Border collies and kelpies - which will make the better muster dogs
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (346592)
Rockingham, Australia
February 16, 2025 11:21pm CST
Eva James (@wolfgirl569) has a border collie called Patch. She has lovely markings and I was reminded of the series we’re watching on TV called Muster Dogs. This is at least the second series and this time around six people have been given young puppies to train as dogs that muster livestock. Mostly it’s sheep and cattle that are used. In this series, three have been given kelpie pups and three border collies. The trios are from the same litter.
There has been a lot of talk about how different the two breeds are. Kelpies are more inclined to do their own thing and prefer minimal direction while border collies are generally more ‘trainable’ and amenable. Both breeds produce incredibly intelligent and helpful working dogs that makes a stockman’s life much easier. So the series is looking at comparing the two breeds. It's interesting so far.
The photo is of Russell, a kelpie that we looked after when we were house-sitting.
14 people like this
12 responses
@JudyEv (346592)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb
Probably each breed suits a certain human temperament. We have two periods of house-sitting coming up. Some in March/April then in May/June.
@JudyEv (346592)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb
A lot of the kelpies are a more tan colour. How is the tail different?
@arunima25 (88984)
• Bangalore, India
17 Feb
They both seem to be good for help. But I would personally prefer someone who is trainable than one who does his own thing
. I am not aware of either of them and not met one yet.
Your house sitting gives you so much of varied experiences. Are you planning to do more house sitting in the future?
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2 people like this
@JudyEv (346592)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb
The handlers, like you, generally have a preference for one or the other.
We have two bouts of house-sitting coming up. The second lot is for a niece but both will be easy sits. We'll see what happens after that. Mostly we don't look for house-sitting but the people seem to find us.
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@lilacskies (4560)
• United States
17 Feb
I've never seen a kelpie until I saw the picture. The kelpie looks intimidating.
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@lilacskies (4560)
• United States
19 Feb
@JudyEv I am really scared of dobermans and American bull terriers! They are merciless.
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@JudyEv (346592)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Feb
@lilacskies I'm not keen on dogs I don't know and when we house-sit I check out any dogs carefully before agreeing to go there. I wouldn't go where there are big dogs with suspect temperaments.
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@GardenGerty (162244)
• United States
18 Feb
I do not hear about kelpies here in the states. I wonder if they are just not "trendy"here. Somewhere along the line my mind said kelpies were like elves or fairies. It must be a different word in the back of my mind.
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@JudyEv (346592)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb
The Kelpies in Scotland were mythical water creatures. We visited Kelpie sculptures in Scotland which were just amazing. The dogs originated in Australia I think. Here is a photo of the Scottish Kelpies.
@snowy22315 (185401)
• United States
20 Feb
That sounds like it must be interesting to watch
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@wolfgirl569 (111824)
• Marion, Ohio
17 Feb
Obviously I vote for the border collie 
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@wolfgirl569 (111824)
• Marion, Ohio
19 Feb
@JudyEv We don't hear of kelpies much here. So it would be the opposite.
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@RasmaSandra (82565)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
17 Feb
I love how beautiful Patch is when I see photos on here. i don't know much about dogs having been a cat person all my life.
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