.

A waiting list is subjected to changes!

It certainly is useful to have you’re interest listed, to pay us a visit and to keep in touch if you’re really interested but we can’t give a 100% guaranty. 

Our way of working: as soon as there are pups born we call the people on the list to see if they are still interested. Unless men has given a very specific preference and even then we call the people to tell them there is no suitable pup in the litter.

Do you give a guaranty?
 
Yes we do give a guaranty.
 
Because Cryptorchidie is a problem amongst the breed, we do give a guaranty on that. If after a year it appears that a dog has this problem we return a part of the purchase sum, after a written statement of a vet.
The same goes for a dog who gets a distinct (more then a few mm) over or under bite. The pup can leave with good teeth, but develop a over or under bite later on in the development. The other way around is possible as well, that a slight over or under bite disappears further along the development of the pup.
If there occur serious hereditary disorders in the first year (like CA and epilepsy), we will return, after a veterinary statement, a large part of the purchase sum.
Luckily we only have been confronted with a dog with food allergy until now and even that wasn’t fun. This dog has improved, since we heard of it, over the next few months and functions from that time on fine thankfully.
It also involves a bit of trust and that is why we also ask people to regally keep us informed about the well-being of the dog. If we don’t know this type of information we can’t help you and we also can’t consider it in our breeding program. We are dependant on the information we get.

I see that you used the same male regularly, why is that?

That is true, we use the same male regularly if the dog is healthy and his offspring as well. 
But we have also used males outside our kennel a few times and if they are healthy and give healthy pups, we use(d) them more often. We give guaranties and we want to deliver healthy animals, although we do work with living material. Despite that, we do want to sell our buyers a dog off which we think it has a good change of growing up to be a healthy, pleasant dog.
We have also used a male a couple of times outside our kennel that gave unwanted features to his offspring. We don’t want to say that this is all part of the male dog, because it might as well be due to a bad genetic mix and a wrong combination.
However if there is a good result, we don’t see any problems in repeating the combination. On the other hand we also don’t mind to travel 2400km for a cover if we think that the result will be favourable. 
We have three male dogs of our own (all of them are imported).