Norm’s Coolies

DOGS have always been Norm Keast’s best mates, starting with his boyhood pal Rover, and the sheepdogs on the family farm at Riverton. Then, moving to Tanunda in the 1970s and still working on the farm, he knew he had found a rare breed when he bought his first Coolie, Happy.

“I named her Happy because she was always happy – she’d sit in my truck while I was at the livestock markets and the next thing I knew she would be socialising among the men and then by my side,” he said.

Norm was so delighted with his new companion that he decided to get another Coolie, Ben and start breeding them.

“Ben was a bit of a rat bag but they were nice pups,” Norm said.

It was the start of a dynasty – the 45 dogs on Norm’s property today are all descendants of Happy and Ben.

“I had wanted to train dogs to sell to farmers, but then I decided to do something different and start a tourist attraction,” Norm said.

And his decision to train his white-and tan, blue-eyed Coolies to perform for tourists was “the start of a dream”.

Norm started with a troupe of 11 dogs 20 years ago, teaching them to “sleep”. The show now features 30 dogs that Norm says “are enough to control”.
“I make them sleep for an hour as part of their training, so they won’t break during a show when I get them to sleep in a line, each with their arms around another’s neck – they never know when I will get them to wake up,” Norm said.

While every Coolie has a name, Norm is careful to avoid playing favourites or pamper any of them.

“We are very close, but I do not spoil them – they only eat what they need to because you can’t have fat working dogs,” he said. “And they sleep in the shed or out in the open, which many of them prefer.”

With constant training, the dogs are so in tune with their master that Norm is careful not to talk to anyone in the lead-up to a performance.”1 cannot afford to have any difference of opinion with anyone before a show because the dogs will pick it up and they won’t work – they sense everything and they will break at the slightest distraction,’ he said.

The intense training regime makes for a captivating experience for audiences Norm and his Coolies host three times a week – 12 of the dogs can walk on their hind legs.

Sheep are also featured in the show, and Norm invites audience participation.

“I can hold children’s attention for close to an hour and I always bring them into the show – we sit with the dogs and then all race to the gate,” Norm said.

And while tourists from all over the world travel to Norm’s property to see the show, Norm’s Coolies – as they are known – are a familiar sight in Tanunda.

“I take them shopping and they sit in the back of the ute and wait for me – they are known everywhere in town,” Norm said.

“The Coolies have given me a wonderful life – life with these beautiful dogs has to be experienced to understand the love and loyalty we share,

“They are not the average Coolies – I have developed my own breed and one day hope to have them registered one day as ‘Norm’s Coolies.’