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Location: Australian Working Kelpie
Discussion: Show Kelpie -Working Kelpie Misinformation
Keyword tags:
Australian
Kelpie
show
working
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 java2go |
Show Kelpie -Working Kelpie Misinformation
May 8 2008, 3:30 AM EDT I am a "show" Kelpie owner and have done a lot of research in the area of the breed. Some of you may recall a website I had posted a few years ago called Australian Kelpie Outpost. What I am about to say may irritate some of you, so be forewarned. If you look at the earliest known photographs of the Kelpie breed, they appear as the "show Kelpie" and not the working kelpie line. I think many have the history reversed. The working Kelpies continue to look less and less like the original early Kelpies in the earliest historical records and to me personally, look nothing like the original early kelpie. They are not built the same, the breech is different, the face and ears are different. I have looked at many breeder pages (primarily in Australia), and the show kelpie is fading from the lines which to me is alarming. The working kelpies, I am sure, are great animals and are great herders, but don't discount the "show" kelpie as not capable of being a working dog, too. My dog was never trained to herd, but did it instinctively when I visited a friend's ranch in South Texas. I hate to see what I consider to be the best companion breed and one of the most intelligent breeds (what you call the show Kelpie" ) to be vanishing from the planet and breeding programs. 1 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
 Yatahae |
RE: Show Kelpie -Working Kelpie Misinformation
May 11 2008, 12:13 PM EDT Java2go the lines split in the 1920's with the show people developing a more showy type dog and the working people continuing with selecting for herding dogs. The Kelpie did not start out as a show dog, it started out as a herding dog because of the need for herding dogs in Australia. The working Kelpie was needed during that time (1800's), as there were no other effective working dogs in Australia to help the stockmen on the large sheep stations. Here is a more comprehensive research study on the Working Kelpie, than from the Outpost, http://www.geocities.com/Petsburgh/6392/ The show Kelpie is not vanishing from the planet, and is still going strong in Australia in the show breeding programs. Your post may have been better posted in the show Kelpie (Australian Kelpie) page. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |