Koolie Club of Australia

The Koolie Club of Australia is an Australian non-profit independent breed club working to maintain the Koolie dog breed as a working breed.

The Koolie Club of Australia is incorporated and registered with Consumer Affairs of Australia, it numbers three executive officers, President, Secretary and Registrar, have a Committee of twelve and representatives in the U.S., New Zealand and Tasmania.Fact|date=May 2008.

History

The Club was founded in April 2000 by a group of Koolie enthusiasts. It was decided to use the spelling "Koolie" at the inaugural meeting while formalizing the club, to avoid unpleasant connotations of "Coolie" and the word "German" was avoided as this is an Australian breed and that could create some confusion, particularly when there is no such breed in GermanyFact|date=May 2008.

The Club meets bi-monthly at Neilborough, Victoria, near Bendigo. Activities common at these meetings include having some sheep in yards for young dogs to test their instincts, or giving the dogs agility equipment to try.

Breed Registry

The Koolie Club of Australia began the first registry for the breedFact|date=May 2008. The register is divided into sections which indicate which stage each dog is, ie. Section A dogs have both Sire and Dam registered, Section B only one parent is already on the register or neither is registered but are known to be Koolies. Section C is for Koolies with one parent of another herding breed or a koolie cross. Section P is for those dogs a breeder does not consider suitable to breed on from but are acceptable as pets or sporting dogs etcFact|date=May 2008.

Each registration records such things as colour, coat pattern, coat length, ear set, eye colour and percentage of white on the dog, on its registration certificate. The same details are recorded for its parents and with as much information that can fit for further generations. A five generation pedigree is supplied giving what is a genetic snapshot of the dog registered to assist in future breeding decisions.

Research

The club is involved with research on the origins of the breed. It has undertaken to implement a pedigree assurance program by using DNA for parent verification and health testing. It is also hoped that this will lead to information on the ancestors and heritage of the modern Koolie.

External links

* [http://www.koolie.net The Koolie Club of Australia]