TODAY'S KELPIES

Today there are plenty of Kelpie breeders in all States of Australia. Kelpies have been exported to many countries and are now being bred overseas. Opinion is strongly divided as to whether we have better Kelpies now or better ones in the past. It is really a moot point, because even if the past dogs were brilliant we can't really get them back. It is probably sensible to look to the future and continue to make the Working Kelpie the very best sheepdog in the world.

A number of breeders feel that the old strains of Kelpie prior to 1940 were much better dogs than what we have today while another group think our Kelpies are improving all the time. The following extract is from a long letter written by Roger Smith to Stephen Bilson in July 1988. Mr. Smith worked as a drover most of his life and used and worked with many of the early strains of Kelpies including King & McLeod, the original McMaster lines, Scanlon and Woombi.

"The dog we have seen emerge in the last twenty years or so (written 1988), I believe is a far better dog than any that came before him. By this, I am talking about the dog needed by the livestock industry to control millions of sheep and cattle in this country. The Kelpie breeders of yesteryear almost ruined our great Kelpie by continually breeding strong-eyed trial type dogs to bitches of similar type. They were obsessed with '3 sheep' dogs. ..Yet carefully selected strains in the hands of great dog men like Goodfellow, Moore, Meachem and Scanlon were handed on to good men like Rutland, Body, McCormack and Bromham who appear to have almost perfected the Kelpie as a utility dog."

"Motor vehicles and rush, rush, rush have made it very hard on our Kelpie friends. That's why I love the many droving trips I have done, where time doesn't really count. Feed and care of the stock are paramount. Dogs are allowed to think for themselves on these sort of trips. They can be given time to mature at work."

"The present day Working Kelpie is by far the best working dog available in this country for Australian conditions. He doesn't need the Dingo, Huntaway or Collie or any other blood in him today to improve him. He is already there, he is already the best! .. My great faith in the present day Kelpie can easily be accounted for by my purchase of some 12 purebred Kelpie dogs, mostly pups, in the last eight months. ..One could never continue to love sheepwork without handy dogs." - Roger Smith in letter to Stephen Bilson of Noonbarra Stud - July 1988

Ivan Somerville was a Stockman and Drover during the early part of this century. He mainly worked cattle and started with Blue Heelers but changed in 1920 to Kelpies bred by Herb Dunn.

"In the 'Kelpie' we were left with a great heritage and we have not done justice to this heritage, either in recognition of its full worth, nor in maintenance of the breed qualities - let alone improving on them. Nowhere is the combination of the unusual natural working ability, adaptation to the hardest conditions and response to man's training more evident than in the Working Kelpie."

"As I stated, the Kelpie at their best are not only the greatest sheep dog in Australia, they are also the greatest cattle dog in the world. All testable evidence proves this fact." - Ivan Somerville - Stockman (1950's)

"To be really truthful, I am not very concerned about breeders of the past. It is the dogs of today and the future that do concern me. For instance, many of the Glenville Tex line have 'bred on' to make top station dogs. You see it in Glenlogie Rex, Liscannor Marco, Stamp, Tex and the Barambogie Chance & Mack and many others and their progeny.

"When it comes to genuine people that are top dog men I think of Ted Rutland, Stan Collins, Jack Body, Bert Bromham, Athol Butler, Prendagast, Mick Doughty (Chondo) McCormack (Liscannor), Goodfellow and others on back to Jack Quinn." - Roger Smith August 1988

Since the 1980's the Kelpie handlers have moved towards the very popular Yard Trials and the Utility Trials. The Yard Trials are by far the most popular trials in the country today with both the competitors and spectators. Since the 1990's, very few Kelpie handlers compete at the top level in Arena Trials. There are however still a number of young Stockmen having a go at Encourage and Novice level.

We have been told one of the main reasons for the exodus away from the Arena Three-Sheep Trial by Kelpie handlers is the time needed to compete. Some Arena Trials are held over three days or a week or even more and most run for at least a couple of days. Many employed Stockmen used to use their entire annual holiday at Sheepdog Trials. It must have been a strain on their family.

Working people, especially men & women with families have difficulty getting the time away to compete seriously. On the other hand, the popular Yard Trials are mostly run on one day with a few of the big Championships run over two days. Because less room is needed they are also often run in conjunction with a rural show (Fair) and this gives a good day out for the whole family.

During the 1990's, the Capree, Milburn and Karana Kelpies have dominated the Yard and Utility Trials in Australia. Dogs such as Glenlogie Lucky, Capree Watch, Noonbarra Butch, Milburn Basil, Karana Seiko and Phils Creek Sam have been some of the consistent winners over a number of years.

In the last twenty years, the Arena Trials have been completely dominated by the Border Collies with John White's Kelpies, the Le Cliff Stud and Rockybar probably the only real challenge to their position. Over the past ten years or so we have lost a lot of Kelpie handlers in the Arena Trials such as Jack Body of Glenlogie Stud. Others have now retired such as Jack Mills of the Waringa Stud and Bert Bromham of Glenville. Unfortunately there have been very few to take their place.

It is great to see the enthusiasm of many of the new breeders and handlers and hopefully they will help continue to improve the quality of the Kelpie. Many new breeders of the Working Kelpie do not breed for more than 5 years and very few are still around after 10 years. Today in Australia there are hundreds of enthusiastic breeders of Working Kelpies. Some are good and of course some are not so good.

 

May 1999 -