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.

History

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)."  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 10 or 15 years after the Kelpie was established as a breed,[9] with the first official Border Collie not brought to Australia until after Federation in 1901. Some people claim that Kelpies 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 very similar in conformation and colouring.  There is no doubt that some 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.  As the Dingo has been regarded as a savage sheep-killer since the first white settlement of Australia, few will admit to the practice. The first "Kelpie" was a black and tan female pup with floppy ears bought by Jack Gleeson about 1872 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.  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, 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. 

Appearance and Size

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.  Not a currently recognised breed, Kelpies referred to as Red Cloud Kelpies have red features with white markings on the face, chest, and feet. Breed standards vary depending on whether the registry is for working or show Kelpies. It is possible for a dog to do both, but his options for competition in conformation shows might be limited depending on his ancestry and on the opinions of the various kennel clubs or breed clubs involved. In Australia, there are two separate registries for Kelpies.[citation needed] 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 Working Kelpie cannot be shown, due to the wide standards allowed by the WKC. Show Kelpies are registered with the Australian National Kennel Council, that encourages breeding for a certain appearance and limits dogs to certain colours. Only Show Kelpies may be shown in Australia. In the USA, the Kelpie is not recognized as a breed by the American Kennel Club (AKC).  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 recognized 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.  

Personality

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 2.91 metres at the Casterton, Victoria Kelpie Festival. In his previous 30 high jumping competitions he was only beaten twice.

Wikipedia and GNU

The content of this entry is from the Wikipedia article "Australian Kelpie" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.