Karmala Merino and Working Kelpie Studs

The Karmala Working Kelpie Stud was relocated to Queensland from Western Victoria in 2001. It is now situated at Nobby, about 40 km south of Toowoomba.

Only a small nucleus of bitches" is retained for breeding so that a high standard can be maintained.

My aim is to breed sensible dogs who can work naturally and cause their owners as few headaches as possible. I have no time for very excitable, stock-crazy animals. They must value their relationship with their handler to a high degree and want to please in their work. Highly respected Kelpie breeder, John White, wrote recently in the WKC newsletter:
“I always select a dog that is friendly, wants to be with you, to work as a team with you. You can tell those characteristics at a fairly young age.” I couldn’t agree more.

I like dogs that can work with a little distance off their stock when young, and are happy to hold when they have them balanced. They should also be capable of firing up when required for yard work… I don’t guarantee that every pup will comply exactly with this description, but some do, judging by this email received recently entitled ‘Zen and the art of sheepdog handling’…..

“The experience of working her is exactly the opposite of any other I have had with kelpies. It is veritably tranquil; I can hear the wind blowing and the birds chirping instead of myself yelling and screaming obscenities…. it is akin to zen!”

In the last few decades, with the increasing use of bikes for mustering, some old kelpie traits are starting to disappear. Many dogs are now used mainly for yard work, and backing, barking, full-on kelpies are in the majority. I prefer an all-round dog that retains its heading instinct, has some eye, and is capable of mustering difficult country. With this in mind, I have sought sires with bloodlines that have been proven in hard conditions where brains and stamina are essential.

I have accessed old Kelpie families through the Karrawarra and Riana studs and I am very grateful for the help I have received from these experienced stud masters.

Tony Parsons (Karrawarra) was responsible for seeking out and preserving Kelpie bloodlines after the fiasco of two World Wars, during which many ‘studs’ disappeared. His books on the Working Kelpie are an invaluable record of these dogs and are collectively known as ‘The Kelpie Bible’.

Arthur Hazlett (Riana) founded his stud on Karrwarra dogs and is one of the few Kelpie breeders of recent years who has finessed the fine art of line breeding. Outside dogs are rarely introduced, and as a result his dogs are defined in type and prepotent.

Because I have little real work for my dogs these days, I try to ensure that any young dogs kept for breeding are tested in the real world. I have been most fortunate in finding some very kind, like minded stockmen to help me do this, and can’t thank them enough for their efforts. It surely proves their dedication to the Kelpie breed. With cooperation like this, and by working with a loose group of breeders who are looking for the same type of dog, I hope to preserve those Kelpie traits that originally made the breed such an invaluable asset.

I had a busy weekend slashing old grass in preparation for the big rain that was forecast for September 1st; of course this was far too good to be true and I got about one ml.! At least the frosts have stopped and grass is growing slowly on the remnants of moisture from the last bit of rain. It has warmed up a lot, and the windows and doors are all open again…real Queensland weather.

The big news for all you Kelpie people is the upcoming new Kelpie book by Tony Parsons. He has at last succumbed to frequent requests from Penguin Publishers and his many fans to write a fourth volume. I gather this will be a rather upmarket effort with coloured photos, many from Tony’s extensive archives. He visited yesterday with the hot news and brought his ClydeXQuill pup Karmala Quizz for a look at sheep. She’s grown into a nice bitch but hasn’t switched on as yet. I imagine it won’t take her long now; Tony left her here for a bit, and I have ewes lambing in the backyard.

Quill has whelped to Riana Glide, a mating planned to preserve Riana Quinn’s influence; she has four nice pups but squashed a couple whilst whelping. I was attending a ewe that had gone down lambing twins and only left her for 10 minutes. Sometimes you just can’t win.

Gift has been mated to Glide again and if the mating is successful the pups will be due in Oct. David and Susannah Hart kindly put me up for the night when I took Gift up. I had a swag of pups with me to show David, and he kindly worked them and took a few rough edges off them. They are a nice lot and we were pleased with the way they shaped up. Glen(GlideXGift) and Finesse(FinchXSpice) look outstanding at this stage.

Chris Rickert had some nice dogs there too, he and Arthur work in together, along with Ashley Whitehead; we’re all after the same type of classy dog. Arthur had some very young pups(BindiXTracker) that have started brilliantly. A young dog of Chris’s, Glendon Percy, is a very good dog on cattle and has also penned in 3 sheep trials. He’s a good looking black and tan, and a nice, sensible dog that can go all day. I took Spice over to mate to him, but she was starting to go off a bit, so time will tell. Percy’s dam is a Karana bitch(SeikoXScarlett) and his sire is by Riana Ace.

Proud parents...R.Glide and Karra. Gift watch two of their pups working. K. Glen and K. Gwynne, bottom.

Swags did a nice cast for Arthur and worked the weaners back quietly.

Karmala Swaggy at 14 mths...looking very much like his dam.

Arthur says Swags is also very handy in the yards.

Vale Karmala Codger (SpikeXDelta)

Karmala Quizz the day she 'switched on'.

These are big, productive sheep with quality wool, and can reduce the micron in stronger flocks without loss of cut… and increase production in finer flocks without increasing micron. This is stated with confidence based on the results in clients’ flocks over many years.

At Karmala micron, quality and production are the chief selection criteria. The infusion of finer genetics from Rockbank has given a finer ewe base and more elite-woolled young sheep.

An AI programme using Nerstane 43 in 2004 produced a nice lot of young ewes one of which went on to be Supreme Exhibit at Toowoomba and Goondiwindi in 2006.