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I wanted to write to you both with an update on Callie's progress.  Callie is doing superbly!  She really is an angel in every sense of the word.

She travelled home without any problems in her crate and slept right through the night on her third night with us.I have already mastered "Down Stay" with her for a few minutes although she certainly tried her level best to win that one!  She is learning the house rules and extremely quick to pick up things - you really only need to tell her once and she stops the next time, thinks about it, looks at you and remembers.  It really is quite incredible to watch her in action.  She is such an intelligent dog.

Today our beautiful Kelpie Callie turns 3 months of age.  How time flies! Callie is doing extremely well.  She graduated from Puppy Pre-School last week and impressed all with her very calm and lengthy "down/stay"!   We begin obedience training this Saturday. Callie can already sit, drop/down, stay, roll over, leave it, take it, shake hands, wait, fetch, give and be gentle.  She is really getting the swing of life with our family. She respects the rules of the house about not going into certain rooms - although, at times, she still likes to test our resolve and runs in to one room like she is having the time of her life!  She is so funny. 

She really has a lovely sense of humour and has a ball which she squeezes and as it makes a squeak, she does too!  It is hilarious.  She has a rubber chicken which she throws around the room and she chases it.  She backs away from it and waits, ever so patiently - I'm sure she expects it to get up and start to run!  Then she stalks it like a true Kelpie and pounces on it!  Her pounce is even funnier - she resembles something out of the movie Karate Kid!  She really is a delightful dog and we all are loving having her as part of our family. 

We take her up to the local cricket oval which is completely fenced and we let her off lead there for a run twice a week.  She is so fast!  She looks a picture when she runs from Paul to me at full speed.  She really enjoys to run.  She travels in the car superbly and wears a car harness.  She has been to the beach three times (will attach a photo of her first visit) but she wasn't so sure about the waves.  Time will fix this for certain!  Callie enjoys meeting both people and dogs, but particularly loves to meet all the fun kids at Ainslie and Brayden's school. The kids are the ones who give her the most attention! 

We have already been away with Callie, travelling to a farmstay at the end of April where Callie socialised with all the dogs there very well and exhausted herself playing and running.  We are planning on another 2 night adventure with Callie in June where we are going to Merriwa Sheep Festival so will let you know how that goes.

I really enjoyed watching the Noonbarra DVD and wish there was some way I could see Callie in action with some sheep!

June 2010: She is growing up quickly.  We have just spent a weekend in Merriwa for the Festival of the Fleeces.  Callie got to meet dozens of other dogs, other kelpies and sheep!  You will see in the photos, one of them shows her seriously eyeballing some sheep in a pen. How she wanted to get in there! She entered the small dogs high jump (for small dogs and puppies) at Merriwa for a bit of fun (well it was Ainslie's idea!) and came 2nd. She earned $20 for that bit of talent. Some of the kelpies were jumping (climbing really) 1.85metres! It was so much fun.

A very young Noonbarra Callie at The Merriwa Festival of the Fleeces.

We stayed at a farmstay called Hidden Valley and one of the photos shows Callie with Ainslie on a hammock at the farmstay. She didn't get along with the resident Kelpie cross Fox Terrier who growled and barred her teeth at Calllie most of the time, so we had to keep Callie on the lead. We were scared that the dog would bite her.  Callie does get a bit excited when she meets other dogs and barks at them - she is improving with more exposure to other dogs. We have had a lot of rain and we didn't get Callie out and about as often as we'd like (and Obedience training was cancelled for 3 weeks in a row) so this obviously has an impact.

She is such a good girl - she really is so funny and we love her so much.  Callie gets a lot of attention wherever she goes. At Merriwa a gentleman approached me and asked so many questions of me about her breeding. I gave him your website and names and also the sire and bitch for Callie as he was adamant he wanted a fawn/tan kelpie.  I did mention however, that he may have to wait a long time as the fawn/tan coloured kelpies are not easy to come by.

When we first arrived to the farmstay in Merriwa the owner I'm certain must have thought Callie was a little out of control. After 2 hours in the car and on alighting from the car to all the farm smells, in the dark and their (not so friendly) dog - she got a little over excited and started to bark, pull on the lead and not act calm.  The owner was a little taken aback. The following evening, inside the guest dining area, the owner approached Callie (rather nervously I might add) again and I instructed Callie to (a) "On your mat", (b) "Sit" (c) "Down" and (d) "Stay". Well, can I boast here and say that Callie followed every instruction as delivered and sat on her mat staring calmly at the lady.  The lady was suitably impressed!  I couldn't believe it!  Callie had remained calm and obeyed each and every instruction I had asked of her, in this new environment and the "On your Mat" command was something I had only begun training her 3 days prior to our weekend away!

Ainslie Teys with Callie winning $20 for 2nd place in the puppy high jump competition

I hope you are both well.  Heidi is now nearly 7 months old so I thought you would like to hear how she is going.

NOONBARRA KOKODA

Noonbarra Jackaroo X Noonbarra Meg

Born 2nd Jan 2009

Owned by Michael & Tracey O'Keefe in Victoria

It's terrible when a customer contacts us to let us know one of our lovely Kelpies has passed away. It's bad enough when they are old dogs but it is more upsetting when it's a young dog in their prime like Noonbarra Kokoda. The family didn't even get to see him as a mature dog. We have put the information here as a little memorial to him so he's not forgotten.

We recently lost our beloved KoKoda and are completely devastated by his loss.  He ran after a rabbit at our local park and onto a road straight in front of a car.

We were unable to call him back in time and he died in my husbands arms in a matter of minutes.  He was just 18 months old. 

KoKoda was the sweetest natured boy – he made us laugh when he ‘talked’ to us and did silly things like spinning in circles with his ‘bed’ on his head or doing his ‘indian dance’ (whenever he was given a particularly tasty treat he would dance in circles around it for up to 10 minutes before finally giving in and eating it !) 

He was extremely affectionate – he would give me a thank-you lick on my hand as he waited for the command to ‘eat’ his dinner – and even at 18 months he would let my husband pick him up and cuddle him like a baby ! A day would not go by without receiving one of his spontaneous ‘kisses’– he was delightful. 

We would like to know if there is any possibility of buying another pup from you – and if you could help us to pick a pup that has similar traits – maybe we could wait until you have another litter from Jackaroo and Meg II – we are not too sure.   

We know he can never be replaced and I know it sounds silly but I think we would like to pick another boy puppy that is red and tan to love – I would appreciate your advice – and if you are thinking of mating his parents again in future? 

Maybe we are better off letting you choose for us based on your knowledge of the appropriate temperament for a city dog.  We do know after having Kody in our lives that we will never own any other dog than a Kelpie. 

Thank you for picking Kody for us – he made us very happy and we definitely loved him to bits.