About the Club:         

The Koolie Club of Australia Inc. currently has over 150 members across Australia and now welcomes some members from the USA to its ranks as well.  Our members range from several breeders with over 40 years experience breeding working koolies, many with 15 or 20 years through to people who have just found Koolies. Our Patron Mr. Frank Kelm has over 50 years experience working and breeding Koolies, his reputation and dogs are known all over Australia. All are welcome as our intention is to enjoy good company, learn from each other and keep an open mind to the ideas of others.  We do not tell people how to breed their dogs, we give our members credit for knowing what they want to achieve to suit their own situation, but are here to offer suggestions or assistance if inexperienced or experienced breeders feel they need some advice.  For this reason we have not laid down a “breed standard” at this time as we accept that the different styles of Koolies suite the many and varied jobs they undertake. We also feel that we need to give the breed time to evolve a little before trying to mould the physical attributes to a “standard”.  Although Koolies have been around since the 1800’s this is the first register and after 7 years and 530+ registrations it is still in it’s infancy, time will see breeding within the gene pool evolve a style and size of koolie most suited to today and maybe then  we can consider a “standard”.  One thing we have come to realize is that Koolies all have a wonderful personality, temperament and will to work and it is our main aim to retain these attributes in our breed.  We understand and accept that not all Koolies are suited to all situations but we do our best to place appropriate dogs in appropriate homes, not all our members need a red hot working dog, but are happy living with the wonderful personality and temperament.  This is not to say they couldn’t decide to dabble in some herding or other discipline and find they have a dog that does quite well for them.  We will not be subjecting owners and their dogs to “instinct testing” to see if they make the grade.  We believe the majority of Koolies have a natural instinct and will not penalize a dog because its owner has not got the skill to bring that ability to the fore or because the dog is not in a situation best suited to it.  We prefer to assist owners to learn the best methods to nurture that instinct and to see dog and owner evolve. Because we accept that some Koolies end up in the wrong place for them, this club supports the Koolie Rescue Service and Koolie Adoption N.S.W. Both groups are having excellent successes re-homing Koolies who have ended up in the wrong place.  One example is the photos here depicting Dylan working so well at our Elmore workshop, he was rescued in a very poor state and was lucky to survive and has turned into an award winning working dog.

Koolies registered with the Koolie Club of Australia Inc. are accepted for registration on the Sporting Registers of the Victorian Canine Association, Royal New South Wales Canine Council and the Queensland Canine Council.  Koolies on these sporting registers can now compete in events run by those bodies such as herding, obedience, agility, tracking and receive full recognition as Koolies, in all results published and on certificates.  They can also compete without the requirement of being de-sexed before entering and are no longer noted as an “associate” breed on documentation.  For further information on the Sporting Registers contact your state canine control (see our links page).

The founding club members were adamant that the club was set up legally and ethically correct, so took out insurance immediately and undertook Incorporation of the club.  This means the club is set up legally under guidelines set out by Consumer Affairs, it reports annually of its financial status and is legally obliged to conduct its affairs in an open and honest manner.  At the same time it guarantees that members are not liable for the results of mismanagement or the winding up of the club if it becomes insolvent.  A committee is elected each year with a minimum of 8 members to manage club affairs.  The committee is happy to discuss ideas put forward by members on the running of the club but will always put the benefits to the club and the majority of members ahead of a few. Nominations are called for committee in April each year for election at the Annual Meeting held in July.  All are welcome to nominate for a committee position and we welcome the diverse backgrounds our committee members have.  The committee currently consists of farmers, companion dog owners and members of the obedience and agility fraternity giving us a broad base of interests.

The club meets alternative months, mostly at Neilborough in central Victoria.  The grounds are very suitable in that there are very few houses in the area and the dogs and owners are able to enjoy themselves, dogs running around with their friends while owners relax with a barbeque lunch.  Meetings are quickly held and often an event is held such as having sheep in a yard for novice dogs to take a look at or obedience equipment or fly ball so everyone can show their Koolies something different and see how they respond. It is hoped to hold regular working dog training days throughout the year for those members interested in working or trialing, with professional trainers conducting the days. 

The club issues a newsletter bi-monthly with Koolie news and happenings, upcoming events, tips on looking after your dog and input from members, who are welcome to submit articles, or items of interest.  Members can also advertise for a small fee.

There has been a stud register established recording dogs, what ancestors are known and any breeding that is done.  A certificate is issued for each dog with details of characteristics such as colour, coat length, ear set, eye colour and percentage of white on each dog.  Where room permits as many of these characteristics are recorded as possible, for 5 generations so owners get a genetic snapshot of their dog.

At this time the register is open, so dogs with unknown parentage can be registered.  The register is in sections to cater for different circumstances: Section A dogs have both parents already recorded in the register, Section B has no history but is known or obviously a Koolie, or only one parent is already registered, Section C is for known or obvious cross bred dogs.  Section C allows people with good working dogs to still be part of the Koolie community. Section P is for pets and dogs breeders feel are not suitable for breeding but are quite able to be working dogs or companion dogs, no offspring are registered from Section P dogs.  There are currently over 530 dogs registered. For more information about registration click <here >.

The spelling of the name Koolie has come under some discussion, at the inaugural meeting in April 2000 it was discussed at some length, obviously if the club was to be set up properly one spelling would have to be used to run a bank account, be on letterhead and be registered for incorporation.  It was decided that the majority of people seemed to use Coolie or Koolie but the use of Koolie would set the breed apart for those unfamiliar with the breed when Coolie and Collie were so easily confused.  Members are welcome to use whatever they like but in relation to the club and registrations Koolie would give consistency and cause less confusion.  

The Koolie Club of Australia Inc. committee has just voted to implement a DNA testing program. It is voluntary but also for the commencement of the scheme, is free.  Those who have micro-chipped or tattooed their dog and submit a DNA sample will have their registration number appended with a ‘D’ and have a certificate issued by the club.  Other dogs can still be sampled but it is on the owners say so that this dog and this data are the same. 

DNA results will be pooled and analyzed to try to discover a “Koolie Gene”, try to find genes responsible for any problems we have and they hope to be able to point out relationships between the dogs.  This will be very valuable because buying a dog from 300km away doesn’t guarantee it isn’t already related any more.  Individually the results give parent verification - with sire, dam and offspring tested verification of the sire of each pup is simple and is available straight away. There are around 50 genetic tests available for diseases, DNA can be used to breed away from diseases without having to completely disregard the use of a dog that may be a carrier.  If you are not a member of this club and wish to have your Koolie DNA tested, please contact us and the committee will consider any request.

The Koolie Club of Australia Inc. was the first club formed for the breed and is not affiliated in anyway to any other group, association or ruling body.  This gives us total independence on how we run our club. As stated the club has been set up in a legal and safe manner with a good size committee to manage its affairs openly.   If you are interested in the future of the Koolie, like to socialize, with your dog, you are welcome to visit our meetings or become a member,

                                                          and we will celebrate with you!!!!

To contact us:<koolie_club@optusnet.com.au>