For farmers, their working dogs are as important as their tractors. And, in Australia, around 60 per cent of the working dogs are kelpies. They’re smart, energetic, loyal and have a herding instinct that makes them invaluable workers with sheep or cattle. Descendents of British working collies, the breed has been established in its own right since the early 20th century and is known for its ability to work long hours in harsh Australian conditions.
The breed traces its origins back to one bitch, born around 1871. She was the progeny of two British working collies imported by George Robertson, a Scot, who had a property called Warrock Station near Casterton in Victoria. These dogs had the classic black and tan configuration and, some suggest, unusual ears that became erect when they were working. This may have made them an economical purchase as, in their native Scotland, erect ears could be susceptible to frostbite. In Australia, however, it’s an advantage, allowing heat to dissipate.
A roving stockman, Jack Gleeson, was taken with Robertson’s pup and offered a horse in exchange for her. He named her Kelpie. Kelpies are legendary Scottish sea monsters, but Gleeson may have simply named his pup after a well-known racehorse of the era. Known as “Gleeson’s Kelpie”, the bitch was later mated with another imported working collie. One of her litter, named Kelpie after her mother, became famous for her performance in sheep-dog trials at rural shows.
The Working Kelpie Council gives a detailed account of how the kelpie bloodlines developed from three pairs of working collies, with the first dogs being known as “Kelpie’s pups”. Later articles refer to the “kelpie stock” and in 1902 the breed was officially recognised. Today, farmers are willing to pay high prices for a trained dog, with the record as of 2024 being $49,000 for a 20-month-old bitch.
Casterton continues to celebrate its status as the birthplace of the breed, with a statue holding pride of place in the town and the Casterton Kelpie Muster held each year. The Muster includes performance events for dogs and a working dog auction.
The kelpie was not the first uniquely Australian working dog breed to be developed. The Australian cattle dog, popularly known as the blue heeler, was the result of a breeding program by Thomas Simpson Hall of Dartbrook Station in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales. Hall wanted robust dogs to work the semi-wild stock that roamed his family’s vast cattle properties.
Hall began his program in the 1820s by crossing an English drover’s cur with a dingo. By 1832, he was satisfied with the results and the strain became known as “Hall’s heelers”. The dogs can be either red or blue, some with a bobbed tail and some with the brush tail of the dingo.
The koolie, another Australian working dog breed, is descended from Welsh and Scottish collies. My daughter is the besotted owner of two koolie/kelpie crosses. Kept as pets rather than as working dogs, they certainly keep her on the run.