Australian Kelpie

The Australian Kelpie is a sheep dog. Mustering around with little or no guidance at all is what they are good at. They come in a variety of colors and are of standard medium sized. They are famous world over for their abilities to muster livestock such as goats and cattle and poultry around the fields. They are categorized into two different varieties: first would be the “bench Kelpie” and secondly the “working Kelpie” for the fields.

The show Kelpie makes is appearances in dog shows around the world as they take place, that is once in a while and are selected mainly for their appearances. The working Kelpies on the other hand are the ones you see working in the fields and plain every day. They are known for their working ability and bred especially for it. Show Kelpies come only in solid colors of black, red, chocolate, smoky blue, black and tan and fawn. Various kennel clubs' have different standards and rules on the colors they prefer the show Kelpies in. They are shorter and bulkier when compared to the working Kelpies.

Working Kelpies come in 3 different coat types of rough, smooth and short. The color on their coat varies very much from region to region some Kelpies even have a few white blaze on their chest. The Kelpies that are more used to living in the cold weather conditions have a double coat that they shed during spring. The working Kelpies stand tall at around 19.5 inches (50 cm) for the female and their male counter parts stand tall at 21.5 inches (55 cm). You don’t see much of a height difference between the two sexes of the working Kelpies as compared to the other breeds of dogs. They weigh in at around 31 to 46 lbs (14 to 21 kg). The color and feel of their coat will be more or less like the rest of the Kelpies body.

These dogs may not look as beautiful as the other breeds, but then other dogs aren’t as great working dogs as the Kelpies. They as a breed are very efficient workers and cheap as compared to hiring many a men to do the same job of mustering the livestock. Any good working Kelpie will have the natural instinct to prevent the livestock from running away from the stock man. Good weather or bad weather, they are hungry or not, they still do a good job in driving mobs of cattle over long distances. They also do a great job with rest of the animals like sheep and pigs and goats to name a few. They have perfectly mastered the art of jumping on the sheep’s back and walking across the backs many such sheep’s when in a big herd to reach to the other side. They are very hard workers do well in any sort of terrain from a farm to a station or even a ranch. They like open spaces and love spending time with other animals.