OCTOBER NEWS, 2016

This would be the best start to spring since moving to Queensland fifteen years ago; luckily we haven’t had too much rain, as has been the case for many of you. Hopefully it will fine up for a few weeks after this burst of weather and dry things up. 

Tony Parsons has a few copies of The Kelpie if anyone is after a signed copy as a special gift!

September was relatively uneventful dog-wise. The Wilson x Heli pups are a delight and good time-wasters, growing quickly and developing individual traits. John Clothier visited recently to inspect them and check out the two boys he’s getting….he found it hard to choose! Things will get busy later this month with Lil due to whelp here, Kahlua in Sydney, Fizz near Gladstone and Cara at Texas!

Mocha came on recently and was mated to Polo, and Cherry will be back for mating in a week or so…summer pups, unfortunately, but I’m anxious to mate these good young bitches and keep progressing the genetic plusses. Polo is the best natured, calmest pup I’ve bred and I’m hoping he can pass on some of his more cooperative attitude. When breeding dogs that have to work in very tough conditions it’s easy to cross that  fine line between keenness to work and willingness to comply; if they get too relaxed about life it’s easier for them to sit in the shade than keep working with feet full of burrs. 

Congratulations to Emma and Derek Zeimer on the birth of a baby boy, Frank, on September 13th. Em will be busy when Fizz whelps in a few weeks; she and Derek have two other pups at present, Poppy(ChiefxClancy) and Tash(Riana Cash IIxKarmala Brandy) shown here after escaping and finding the cows…Video

The two older pups I had for sale last month both went to fellows who had attended a Fairdinkum Stock Handling course, which was very satisfying. Good that people are looking for dogs with natural work and realising the value of investing in well bred workers. I had an enquiry for a pup today from a lass who has come to the same conclusion, I’ll quote from her email as it is typical of many others received:

“I offered to take a questionable Kelpie bitch that one of my friends rescued and did not get along with. We don’t know how old she is, what breeds she has in her or what happened to her (she has scars all over her back). Lea is a lovely bitch. She comes when I whisper her name, she sits, waits and wants kisses and cuddles all day long … And then I put her on cattle and she looses all that. She gets distracted easy, does not come when I call her has no eye. She can block a small mob for me and bring it back but when she doesn’t like the face of a heifer she just leaves her behind. I call it ‘Leas pre-culling session’.
She is teaching me a lot about training a dog but it is a constant battle with me whistling and screaming like a mad woman. This made me look back into proper Kelpie breeding, trials etc. I love this breed and I am very interested in every aspect of it. With Zacs mother being a Karmala dog and Zac showing more brain on cattle being 4 months old then Lea ever did I came back to your website and studied it for hours.”

About three years ago I sent two pups over to Fiona and John Henchman, dairy farmers in the North Is. of NZ. It’s been really good to hear from Fiona about their progress, and this year when their cows started calving Lucy(GlidexKahlua) stepped up and has taken over as Fiona’s right hand dog! John uses Gusto(Tracker GibbsxLily) in the mornings to get the cows in. The country is quite stunning and close to the coast, but at times it provides some huge challenges, being so steep. Jerseys are smaller and more agile, so are the breed of choice. I thought these photos really interesting and asked Fiona if I could use them.

  Lucy looking glamorous!

Cows waiting to come in to be milked.

While most are ready to go home there are some who need a bit of encouragement!

Lucy getting the stragglers moving

This cow had a sore hip and Lucy took her very quietly… great to see how kelpies can adapt to so many varied tasks. 

As of today(Oct 7) the Heli pups have begun to leave home. Mat Larkings collected Lil this morning, and the other pups have been whinging ever since. Their long run around out of the run has given them a taste for freedom. Cherry had a flying trip home, fell in love with Wilson, and went back to Deepwater all on the same day!! He’s a smart old dog and pretty fussy, so hopefully the time was right and she’ll be in pup.