The Kelpie is an Australian sheep dog that has proven very successful at mustering and droving with little or no command guidance. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours. Kelpies have been exported throughout the world and are used to muster livestock, primarily sheep, cattle and poultry.

The breed has been separated over time into two distinct varieties: the Show Kelpie and the Working Kelpie. The Show Kelpie is the variety that is seen at conformation dog shows. They usually aren't selected on their mustering instinct. Show Kelpies do make excellent sports dogs and pets. Show Kelpie breeders tend to call their breeding establishments "kennels". Working Kelpies are bred for their natural working ability and aren't usually selected based on their appearance. Breeders tend to call their breeding establishments "Studs" in a similar way to cattle and sheep Studs.

Appearance
The variety of coloration and coat types puts the Kelpie in a select group, as it is not possible to look at an unidentified dog and classify it as a Kelpie. Not a currently recognised breed Kelpies referred to as Red Cloud Kelpies have red features with white markings on the face chest and feet.

Breed standards
Breed standards vary depending on whether the registry is more interested in a dog who performs his job superbly or a dog whose appearance meets an ideal standard. It is possible for a dog to do both, but his options for competition in conformation shows might be limited depending on his ancestry and on the opinions of the various kennel clubs or breed clubs involved.

In Australia, there are two separate registries for Kelpies.
Working Kelpies are registered with the Working Kelpie Council (WKC), which is the primary authority on the breed standard, and/or the State Sheepdog Workers Association. The WKC encourages breeding for working ability, and allows a wide variety of coat colors. The Working Kelpie cannot be shown, due to the wide standards allowed by the WKC. Show Kelpies are registered with the Australian National Kennel Council, which encourages breeding for a certain appearance and limits dogs to certain colors. Show Kelpies can only have recognised Show Kelpie blood lines and dogs cross bred with Working Kelpies cannot be shown.

Breed Standards Outside Australia
In the USA, the Kelpie is currently not recognized as a breed by the American Kennel Club (AKC), which promotes standards based on the dog's appearance. The North American Australian Kelpie Registry, which promotes the dog as a working breed, apparently does not want the breed to be promoted by the AKC. The Svenska Working Kelpie Klubben also does not permit Working Kelpies to be shown.

Working Kelpies
Kelpie going back down a race to move the sheep forward.The Working Kelpie comes in three coat types, smooth, short, and rough, with almost every colour from black through light tan or cream. Some Kelpies have a white blaze on the chest, a few have white points. Kelpies used to have a double coat, but this has largely disappeared, possibly due to environmental factors. Agouti is not unusual, and can initially look like a double coat.

Working Kelpies stand about 50cm (19.5 inches) at the withers for females, 55cm (21.5 inches) for males; weight would be between 14-21Kg (31-46lbs). Ears are usually pricked, but a few will have one or both ears flopped; the tail will often follow the coat type, and will vary between smooth to bushy. Cosmetic features have no relationship to the dog's working ability, so stockmen looking for capable working dogs usually disregard the dog's appearance.

A Working Kelpie can be a relatively cheap and very efficient worker which can save farmers and graziers the cost of several hands when mustering livestock. The naturally good working Kelpies are heading dogs that will prevent stock from moving away from the stockman. This natural instinct is crucial when mustering stock in isolated gorge country, where a good dog will silently move ahead of the stockman and block up the stock (usually cattle) until the rider appears.

The preferred dogs for cattle work are Kelpies, often of a special line, or a Kelpie cross. They will often drive a mob of livestock long distances in extremes of climates and conditions. Kelpies have deep natural instincts for managing livestock. They are quite able and happy to work without supervision and will quickly learn just about any job. Kelpies will work sheep, cattle, goats, pigs, poultry, and other domestic livestock. The Kelpie's signature move is to jump on the back of sheep that are tightly packed in an area and walk across the tops of the sheep to reach the other side and break up the jam. A good working Kelpie is a very versatile dog—she can work all day on the farm, ranch, or station, and trial on the weekends. Kelpies, too, are the most popular breed of dog used in the sport of cattle dog trials and (sheep) yard dog trials, which are becoming popular in Australia.

Show Kelpies
Show Kelpies are restricted to solid colours (black, chocolate, red, smoky blue, fawn, black and tan, red and tan) in a short double coat and pricked ears. Different kennel clubs' breed standards have preferences for certain colours. Show Kelpies are generally heavier and shorter.

Temperament
Kelpies are loyal, friendly, intelligent, energetic dogs that require a challenging job to be satisfactory companions. They need to be stimulated as idle and bored dogs become frustrated, noisy, and destructive.[citation needed] For the show or bench Kelpie, walks and socialisation may be sufficient to keep them happy. A working bred Kelpie must have a job to do and plenty of exercise and mental stimulation to remain healthy and companionable. A Kelpie is not aggressive towards people and cannot be considered a guard dog, though he will certainly bark when necessary. Working Kelpies may nip when working stock and should be taught early not to do so to humans.

Working bred Kelpies have done quite well in dog sports, search & rescue work, and can be good family dogs if they receive sufficient physical and mental exercise. Show Kelpies generally excel in agility trials and may be shown in conformation in Australia. 'Riley' an Australian Kelpie set the world record for dog jumping when he jumped 2.91 metres at the Casterton, Victoria Kelpie Festival. In his previous 30 high jumping competitions he was only beaten twice.

Health
Kelpies are a hardy breed with few health problems, however they are susceptible to disorders common to all breeds, like cryptorchidism, hip dysplasia, cerebellar abiotrophy and luxating patella which registered breeders check every litter for. Current research is underway to find the genetic marker for cerebellar abiotrophy in the breed. It is recommended that Kelpies be vaccinated against parvovirus and distemper, and rabies if the dog is outside Australia, which is free of the disease.

History
The ancestors of the Kelpie were simply (black) dogs, called Colleys or Collies. The word "collie" has the same root as "coal" and "collier (ship)".[citation needed] Some of these collies were imported to Australia for stock work in the early 1800s, and were bred to other types of dogs (including the occasional Dingo), but always with an eye to working sheep without direct supervision. Today's Collie breeds were not formed until about 10 or 15 years after the Kelpie was established as a breed, with the first official Border Collie not brought to Australia until after Federation in 1901.

Some people claim that Kelpies have some Dingo blood, one possible reason for this belief is that as it was illegal to keep dingoes as pets, some dingo owners registered their animals as Kelpies or Kelpie crosses. It should be noted that Kelpies and Dingoes are very similar in conformation and colouring: Dingoes are not restricted to tan and cream. There is no doubt that some have deliberately mated dingoes to their Kelpies, and some opinion holds that the best dilution is 1/16-1/32, but that 1/2 and 1/4 will work. As the Dingo has been regarded as a savage sheep-killer since the first white settlement of Australia, few will admit to the practice.

The first "Kelpie" was a black and tan bitch pup with slightly floppy ears bought by Jack Gleeson about 1872 from a litter born on Warrock Station near Casterton, owned by George Robertson, a Scot. This dog was named after the mythological kelpie from Celtic folklore. Legend has it that "Kelpie" was sired by a Dingo, but there is little evidence for or against this. In later years she was referred to as "(Gleeson's) Kelpie", to differentiate her from "(King's) Kelpie", her daughter.

The second "Kelpie" was "(King's) Kelpie", another black and tan bitch out of "Kelpie" by "Caesar", a pup from two sheep-dogs imported from Scotland. Again, there are legends that these two sheep-dogs may well have never seen Scotland, and may well have had Dingo blood. "(King's) Kelpie" tied the prestigious Forbes Trial in 1879, and the strain was soon popularly referred to as "Kelpie's pups", or just Kelpies. The King brothers joined another breeder, McLeod, to form a dog breeding partnership whose dogs dominated trials during 1900 to 1920.

There is no Red Cloud Kelpie, beloved of Western Australians:, as far as Eastern Staters are concerned. However, the breed is widely recognised in W.A., where the niceties of Sydney and Melbourne-based dog breeders may be largely ignored, if not actually challenged. The W.A.Red Cloud is taller than the red-coated Kelpie, and has a rougher coat.