We have an Australian Kelpie which is a very closely related breed. The rest of her family is on cattle ranches but it was decided that she didn't have the temperament and would do better as a pet. What everyone is saying about being obedient but needing tons of exercise is correct. Luckily our girl is pretty easy to exercise because she loves running so much that you can stand at the park while she does wind sprints (sprint across the field, jog back) until she is ready to collapse. Playing soccer is also great with her because she'll try to 'herd' the ball back to us. That said when she doesn't get exercised, like when she was supposed to be resting after getting spayed, she goes nuts. She ran laps around our house for hours straight barking at everything; it's a miracle she didn't pull her stitches.
She's also pretty asocial even after our having another dog, putting her through puppy class and spending hours at the dog park each week. She snaps at small dogs, cowers around the rest, and freaks out when she's near children or people on bicycles. She'll try to herd people occasionally as well.
Despite that she is a complete suck. Super cuddly and pretty impossible to resist. She loves going backpacking and hiking with us (although we sometimes head the wrong way having decided to trust her route finding abilities).
Here she is leading the way up Mount Seton last weekend:
