21-Jun-2006

History

I First became a member of the Koolie club of Australia in 2000, when I had my first Koolie Turraminna Jedda Leah.

Due to a tragic accident I lost her at the age of two.

It took a lot of convincing by my husband to get another, but I did.

I went back to the start and purchased a pup from her sister.

Our Ranch

My Husband and my self have full time jobs 5 days a week and the rest of our time is spent running our other farms.  e own 26 acres of land of which 9 acres of that is cultivated which we put in summer forage sorghum and in winter months we grow oats.  The remainder is natural pasture which is dry land.  We also run our 50 head of breeders on 150 acres of leased land.  They consist of Braham and Brahman cross.  We also have a small herd of miniature cattle on the home block.

We now have 100 acres leased where we run a mob of 30-40 head of steer per years on natural pasture.  20 acres we are now leasing where we grow and sell Lucerne.   So you can see we lead pretty hectic lives and my Koolies play a  huge role in the daily tasks whether it be working the cattle or following the tractors all day.   my job involves running a dairy on a daily basis.  We run approximately 700 head of cattle mainly Friesian, but do have 3 or 4 head of each other milking breeds for teaching purposes.  So my Koolies are worked pretty much every day.  They are always in the ute ready to go at 4am.  They are certainly a lot keener than I am.

Uses

My Dogs are used solely in the dairy and the every day routine which occurs there.  4:30am round the herd in for milking, bailing them up and pushing the out after milking.  Drafting if cows are required for pracs, herd health or AI'ing.  Also they are used for bringing up fresh cows and calves.  Lots of shifting cattle from one paddock to the next and so forth.  Following me while I do feed-ups and irrigation.  Where ever I am the dogs are right there.  Rain hail or shine.   Everything I do on all properties is a  one man job since I've had Koolies. I only wish they'd learn how to drive.

Type

I personally like, appreciate and prefer a solid framed Koolie, In our line of work good legs and feet are a must and they need to be extremely fit, short or medium coats , shorter the better, the Queensland heat can become quite hot and they handle the heat better, this length of coat is best for parasites and speargrass  control as well. Even with short coats our Koolies still enjoy cooling off after work, as you’ll see in my Koolie album.

Aim

Basically because of my hectic lifestyle I now only breed my Koolies for work purposes only.  I was going to get them into various fields but time does not permit this so instead I will solely concentrate on working lines and to get the best from the breed by breeding for the quality which is required.  I'm also not a person who heavily breeds their bitches.  Myself only breeding every second year or when I need more workers as I'm by no means in it for the money, quality is far more important to me than dollar signs.  My dogs are everything to me and I'd certainly be lost without them.

General Interests

My general interest of course are the Koolies but I do have a small herd of miniature cattle which I breed as well as one other breed of dog which I use to show and that in Pommeranians.  I no longer show only breed on the odd occasion.

Since my children have grown a little and I have got back into horse. I own a quarter horse which I will be showing a little in reining and a miniature horse which I will break to harness.  I have little time so I only can do these hobbies when time permits but where ever I am there are always Koolies right beside me and that I wouldn't change for the world.

Contact

Turraminna Koolies
P.O.Box 34
Forest Hill  QLD  4342
Phone: 0438652204
E-Mail: contact@turraminnakoolies.com.