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 Dogs - Australian Kelpie Breed
FAMOUS WORKING KELPIES AND THEIR HISTORY
By Stephen and Mary Bilson
The Working Kelpie was formed in Australia by a number of very keen dog
breeders in the mid 1800's. Although there were a lot of sheepdogs in the
colony most did very little except to act as guard dogs for the flocks of
sheep. At first Australia used shepherds to watch their sheep as had been
the tradition in Britain but by the mid 1800's the large grazing
properties were being fenced because of new laws coming into force and the
sheep were less tame and needed to be gathered by stockman and their
sheepdogs.
It was a period when the hard conditions in Australia and the rapid growth
of the sheep population meant that effective dogs that could work the
sheep were needed more than ever. Many of the dog breeds imported from
Britain could not adapt to the work and would not stand up to the heat or
the terrain. Many of them were not even sheep gathering dogs as we know
sheepdogs today but were used as protectors of the flock or at best
droving dogs. There was a huge demand for dogs that could actually go out
and gather and hold sheep and move them from place to place. Fortunately,
there were a number of people in Australia who strived to have the best
sheepdogs and we owe these people a great debt. Today, it is estimated
there are probably more than 450,000 sheepdogs working in Australia, the
vast majority are Working Kelpies .
Sheep numbers in the State of New South Wales (NSW) more than tripled from
five million to sixteen million between 1861 and 1871. By the 1890's there
were sixty two million sheep. Huge properties and pastoral companies
sprung up and some of these were over one million acres.
It must be stressed that the Kelpie breed was NOT formed from Border
Collies. In fact the breed of Border Collies was not formed until some
time after the Kelpie was well established. The two breeds however were
both formed by mixing different strains of working Colleys in England,
Ireland, Wales and Scotland and developing them to suit the needs of the
situation. The Dingo is also thought to have played a part in some of the
early development and certainly was involved by a lot of breeders at a
later stage. (See separate section on 'Kelpie and the Dingo). The breed of
the K elpie
was then developed from a number of different strains of good dogs
especially for Australian conditions and Australian methods of handling
sheep and stock and is an entirely Australian breed.
" .. The Smithfield dogs (black & white bob-tailed dogs) and Russian
Collies were used by the early settlers of Australia to work their flocks
of sheep and herds of cattle. Other breeds of long haired dogs were
imported from Great Britain but all proved unsuitable for working under
our conditions. The Rough Haired Scotch Collie was among those used but he
had a wedge-shaped head, totally unlike present day Collies." - Dogs of
Australia.
It is quite obvious that this dog looks nothing like the Border Collie we
know today.
The biggest problem in researching the early Kelpie seems to be the word
'Collie' or 'Colley'. It tends to confuse many new Kelpie people. It
refers to general farm working dogs. In fact true herding dogs were
usually called sheepdogs rather than collies but the use of the word
gradually changed. The word Collie or Colley does not refer to a
particular breed. The Border Collie is a breed. Bearded Collie is a breed.
Collie Rough (Lassie type) is a breed. The Kelpie is a breed. All would
have been referred to as Collies or Colleys in the 1800's. In fact some
early documents in Australia even referred to the Kelpie as Kelpie
Collies.
 Many
people are responsible for all the hard work of developing this wonderful
Kelpie breed and we think they deserve recognition. We also think the
Kelpie has a wonderful and exciting history and all lovers of this great
dog should at least have some knowledge of the work done by thousands of
breeders over many years. We would like to see the Kelpie promoted to the
position he deserves, as one of the greatest herding dogs in the world.
The Kelpie has been a legend in rural Australia for over a century!
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