THE KELPIE STORY

THE DINGOES

KELPIE AND DINGO CROSSES

" Many people, perhaps the majority of country folk, firmly believe that the Australian shhep dog, the Kelpie, originated by crossing Australian Dingoes with collies which had been imported from the British Iles. Thus they completely discredit the fine breeding carried out by Australian breeders in the latter half of the last century. That matings between Dingoes and Collies did take place, either deliberately or accidently, is undeniable. These unions are biologically possible and produce Kelpi-like dogs, but they were not the sole origin of the Kelpie, nor in fact did they play any important part in the foundation of the breed. - W. B. Pridmore (The Origin of the Kelpie)

JACK GOODFELLOW (Currawang Kelpie Stud)

"But Mr. Goodfellow gave me to understand that he valued the dash of Dingo blood because of the increased hardiness he attributed to it. He also stated that dogs with a dash of Dingo would stand up to punishment better than straight-bred Kelpies."

"Punishment here does not connote flogging by the owner but such occurrences as charging by a ram or by a fighting, staggy wether. I have seen a wether repeatedly charge and hit old Don without causing the dog to flinch or go out of position. However I have seen similar toughness shown by dogs which had no infusion of Dingo in their makeup .." Dr. R.B. Kelley (1950)

"Now here was one of the most celebrated Kelpie men of his time telling his chief (Jack Goodfellow worked for Dr. Kelley when the latter was officer-in-charge of the F.D. McMaster Field Station at Budgery's Creek) that his two noted Kelpies, Currawang Nap and Don O'Currawang, had a splash of Dingo. This is not shown in the pedigrees, but knowing Jack Goodfellow as I did, I could not believe he would have told Dr. Kelley an untruth."

"If in fact Don and Nap did have a splash of Dingo blood, the Newton dogs bred from Currawang Tip would trace to it and so would some of the Wyalong dogs and many others, and every Kelpie tracing to Currawang Nap and Don O'Currawang also traces to Dingo."

"On the evidence I have presented here, it seems that a lot of Kelpie breeders could have Dingo blood in their dogs without being aware of it. Jack Goodfellow didn't deny one word of the Kelley article. He wrote to me in 1950, the year the Kelley article appeared, still espousing the value of the Dingo cross, and later told me much the same story as that of Dr. Kelley." - Tony Parsons (The Working Kelpie 1986) - Karrawarra Kelpie Stud.

Mike Donelan (Bullenbong Kelpie Stud)

The late Mike Donelan ran the successful Bullenbong Working Kelpie Stud at a place called 'The Rock' near Wagga Wagga in NSW. This location was the same place (Originally called 'Hanging Rock') that the King family lived and developed the first Kelpies in the 1800's. His family had been involved with Kelpies for almost 100 years. Mike Donelan wrote a self-published book called 'The Australian Kelpie'. In the book he set forth his views on the Dingo and the Kelpie.

"Does anyone really know what other breeds the wily bushmen have introduced into the Kelpie? Are stories told by grizzled, sunburnt old men over remote, outback camp fires true ? .. Anyhow, why should we be ashamed of some masterful act committed by some long dead stockman? Basically it's fear and prejudice. The Dingo is a great dog. We fear him because of his superiority over all other breeds in this country. To try to understand this dog, one must live in Dingo country - live with men who live by trying to destroy the Dingo, and also talk to Aboriginals about the Dingo. Remember, they have a million years of experience, of which nothing has been written. Their history is all by word of mouth; they have no 'papers', no history books.

"The Dingo has been, and in some areas still is, the sheep man's most formidable enemy; he generates fear and hatred. Yet if one studies this dog open-mindedly, one must come to the conclusion that he is tough and resourceful - two vital needs for our conditions. Today he is bred in captivity. Some pure Dingoes have even been trained and domesticated. Few could really study this great dog and not recognise some similar traits to the Kelpie. Once in the Simpson Desert, I watched Dingoes 'stepping high' in their natural walking habits. Their walk is different. They walk light and high - you don't blunder into traps that way and your feet don't get sore on the stones or Bindii. I've seen Kelpies with this high stepping action. No other breed walks in the same manner - except the Dingo.

The Dingo also cuts off one sheep from a mob to kill it. Many Kelpies I've seen cut one sheep off. They love to work one; some will even scruff one if not under good control. Where do they get this habit ? With strong eyed and 'sticky to move'? I wonder and have done so for many years. .. Once I camped with an Aboriginal dogger; a well educated man on one of the most remote sheep stations of Queensland. He made his living trapping and killing Dingoes. This man had tremendous admiration for the Dingo as a dog... When this man spoke of the Dingo's likes and dislikes, it was like listening to an old Kelpie hand." - Mike Donelan (The Australian Kelpie)

CHRIS E. HOWE

Mr. Howe is a man that has spent his life around Sheepdogs. He is well known as a good handler of sheepdogs. He is also a breeder and importer of horses and I believe he is in the 'Stockmans Hall of Fame' at Longreach in Queensland. The following is an extract he originally wrote to Australian Stockdog Magazine. He was 91 years old at the time.

"One only has to study the Kelpie to find that it tolerates and adopts the Dingo strain. ...I have seen some weak Kelpies but none with a dash of Dingo."

"Years ago we conducted a mobile open sheep dipping plant. It was strenuous work, out in all types of weather. Often the Kelpie would sneak off for a drink while the Dingo infused dog would not leave his sheep, he seemed to possess unlimited stamina."

"I arranged with a reliable friend in South Australia to secure a pure bred Dingo bitch from the north. Eventually I handed her over to my Aboriginal friend warning him not to lose her but in a fortnight he had her leading and he could put his hand in her mouth."

"At 12 months I mated her to Herdsman's Boy, a pure Border (Collie)... She had 6 pups and I kept a red dog that worked quietly and I kept a black dog but he was a failure. I mated him with a pure Kelpie bitch and kept a big black dog pup. He would work but had no style, but I mated him to another Kelpie bitch and from that litter I kept a black bitch, a nice quiet type, she was a worker.

I then bred her to another Kelpie dog and kept a black dog. A neighbour purchased him and told me you could not stop him from working, other dogs would toddle away for a drink on a hot day, but this fellow wouldn't stop. My neighbours loaned him to drovers and later told me that he did not expect him back. I rang the drover and he said he is by far the best dog in the district in yard, paddock and no bite - he reckoned he was a champion on any count."

"The above is my experience. I believe they have a lot to recommend them, however I have found they are hard to control and they are fast and tough, but require skill to handle them. -Chris E. Howe (Australian Stockdog Magazine July 1998.)

Personal letters to Mary Bilson from Chris E. Howe

"Although he is a prominent member of Australia's wildlife, he has had more opposition than any other species... A Dingo can be trained but he is a single thinking individual that requires many hours of careful training...I believe the Kelpie is part Dingo, their charceristics are so similar. Some fool spread the idea they were imported from overseas. I guess he read it from a book and the rumour spread from the telling."

"We know the Dingo is a killer but name me a dog that will not kill. .. (a breeder) sent up here a lovely little Border bitch, she would not bite sheep. However one evening I let a dozen dogs loose for a run and when I called the little bitch was missing. I found her on her own with a sheep with its throat torn out. (The Breeder) asked about her and was shocked. I replied that she was too risky to keep and she was destroyed. We also had a black & tan Smithfield type. His sire was a Champion. One day he just knocked a sheep down and killed it. I can state many cases."

"Getting back to our old friend the dingo, many have been crossing them but tell no one. Perhaps silence is golden."

"I stated some years ago that I had secured a pure Dingo bitch and tried to get in the same line as imported Jenny and Brutus. Well the third cross from that litter produced the Champion up in the Sheparton area. I sent two early pups to NSW breeders and they asked me not to mention their names to anyone; but I kept a red dog and called him Ring and he was a good worker and a truck dog."

" With the part-Dingo they are usually reared from a broken-in mother and they are handled as little fellows. .. later you can train them and also keep saying the same thing to them. 'Good dog', 'Good dog' and caress them at the same time. Take them about with you and feed them. Say 'Good dog', don't just treat them as ornaments, .. up to four months encourage the kiddies to play with them. - Part of personal correspondance to Mary Bilson Jan 1999.

LES TARRANT (ROCKYBAR KELPIE STUD) - THEN VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE WORKING KELPIE COUNCIL

In a newspaper article Les Tarrant is quoted. ..Les Tarrant does not believe the Dingo played any part in the development of the breed; nor does the Working Kelpie Council which maintains that the infusion of Dingo blood did nothing to enhance the breed.

"I had dogs of Dingo blood and while they would work they were unruly and not a patch on the pure-bred," Les said. But why are there so many similarities between the Dingo and the Kelpie? .. Old newspaper article by Gary Somerville.

GEOFFREY BLIGHT W.A.

Geoffry Blight is a well known animal trainer from Western Australia. He has worked sheepdogs for about 50 years and often gives demonstrations and exhibitions with Kelpies, dingoes and Foxes etc. In a letter to the 'Australian Working Stockdog Magazine' in January 1999 he wrote (in part):

"I had the same curiousity about Kelpies and have had pure and cross bred Dingoes for many years. I have made a living for five decades working sheepdogs and have had a very high regard for working dogs including Kelpies and Border Collies. In that time I have learnt more from watching dogs than listening to people relating second information."

"I don't believe a Dingo can wash, iron and fold baby clothes but work stock they can, especially when crossed with the British working dogs. And blow me down if they don't have wide crown, prick ears, black pads and are often the spitting image of a Kelpie, but never seem to be long haired or black & white..." Part of a letter by Geoffrey Blight, to Australian Working Stockdog Magazine Jan 1999

JAMES L. MOORE

"The late James L. Moore, author of the 'Canine King', shared Mr. Goodfellow's view that Dingo blood had been infused into the early Australian Kelpies. Mr. Moore, an importer of working Collies and breeder of Australian Kelpies, was asknowledged by the International Working Sheepdog Society (United Kingdom) as a world authority on sheep dogs. .. Mr. Moore believed that the Dingo's pecular style of movement, with a stilted shoulder action, was common to many of today's northern Kelpies." - The Victorian Weekly Times July 1963

"Although various Australian kennel control councils state that there is no Dingo blood in the Kelpie, many breeders and fanciers feel differently. It is a tradition - that will never be entered on a pedigree - that farmers have often put a Dingo over one of their Working Kelpies, and then bred the progeny back to pure Kelpies again." - Gill Ryhorchuk (Author 'A Dingo in the Family'.)

SHOW KELPIES & DINGOES

It is interesting to note that even the Show Kelpie strain had pure Dingo go into it a while back from Mr. Foote's Wiltonvale Kelpie Kennel. Wiltonvale Lucky and Wiltonvale Kelp and others traced a few generations back to a pure Dingo put over Kelp 1st to produce Ginger. This information was in a pedigree supplied by Norm McLeod in his book 'The Australian Kelpie Handbook'. Wiltonvale Kennels also supplied some of the early foundation dogs for Tim Austin's famous Elfinvale Kelpies in Victoria.

THE TAME DINGO

Over the years a lot of Australians have kept Dingoes as pets. From the Aboriginals to the Shepherds and the early Sydney society. Many experts in the past have said that Dingoes are untrainable but many have proved them wrong - at least up to a point.

In 1980, Gill Rythorchuk wrote a book detailing her experiences in rearing, training and caring for Dingoes as family pets. The book was called 'A Dingo in the Family'. One of the Dingoes she had was 'Shadow'. "We began to take Shadow out walking with the other dogs, but didn't use a leash, as he fought it vehemently. Fortunately, he was content to follow us, as long as he had the other dogs for moral support. If we took him out on his own, he would hang back uncertainly, or plunge disobediently into other people's properties and refuse to come out. If I took him to the park when I went jogging, he would follow me closely, ignoring the other dogs, who always tore off to run and sniff."

Mr. Robert Kaleski an early Australian authority on dogs kept a number of pet Dingoes in the early 1900's. In his book, 'Barkers and Biters (1914) he wrote: "Another funny thing about the tame Dingo is that he does not like his master to correct him too much. He will stand being beaten up to a certain point; after that - snaps. So when, following the tenth welt or so, he smiles and shows his fangs it is well to forgive him; then all is right again. This is one case in which the Dingo is superior to the tame dog. He says, in effect, "To a reasonable amount of punishment I will submit, but no more." - Robert Kaleski (Barkers & Biters 1914 - Revised 1933)

ROBERT KALESKI - A few years ago I had one I used to lead about Sydney on a light string. He was especially fond of children, yet the purest one I ever owned. The next one I had, to the day of his death, wouldn't so much as let me lay a hand on him, though I reared him from a baby."

Lionel Hudson, author of the book 'Dingoes Don't Bark' (1974) kept a Dingo pup called 'Noxious' in Sydney during the 1970's. An extract from his book reads: "I must confess that, being acutely aware of the consequences of a Dingo bite, I kept Noxious well away from plump arms extended from prams."

"One day while being served in a shop, I looked down to see Noxious licking the sticky fingers of a youngster who had been wheeled up to him in a stroller by an unsuspecting mother. "Nice puppy," she cooed. The child promptly smacked Noxious on the snout. I froze but the Dingo turned his head out of reach under the pretext of sniffing a hanging shopping bag." - Lionel Hudson

"Despite 99% opposition, and ominous warnings that a Dingo is essentially a wild animal - unpredictable, uncontrollable, untrainable and savage - I commenced to train my first Dingo in 1974. ... I was training Dora, Snowgoose, Napoleon plus others, Napoleon topped his graduation class, working off-lead, with 92 points out of a possible 100. This was absolutely incredible. However, a few weeks later Snowgoose topped a class of 42 with 98 points out of a possible 100. Second to her were two Dobermans with 92 and 91 respectively." - Berenice Walters

Most Australians agree with Peter Allen, the greatest dogger of them all, when he says: "The Dingo is the best dog God ever put on Earth. When they're tamed, a child could pull them to pieces without danger. They're friendly, intelligent and faithful." - By Frank Madigan.

In 1998, NSW became the first State in Australia to remove the Dingo from its 'Noxious Animals' list. This means that people can now keep these animals without having to apply for special licences.

David Steward, Manager of the Australian Native Dog Conservation Society said," We think its a good idea that the tag of 'noxious animal' has been removed from the Dingo, but on the other hand we are concerned that they may be exploited by irresponsible breeders who are hoping to make a quick dollar. .. The Dingoes are at the harder end of the scale of dog breeds  when it comes to training, so we don't encourage people to keep them and we don't promote them as pets."

DINGOES DON'T BARK - Lionel Hudson 1974

SHEEPDOGS - Dr. R. B. Kelley 1942 - (4th edition 1970)

THE AUSTRALIAN KELPIE - Tony Parsons 1992

BARKERS AND BITERS - Robert Kaleski 1914

THE DINGO - Roland Breckwoldt 1988

THE AUSTRALIAN KELPIE - Mike Donelan (approx. 1980?)

THE WORKING KELPIE - Tony Parsons 1986

A DINGO IN THE FAMILY - Gill Ryhorchuk 1980

AUSTRALIAN WORKING STOCKDOG MAGAZINE. 1998

DOGS OF AUSTRALIA -Kennel Control council of Victoria. 1973

IN THE COMPANY OF DINGOES - Berenice Walters 1995

THE AUSTRALIAN KELPIE HANDBOOK - Norm McLeod 1975

Nearly all of the above books are now out of print and therefore no longer attainable. Further research came from personal letters, interviews, newspaper articles and conversations with many of the older Kelpie breeders.