Breed History
.
In 1870 a grazier by the name of Allen from Geralda Station NSW imported a pair of smooth coated prick eared Fox Collies which he bought from a Mr Rutherford in Scotland.
It was alleged they had fox in their blood but it was the name that started the story plus the fact that each litter produced a red pup. The parents were black and tan.
On the ship from Scotland the dog, Brutus was mated to the bitch, Jenny with the litter born after their arrival in Australia. All but one pup were black and tan, the odd one being red.
Around the same time a Mr Gleeson brought a smooth coat black and tan bitch from Victoria. Her name was Kelpie.
Kelpie was mated to Caesar, one of the Brutus / Jenny pups, with a bitch pup going to Mr C.B.W.King of Wollongough Station near Condobolin NSW.He called her Kelpie after her mother.
Mr King’s “Kelpie” won the sheepdog trial at Forbes around 1872. Her fame spread and her pups were known as Kelpie's pups. Kelpie became the breed name.
Kelpies were first exhibited in 1908 at The Royal Melbourne Show with an entry of 6 dogs and 3 bitches.
Kelpie is Gaelic meaning Water Sprite.
Another line of breeding came about from a mating of Moss, a black dog descended from Brutus & Jenny to Sally a pup from King’s Kelpie.
A dog pup went to a stockman named Davis who named him Barb after a racehorse of that time. Barb was a black prick eared dog who produced black pups and like Kelpie’s pups were named Barbs after their sire.
The name Barb has all but disappeared now with older sheepmen still calling the black Kelpie a Barb.
COPYRIGHT AUSTRALIAN KELPIE CLUB OF NSW INC