I was just visiting my childhood friend and she has some Kelpie/ MacNab mixes and I just loved how smart these dogs were. Their faces showed so much and you could see their brains just working. I know that a very smart dog would take a lot of work and time, I have lots of time and don't mind hard work with a dog. They have such "soft" mouths, I got herded all weekend, lots of fun.

I thought they were extremely active and high strung, need to be "amused" and entertained almost all of the time.

Was that the case?

No, but I noticed that they needed to be with you all the time when ever they were in the house they were right by your side at all times. Yes the female was very good at getting out of the kennel if it wasn't locked with a pad lock. Thye like having work to do, so taking them on wlks is a must and lots of training is a must.