kelpies…tailing the mob for over a hundred years  

WORDS BY DOROTHY HENDERSON, WA-BASED MEDIA STRINGER

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ELLIE MORRIS, WA-BASED MEDIA STRINGER

This is a Rural Room Media Stringer collaboration - it highlights the special way our network of regional media makers leverage technology to co-create remotely!

As I have watched black, tan and all shades of red Kelpies working sheep in a yard, deftly moving Merinos from one pen to another, I have often pondered on the name that was acquired by what has become a definitive icon on Australian farms. It is hard to deny the Scottish ancestry of a breed whose name enshrines legends of shape shifting water spirits, powerful horse-like creatures which arose from the lochs, brooks, burns and pools of a land far north of here, feasting on humans who strayed in their path. Indeed, the way the Kelpies bob and weave as they hold, drive and pull sheep without touching them, just by using body language and “eye”, involves a degree of shape-shifting…but maybe I am just seeing what I want to see.

One legend has blended into another, and far from Scotland, derivatives of the working collies brought to Australia by Scottish families adapted to their new environment.

Families like the Rutherfords, Robertsons and McLeods served to keep the shepherding tradition alive and played their part in breeding a dog that suited Australian conditions, while keeping the ability of its ancestors to instinctively herd sheep.

The name that has become a breed is believed to have derived from that of a female sheepdog owned by Jack Gleeson, called Kelpie. Her offspring, sired by working collies, included one that became known as the “King’s Kelpie.” This was the forerunner of a strain of highly regarded working dogs that eventually became known as “Kelpies” …and then the term became generic for dogs of similar breeding and type. The history of the Kelpie is fascinating, full of twists and turns…and covered in more detail by sources referenced in this article.

When we were younger, we were told that the breed was a working collie…with a dash of dingo. This always struck me as a romantic notion, particularly appealing because our family was Scottish and I liked the idea that such an iconic “Australian” dog was the same but belonged to “country” by virtue of the dingo infusion.

Sadly, that notion was dismissed in 2019 by dog genetics expert Professor Claire Wade, whose research found, despite visual similarities, no detectable dingo DNA in the working dog breed.

In fact, rather than fulfilling my idea of a dog from the old country strengthened by a dash of blood from an even older land, her study indicated that it was more likely that the dingo blood was laced with a smattering of the working collie genes.

In 2019, Professor Wade told the ABC that it was “much more likely that the dingo had kelpie in it, than the kelpie had dingo in it.

"Apparently in the old days when people would abandon their farms, they would just leave the dogs behind.

"And so sometimes they got integrated into the dingo populations, which is why our dingoes are now very intermingled with domestic dogs." (Source)

But that is another twist in a tale of history, while in the yards and paddocks, on verandahs and in farm utes, the Kelpie sheepdog is still very much part of rural Australia.

To see a well-trained Kelpie work sheep is a treat. They can be soundless yet move swiftly to preempt the movement of the sheep that err in terms of direction. The quiet, stealthy presence of a truly good dog can calm the sheep, rather than distress them, and simply by being, they give the sheep guidance that reduces effort and stress all around.

A not so well-trained dog, however, can elicit a totally different sheep yard experience, one which is perhaps best not described for fear of increasing stress levels by virtue of imagining.

Mind you, I think it would be fair to say that there are a number of Kelpies out there that are loved regardless of their inability to work sheep well. Just like people, they are all different, they can be clever, empathetic, loyal, wonderful companions and the best of friends. As can be seen by the images that fill our Facebook and Instagram pages, especially the one dedicated to the breed @AustralianKelpie.

With their clear, insightful eyes, tan eyebrows reflecting their inner musings, the pricked ears and the head tilt that questions, the sight of a happy Kelpie warms hearts…just as the tale of Western Australia’s Red Dog broke hearts when it was turned into a movie in 2011. Star Kelpie “Koko” epitomized the best of the Kelpies we have known and loved…and ultimately lost by virtue of a short lifespan.

Like all the animals we make our own, the Kelpie has a place in our hearts and homes.

KELPIE LINKS:

@AustralianKelpie.2020. Facebook

Australian National Kennel Council Ltd. 2015. “Breeds: Australian Kelpie”.  Australian National Kennel Council Ltd website

Fowler, Courtney. 2019. “Kelpie DNA study unravels mysterious origins of Australian working dog but finds no dingo.”  ABC Rural. 28 June 2019. WA Country Hour

Noonbarra Working Kelpie Stud. 2020. “Origin and History of the Australian Working Kelpie.”  

Raffaelle, P. 2016. “Kelpie, King of the Mob.” Australian Geographic online.

Screenwest. 2020. “Red Dog – Feature Film.” Film in Western Australia.

The Working Kelpie Council of Australia. 2020. “Origin of the Kelpie.” The Working Kelpie Council of Australia website.