kelpie cross's what are they like and are they any good

[Guest SJM]

I know this may be a sweeping statement which is hugely over simplifying things but I've always had the impression that Kelpies are imported because they are good at rounding up sheep whereas Cattle Dogs are imported because they are a recognised breed. To put it another way, ACDs are recognised by the KC and fetch huge prices whereas Kelpies aren't and therefore don't. Not that I'm knocking them as a breed and I get the impression that the earlier imports were from pretty good lines, but I've also heard of several people in Australia moving away from pure ACDs as cattle dogs.

 

 

I think youve hit the nail on the head, and to the person who said kelpies are recognised by the KC no they are not, but they can be registered on the KC activity register, but then so can any dog of any crossbreed or purebreed, they cannot be registered on the main register which the ACD can.

[D.C. 34]

Both these dogs make poor choices as serious hunting dogs as there are no lines based on these two breeds in australia.

 

I've NEVER heard such a load of b#llo#ks in my life.......POOR choice for hunting ....they may not be fast enough to catch fast game....BUT Thats why they get in 'injection' of greyhound in them........but for finding game i.e. bushing & pushing through impenitrable cover to take feather...... I would put mine against ANY breed, Oh & he catches a little bit!!!!!!

 

[TOMO 26,764]

well said dave , nice pic there. and a very nice looking mut TOMO

[Neal 1,873]

I hate seeing photos of your kelpie after a day out D.C.: it always makes me feel like mine are second rate! I completely agree with your comments about their working attributes, I've never known dogs so big to push through brambles so thick. If my four month old pup stayed the same size I could use her instead of the ferrets!

[Chid 6,603]

I know this may be a sweeping statement which is hugely over simplifying things but I've always had the impression that Kelpies are imported because they are good at rounding up sheep whereas Cattle Dogs are imported because they are a recognised breed. To put it another way, ACDs are recognised by the KC and fetch huge prices whereas Kelpies aren't and therefore don't. Not that I'm knocking them as a breed and I get the impression that the earlier imports were from pretty good lines, but I've also heard of several people in Australia moving away from pure ACDs as cattle dogs.

 

 

I think youve hit the nail on the head, and to the person who said kelpies are recognised by the KC no they are not, but they can be registered on the KC activity register, but then so can any dog of any crossbreed or purebreed, they cannot be registered on the main register which the ACD can.

 

 

i stand corrected.

[fielder 18]

Nice looking dogs! How do they differ in temperament, size, build and ability from the average border collie cross?

[Neal 1,873]

That's a big question Fielder, and people with far more experience than I have taken whole books to explain it. In terms of size and build they are, like collies, variable. As to temperement and ability... the first thing to remember is that they are NOT better than collies; simply different. Some people can't stand them, including some who love collies, and see them as too hectic and noisy and not as submissive as collies. I however find mine very calm and laid back and quiet. I guess it's just a case of certain individuals getting on better with certain canine characters.

I really admire the terrier spirit but I'd hate to own one, whereas some people admire the collies ability to be so easily trained but could never live with one. I feel I'm going in circles somewhat.

I like their ability to work things out differently to any breed I've previously owned or known. I've used the following quote on a forum before so excuse me if it was on here and I'm repeating myself: one late kelpie breeder related how a British gentleman was describing the difference between leading British and Australian troops. He said you need, "plenty of discipline for the Tommies and plenty of freedom for the Aussies." The kelpie breeder then went on to say that, in his opinion, this was a good metaphore for the difference between Border Collies and Australian Kelpies.

I really like my dogs and can't ever see myself going for a different breed. By this I don't mean that I'm kennel blind, as I'm well aware of their shortcomings, but rather that I know what suits me.

[fielder 18]

Thanks for that, it seems sound and balanced comment.

[stevemac 442]

Just caught up with this post, Ive had a fair bit of experance with aussie working dogs mostly as a young bloke mustering cattle around the mountain region of central eastern NSW, boarder collie , kelpie, cattle dogs and mixes of all three were the dogs of choose back in those days, The dogs had to be all rounders and all would have a go wether it was yard work, paddock work or mustering up on the mountain. Of cause different ones excelled at different aspects of the work. My favorites were the cattlex Kelpe great working dogs. when mustering the work was long and hard but also great fun you needed a dog with plenty of endurance and plenty of push for the rough work. cattle that are only worked once or twice a year dont like to be taken away from their daily routine and when the old bitches have calves they get pretty stropy.

As far as using them as hunting dogs that was our favorite past time when we had time off and Ive had plenty of feeds of rabbit and all were caught by the dogs boarder collies and kelpies were were the best to take out rabbiting as they weren't to hard on the carcass the cattle dog xs were to hard when the caught I think they thought the feed was for them because you could never get it of them quick enough.

I did have a mate back in those days that had a kelpex greyhound he used it as working dog it sure was a quick dog anound the cattle and didn't mind giving the the hocks a good nip. when it came to the rabbits it smashed em.

under the light or in the late afternoon.

Stevemac

[allgame 0]

how the f**k dose not having any "lines based" in australia make it not a seriouse hunting dog since when does ever mattered the fact that they've been bred for there natural instincts for like hundreds of year best to best makes there natural hunting ability better then most everything about a kelpie is predatory you can see it in the way they move there just about wild they make exelent hunting dogs aswell as working dogs at the same time and thats only as a pure bred cross them with somthing fast and foget about it

[Neal 1,873]

Surely the herding instinct and hunting instinct are to a certain extent one and the same. I know lots of people say that a lurcher with a herding instinct stops it from getting hold of stuff but there are an equally large number of shepherds who have trouble stopping their sheep or cattle dog from doing just that.

 

PS Stevemac; your musings sound very interesting and entertaining, I don't suppose you'd fancy elaborating a bit? Maybe in the form of a full article?