Rick & Ellen Pinney of Brownsville, Oregon in mid August. I know she'll be
a charmer and can't wait for her to arrive. To be sure she makes the
Oregon / Kansas transition smoothly, I've taken a week off from work --
does that sound like I'm fond of my dogs?
News Flash! The pup is here. There is a whole extra page for folks that
are willing to burn electrons loading pictures of new puppies. Click here
for information and photos of Gem (the new Kelpie puppy).
original involvement with them. By chance I read an article in a regional farm
magazine about Australian kelpies, their style of work, and appearance. I wanted a
dog with strong gathering instinct and good stock sense. I knew I needed a dog that
could handle Kansas summer as well as winter, and the kelpie seemed like a good
match. I also liked their prick ears and easy-care short coat. With a little searching I
found my first kelpie, a year old, red and tan male.
We had no training but, fortunately, he had a lot of inherited talent and knew how to
work sheep in spite of my ignorance. He was the start of my love of herding dogs
and kelpies.
handle sheep, cattle and occasionally geese and hogs, and was
impressed by the innate skills of a good dog. I enjoyed the kelpie
personality, looks and ability to work year-round in Kansas weather. I’ve
tried several different bloodlines over the years but have been happiest
with the Karrawarra lines. It's been a joy of working with these animals.
important to learn the characteristics of the various lines when choosing a new dog. The great thing about
kelpies is that they haven’t been forced into a cookie-cutter mold (assuming you stick with working-bred, not
show lines). You can find a dog from a line that will work well in your situation.
I could get my stock work done with border collies, but in the heat of a Kansas summer my kelpies stand up to
the challenge better, and I like the looks and independent personality of my kelpies, so I’ll always have a kelpie
if I have stock to work. They’re great stock hands and loyal friends.
Sites for kelpie information include:
Working Kelpie Council: http://www.wkc.org.au/
NAAKR: http://www.kelpiesinc.com/Default.htm
target would be big ones! A long dry spell
lowered our pond and killed many of the
biggest carp. Mac wrangled this one onto the
dam hoping for a major feast! By the way, to
get a proper impression of size -- Mac is lean
and muscular and weighs 64 pounds. That's
a really big fish!
