Australian Kelpie

Australian Kelpie

A red show-line Kelpie
Other names	Kelpie Barb
Country of origin	Australia
Traits
Classification and standards FCI Group 1 Section 1 #293 standard ANKC Group 5 - (Working Dogs) standard CKC Group 7 - Herding standard NZKC Working standard UKC Herding Dogs standard
Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

This article is about the dog breed; for the aquatic creature from Celtic mythology, see kelpie.

The Kelpie is an Australian sheep dog successful at mustering and droving with little or no command guidance. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours. Kelpies have been exported throughout the world and are used to muster livestock, primarily sheep, cattle, goats and poultry.

The breed has been separated into two distinct varieties: the show or bench Kelpie and the working Kelpie. The show Kelpie is seen at conformation dog shows in some countries and is selected for appearance rather than working instinct. Working Kelpies are bred for working ability rather than appearance. The Kelpie breed is often identified by a facial expression similar to a human smile.

Characteristics

Black and tan Kelpie

Chocolate brown Kelpie

Appearance

The variety of colouration and coat types puts the Kelpie in a select group, as it is not possible to look at an unidentified dog and classify it as a Kelpie. Kelpies referred to as Red Cloud Kelpies have red features with white markings on the face, chest, and feet.

Breed standards

Breed standards vary depending on whether the registry is for working or show Kelpies. It is possible for a dog to both work and show, but options for competition in conformation shows might be limited depending on ancestry and the opinions of the kennel clubs or breed clubs involved.

In Australia, there are two separate registries for Kelpies.

Working Kelpies are registered with the Working Kelpie Council (WKC), which is the primary authority on the breed standard, and/or the State Sheepdog Workers Association. The WKC encourages breeding for working ability, and allows a wide variety of coat colours. The wide standards allowed by the WKC mean that Working Kelpies do not meet the standard for showing. Show Kelpies are registered with the Australian National Kennel Council, which encourages breeding for a certain appearance and limits acceptable colours. Only Show Kelpies may be shown in Australia.^[1]

Breed standards outside Australia

In the USA, the Kelpie is not recognised as a breed by the American Kennel Club (AKC).^[2] The North American Australian Kelpie Registry, which promotes the dog as a working breed, does not want the breed to be promoted by the AKC. Kelpies are recognised by the United Kennel Club (UKC) in the United States and may compete in UKC events. The Svenska Working Kelpie Klubben also does not permit Working Kelpies to be shown.

Working Kelpies

Kelpie walking across the backs of sheep

An Australian Kelpie competing in a cattle dog trial, Woolbrook, NSW.

Kelpie going back down a race to move the sheep forward.

The working Kelpie comes in three coat types, smooth, short, and rough, with almost every colour from black through light tan or cream. Some Kelpies have a white blaze on the chest, a few have white points. Kelpies sometimes have a double coat, which sheds out in spring in temperate climates. Agouti is not unusual, and can look like a double coat.

Working Kelpies stand about 50 centimetres (19.5 inches) at the withers for females, 55 centimetres (21.5 inches) for males, and weigh between 14 and 21 kilograms (31-46 pounds). Ears are pricked, but some dogs have one or both ears flopped; the tail will often follow the coat type, and will vary between smooth and bushy. The dog's working ability is unrelated to appearance, so stockmen looking for capable working dogs disregard the dog's appearance.

A working Kelpie can be a cheap and efficient worker that can save farmers and graziers the cost of several hands when mustering livestock.^[3] The good working Kelpies are heading dogs that will prevent stock from moving away from the stockman.^[4] This natural instinct is crucial when mustering stock in isolated gorge country, where a good dog will silently move ahead of the stockman and block up the stock (usually cattle) until the rider appears. The preferred dogs for cattle work are Kelpies, often of a special line, or a Kelpie cross.^[5] They will drive a mob of livestock long distances in extremes of climates and conditions. Kelpies have natural instincts for managing livestock. They will work sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, and other domestic livestock. The Kelpie's signature move is to jump on the backs of sheep and walk across the tops of the sheep to reach the other side and break up the jam. A good working Kelpie is a versatile dog—they can work all day on the farm, ranch, or station, and trial on the weekends. Kelpies compete and are exhibited in livestock working trials, ranging from yards or arenas to large open fields working sheep, goats, cattle, or ducks.^[6]

Herding instincts and trainability can be measured when introduced to livestock or at non-competitive herding tests. Kelpies exhibiting basic herding instincts can be trained to compete in herding trials.^[7]

Show Kelpies

Show Kelpies are restricted to solid colours (black, chocolate, red, smoky blue, fawn, black and tan, red and tan) in a short double coat with pricked ears. Different kennel clubs' breed standards have preferences for certain colours. Show Kelpies are generally heavier and shorter than working Kelpies.

Temperament

Kelpie competing in a dog jumping class

Kelpies are loyal, friendly, intelligent, energetic dogs that require a challenging job to be satisfactory companions. They need to be stimulated, as idle and bored dogs become frustrated, noisy, and destructive. With personalised love and attention, they can be very placid and faithful, although they do need space to run. For the show or bench Kelpie, walks and socialisation may be sufficient to keep them happy. A working bred Kelpie must have a job to do and plenty of exercise and mental stimulation to remain healthy and companionable. A Kelpie is not aggressive towards people and cannot be considered a guard dog, though he will certainly bark when necessary. Working Kelpies may nip when working stock and should be taught early not to do so to humans.

Working-bred Kelpies have done quite well in dog sports, search and rescue work, and can be good family dogs if they receive sufficient physical and mental exercise. The breed is unsuitable for a sedentary life and would not thrive in an apartment setting.

Show Kelpies generally excel in agility trials and may be shown in conformation in Australia. 'Riley', an Australian Kelpie, set the world record for dog jumping when he jumped 2.95 metres at the Casterton, Victoria Kelpie Festival. In his previous 30 high jumping competitions he was defeated only twice.^[8]

Health

Kelpies are a hardy breed with few health problems, but they are susceptible to disorders common to all breeds, like cryptorchidism, hip dysplasia, cerebellar abiotrophy and luxating patella. Current research is underway to find the genetic marker for cerebellar abiotrophy in the breed.

History

Sign at Ardlethan, New South Wales, claiming the town as "The home of the Kelpie"

The ancestors of the Kelpie were simply (black) dogs, called Colleys or Collies. The word "collie" has the same root as "coal" and "collier (ship)"^[9][10]. Some of these collies were imported to Australia for stock work in the early 1800s, and were bred to other types of dogs (possibly including the occasional Dingo), but always with an eye to working sheep without direct supervision. Today's Collie breeds were not formed until about ten or 15 years after the Kelpie was established as a breed,^[11] with the first official Border Collie not brought to Australia until after Federation in 1901.^[12]

Kelpies have been claimed to have some Dingo blood; as it was illegal to keep dingoes as pets, some dingo owners registered their animals as Kelpies or Kelpie crosses. It should be noted that Kelpies and dingoes are similar in conformation and colouring. There is no doubt that some people have deliberately mated dingoes to their Kelpies, and some opinion holds that the best dilution is 1/16-1/32, but that 1/2 and 1/4 will work.^[13] As the Dingo has been regarded as a savage sheep-killer since the first white settlement of Australia, few will admit to the practice.^[13]

The first "Kelpie" was a black and tan female pup with floppy ears bought by Jack Gleeson about 1872^[14] from a litter born on Warrock Station near Casterton, owned by George Robertson, a Scot. This dog was named after the mythological kelpie from Celtic folklore.^[15] Legend has it that "Kelpie" was sired by a dingo, but there is little evidence for or against this. In later years she was referred to as "(Gleeson's) Kelpie", to differentiate her from "(King's) Kelpie", her daughter.

The second "Kelpie" was "(King's) Kelpie", another black and tan bitch out of "Kelpie" by "Caesar", a pup from two sheep-dogs imported from Scotland. Again, there are legends that these two sheep-dogs may never have seen Scotland, and may have had dingo blood. "(King's) Kelpie" tied the prestigious Forbes Trial in 1879,^[16] and the strain was soon popularly referred to as "Kelpie's pups", or just Kelpies. The King brothers joined another breeder, McLeod, to form a dog breeding partnership whose dogs dominated trials during 1900 to 1920.^[14]

An early Kelpie, Sally was mated to Moss a smooth haired Collie and she produced a black pup that was named Barb after the black horse, The Barb who won the Melbourne Cup in 1866. This then was how black Kelpies became known as Barb Kelpies.^[6]

There were a number of Kelpies called 'Red Cloud'. The first and most famous was John Quinn's Red Cloud in the early 1900s, and then in the 1960s another "Red Cloud" that became very well known in Western Australia. This started the tradition in Western Australia of calling all red or red and tan Kelpies, especially those with white chests, Red Cloud Kelpies.^[17]

Kelpies have now been exported to many countries including, Argentina, Canada, Italy, Korea, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States for various pursuits.^[6]

Recently Kelpies have been trained as scent dogs with good success rates. In Sweden they are widely used for tracking and rescue work.^[6]

See also

• Red Dog (Karratha)
• Working Group (dogs)
• Sheep husbandry

References

Further reading

• Hartnagle-Taylor, Jeanne Joy, and Taylor, Ty (2010). Stockdog Savvy. Alpine Publications. ISBN 10:1-57779-106-1. 

External links

• Working Kelpie Council
• Photographs of the officially recognised Show Kelpie coat colours
• Genetic basis of Kelpie coat colours
• Casterton, 'Kelpie Country' Home of the annual Australian Kelpie Muster and Festival

Kelpies around the world

• WorkingKelpie.eu
• Australian Kelpies in Hungary
• Australian Kelpies Kennels in Holland
• KelpieNet: Australian Kelpies in Finland
• Australian Kelpie in Holland
• North American Australian Kelpie Registry
• Svenska Working Kelpie Klubben
• Svenska Australian Kelpie Klubben