working kelpie dogs

kelpie Ireland

Active Member
I am looking for some farmers that might have kelpie dogs that are working cattle or sheep as i have some myself and just want to know how many are around
 
2 here,lovely dogs I wanted to sell them but couldn't.
Really they need better training but they better than nike air runners!
 
never heard of the breed tbh.
altho, there is always google images.:D
is there a bit of an Alsatian in them?
images
 
Tinman I don't know,but there is some sort of a guard dog in them.they wander around the yard till a stranger comes in and then they turn vicious and bark like mad!

Good cattle dogs,but a bit aggressive for sheep I think! Very friend to their masters but can't leave a door open on a tractor car or jeep or they are in waiting for action!

I believe a blue meril is of similar breeding
 
I do keep a good few of the kelpies,blueheelers ,and a new zealand huntaway the only one in Ireland as far as i can tell the kelpies are used for loads of jobs herding,drugs,rescue,i use mine for farm work i really haven't found any that i can't train i am looking for dogs that would not be related to my bitches
 
The farm I worked on in Australia had a Kelpie sheepdog. He was an amazing animal, endless energy and very intelligent. You could point to a lamb with maggots in the middle of a bunch of a few hundred and he would pick it out, knock it and hold it until you drove over in the jeep. Always seemed to get the right one, and never injured them.

A very affectionate dog, but I can see what what smasher is saying about being very loyal and wary of strangers
 
I do keep a good few of the kelpies,blueheelers ,and a new zealand huntaway the only one in Ireland as far as i can tell the kelpies are used for loads of jobs herding,drugs,rescue,i use mine for farm work i really haven't found any that i can't train i am looking for dogs that would not be related to my bitches

How are blue heelers to work with? Was on a farm in oz, and they'd just had a pup, lovely little dog, nice colour to him, unfortunately I think his curiosity and a snake got the better of him after we left! :scared:
 
Blueheelers are very hardy dogs they like to drive alot so when starting them to work it is very important to work circles and figure eights and put a good out run on them as soon as possible they like to be up tight also like the kelpie will back and bark on command most of mine have went to cattle men and very hapay with them generally they do be small dogs unless crossed with other breeds same as kelpie very loyal
 
Blueheelers are very hardy dogs they like to drive alot so when starting them to work it is very important to work circles and figure eights and put a good out run on them as soon as possible they like to be up tight also like the kelpie will back and bark on command most of mine have went to cattle men and very hapay with them generally they do be small dogs unless crossed with other breeds same as kelpie very loyal

Would there be many blue heelers about this end of the world?

Only as a backing dog, with sheep, in handling pens, and bare in mind that some of my sheep are big and can be a bit defensive and will happily take on two collies..... what would you use?

We have nicknamed our wiltshire horn sheep the WDL, wiltshire defence league! The way they line up in the back of the pens giving the dogs a hard time!!:scared:
 
I have used collies and trained them for a while now and i have moved away from them now i only use kelpies and blueheelers and dogs that are crossed with collies.The cross with collies makes for good hardy dogs when i am training my young dogs i do alot of corner work and tight close up work cause it makes for a calm dog that know how to bully sheep and that is one of best ways of learning your dog to bark and back on command as you are in the pen with the dog
 
We have a Kelpie/Collie X bitch, mad as a hatter, but the she's only an 18 month old pup. I need someone to give her some basic training, she certainly knows her work but just WON'T LISTEN!!! To look at she's very similar to pure-bred Kelpies. If you look me up on thefarmingforum you'll see I have her photo as my image.

We had Aussie visitors here last year, they ran Kelpies on their sheep stations (thousands of head of sheep) they loved them, said the biggest problem was stopping them getting their bellies ripped on the top strand of barbed wire as they jumped the fences into the paddocks, so keen were they to work!!
 
Where did u buy her kelpies in general are very good to read body language and the first 2 or 3 days i am at them i just move around in such a way that the dog understands how to balance the sheep to me and then i just put voice to the actions i hear lads saying alot the dog won't listen dogs are just to keen to try and work if you know how to get a dog to balance sheep to you it is amazing the work you can do with little or no command
 
Can you train a collie to bark on command the same? The youngest dog here, about 18 month by now, he will bark when he's in behind a gate, never if he's in with the sheep

Have tried my best to encourage him or make a command when he barks, but no go.
He will also bark at anything that he is wary of when he's not working, the garden umbarella gets it bad, as did a dead sheep in the yard one day..... just can't get it transferred!
 
The way i few your dog even without seeing the dog is he is soft and cowardly if a dog leaves from yard to stand outside the gate and bark in i would have very little or no value on him and that is why i have moved to kelpies and heelers very rare to that softness in them
 
The way i few your dog even without seeing the dog is he is soft and cowardly if a dog leaves from yard to stand outside the gate and bark in i would have very little or no value on him and that is why i have moved to kelpies and heelers very rare to that softness in them

He only escapes under the gate when he has to, he will push and jump back and forth and threaten a sheep until she goes for him, won't grab, which is good and I discourage any attempt at a nip! once she chases him he goes for the gate, turns and barks!
 
Dog needs to be able bully sheep if he can't nip and u won't let him do so then mussle him and let him at it pushing and shouldering the sheep i would never stop a dog from a nip if the ewe is really bullying the dog i have seen lots of dogs hurt cause they can't get nip and if the dog had no gate to leave by what would u do
 
Do you train dogs kelpie ireland ?
How long would a dog need to be left with you to train and at what age do you take them ? (if you train them that is )
 
Collies need to be a strong year to start training providing there not nervous or backward the rest of the breeds healers and kelpies will be very keen at 4-5 months but when you start them you need to keep work infront of them as they build up fitness very fast and develop a strong work drive huntaways i find need more minding like the Collies they can turn on and off alot .
5-8 weeks for training.Your dog should be able to work a arce field well and have commands away,comebye,walk on ,and stand and be on whistle for sides and stop some people think when u get a dog back from a trainer after 8 weeks that he will work 20 arce fields do the dosing clip the feet when really all you get is a dog that can move 10 -20 ewes well around a field take sheep out of corners and put sheep into a pen all in a max 3 arces a fully trained dog takes around a year or a busy seasons work keeping work infront of the dog is vital to the end result and yes i train dogs
 
Determined fellas aren't they :thumbup:. Very impressive.
 

Attachments

  • 628px-Kelpie_walking_across_the_backs_of_sheep.jpg
    628px-Kelpie_walking_across_the_backs_of_sheep.jpg
    97.1 KB · Views: 38
Determined fellas aren't they :thumbup:. Very impressive.

Saw dogs doing that in OZ with merino sheep, could only do it because merino's are so timid and frightened, recon a suffolk would have the dog down and be beating the poor get up.
Their favourite trick was sending the dog into the front of the race and he would run down, making the sheep jump over him and pack up better, once again our sheep would hammer the dog before moving!

The bigest proof of how timid their sheep are was that the doors on the shearing pens were never closed!! they were so scared that they just huddled up in the back of the pen!!!

Look in the background!
171.jpg

Not running on the dog by the way, no doubt they are good, but the sheep are a help in that pic!
 
And have u not seen kelpies backing cattle the same as sheep i would love to see a sheep that would stand again any of our dogs the hole idea of dogs backing sheep is to keep them moving forward in a bottle neck situation u keep the main holding pen full and dogs are working well you send them to top of race where they drop off sheep's back and run under sheeps belly sheep jump forward once the sheep are moving well the dog works the main pen barking and backing secret is keeping main pen full they is any amount of clips on YouTube of how a Kelpie can sort out "bully ewes"with out putting a tooth on them makes for great viewing
 
And have u not seen kelpies backing cattle the same as sheep i would love to see a sheep that would stand again any of our dogs the hole idea of dogs backing sheep is to keep them moving forward in a bottle neck situation u keep the main holding pen full and dogs are working well you send them to top of race where they drop off sheep's back and run under sheeps belly sheep jump forward once the sheep are moving well the dog works the main pen barking and backing secret is keeping main pen full they is any amount of clips on YouTube of how a Kelpie can sort out "bully ewes"with out putting a tooth on them makes for great viewing

Thats where slow internet slows me down!

Must admit I haven't seen the vids, only going on what I saw of merino's down under
 
Ya slow net is a head reck for youtube there is loads of dogs doing top noch work on cattle and sheep even the kelpie council website has loads of clips of yard and field trails and of the big sales day which is great as you can see what 1000 can buy and what 8000 will buy great watching
 
Back
Top