THE KELPIE
STORY
THE KELPIE
STORY
There are a few pages for this section as it is very long with a lot of photos. We think it is worth the wait. New information on the Dingo is coming in all the time.
The question of Dingo blood in the Kelpie is one that has been around right from the beginnings of Kelpie breeding in the 1800's. It is not a new argument. There is no doubt that there is Dingo blood in some Kelpies but the real question is if the Dingo had a major part to play in the formation of the breed and would therefore be in all Kelpies.
Gleesons Kelpie was one of the foundation dogs that made up the Kelpie breed. She was the dam of the famous Kings Kelpie, the dog the breed took its name from. The official view has always been that Gleesons Kelpie came from a young lad on Worrack Station in Victoria and was bred by the owner of the property, Mr. George Robertson. It has always been assumed that these sheepdogs came from imported dogs that were originally bought out from Scotland although no records have been uncovered to confirm this. The accepted official version is most likely correct but there is also a slight chance that it is not. There have been a number of other reports that state the pup (Kelpie) was from a crossing of a sheepdog with a wild Dingo in the Gippsland area of Victoria and that the bitch was tied to a tree at night when she was on heat.
A letter to Dr. Kelley (author of 'Sheepdogs') in December 1947 from Mr. J.T. Walsh also supports this story. Mr. Walsh was given this information from a old gentleman who lived on the station where Kelpie originated. (This was Woolongongh Station where Jack Gleeson gave Young Kelpie as a present to Mr. Charles King). There are only slight differences in his story such as the bitch was actually tied up by a drover, in an effort to be able to shoot a troublesome Dingo but he mated the bitch without being seen. The old gentleman who related this story to Mr. Walsh was not sure if the man who had the bitch mated by the Dingo and the man who ended up having the pup called Kelpie from the mating were the same person or not but the gentleman assumed he was.
This drover, Jack Gleeson, arrived at Woolongongh Station about two years later with a mob of sheep and 'Kelpie' in pup. He left her at Woolongongh Station to whelp and gave one of the pups to the manager, Mr. Charles King who called the pup 'Young Kelpie' in honour of her mother. She later became better known as Kings Kelpie. There are no written records to confirm this story either. However if this story is true then Jack Gleeson may have even done the original mating with the Dingo himself and only revealed the true breeding of his dog (Kelpie) to a few people.
Robert Kaleski, one of Australia's first sheepdog authorities looked for the true breeding of Gleesons Kelpie and even questioned Mr. P. Mylecharane, a leading figure in the sheep and sheepdog world as well as being the judge at the famous trial at Forbes in 1879 where Kings Kelpie took equal first place. Mr. Kaleski had this to say: " Unfortunately, Mr. Mylecharane could not give me the pedigree of Gleesons Kelpie, and I have not so far found anyone who could. The nearest I can get to it is that she was by a Gippsland Dingo from a black & tan smooth collie, similar to Jenny; but it is only hearsay..." - Robert Kaleski 1911
Another piece of this story comes from 'The Australian Kelpie Handbook' by Norm McLeod (1985).
A Mr. Bert Weston who bred Kelpies in the early 1900's under the name of 'Roundup' was a close friend of Mr. King and also of McLeod in the 1870's. Mr. Weston died in 1935 at the age of 93. Mr. Weston always stated that Gleesons Kelpie was out of a bitch crossed with a Dingo, given to Gleeson around 1870.
The dam of the bitch was Missie owned by Broughton Bros of Lemon Springs near Booroopkie and said to have been imported. The bitch's sire was a dog called Sharper imported to Australia by Mr. H.L. McLeod (said to be an uncle of A.C. McLeod of the famous King & McLeod Kelpie Stud in 1900). The name of the bitch that was mated is still unknown.
Also from the 'Australian Kelpie Handbook is this story:
"Getting back to the theory about the Kelpie origin having Dingo blood; I had an interesting discussion with an old Veterinary surgeon who is a well known Melbourne businessman. He didn't want his name disclosed for obvious reasons. He said he is the Great Grandson of William Dixon a convict of the First Governor of Australia era, around 1788. After serving his sentence he was later granted a large area of land by Governor Phillip in the Jackson's Creek area (Bulla, Victoria). "This gentleman says that as a child he can remember reading from his Great Grandfather's diary how he used to stake his collie-type sheepdog bitches out on the outskirts of the property to mate with the wild Dingo.." - Norm McLeod. (The Australian Kelpie)
We can offer no opinion either way. There is not enough concrete evidence to be positive. Each person will have to decide for themselves whether they think the Dingo plays a major part in the formation of the Kelpie breed or not. Although the Dingo type is not all that different from the Kelpie it still doesn't mean that the two are related. After all both animals have developed for the hard Australian conditions so it is fairly natural that both animals would have similar physical characteristics. If Gleesons Kelpie was from a Dingo sire it still does not change the fact that the very good sheepdogs imported by Elliot and Allen and their offspring were needed to make the Kelpie breed a major success.
The Dingo is well known in its common colour of yellow (sometimes called Ginger or Tan). What is not well known is that the Dingo does have other natural colours such as White and Black & Tan. In the past these were thought to be crossbred Dingoes that had mated with domestic dogs but we now know by scientific testing that it is a pure variation that is natural in the Dingo. Also the earliest Australian explorers and settlers write about seeing black dogs wild in remote areas.
The Squatters Enemy - the Native Dog (1830) - Robert Dawson
The native dogs are of various colours, red, black, red & black, black & white and fawn. They are great enemies of the sheep, which they kill whenever they can, most frequently at night, when in the fold. This is the only serious inconvenience from them, it is however an expensive one, because it obliges them to employ watchmen at the folds all night, and even then, in cold wet weather I have known the dogs to enter the fold in spite of both of them."
ROGER SMITH - DROVER (1988) - " By the way, not many people know that a pure bred Dingo can be 'black & tan'. The CSIRO will quickly confirm this. I had one years ago; but put him down because he had trouble with his hips and I was afraid he might throw it."
After a study in central Australia, it was thought that more than 85% of Dingoes are a yellow or Ginger colour. About 2% are white, about 4-5% are black or black & tan and the remainder have large patches of white or even brindle colouring. Some also have black hairs on their backs or head giving a sable appearance. It has also been suggested but not proven that all pure Dingoes have some white on their toes or feet and a few white hairs on the tip of their tail. The various colours are found in all regions of Australia and are not confined to any particular locality.
GO TO MORE ON KELPIES AND DINGOES - PAGE 2
More information on
Kelpie history can be found in
the latest edition of our
book
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New for 2007, Kelpie history, Kelpie training, Kelpie breeding and great stories
all from one of Australia's past best known Australian Working Kelpie Studs.
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