Kelpie vs Huntaway for working sheep

Sheepykid

Member
We’ve currently only got one working collie and one in retirement. I could do with another dog for working in pens predominately. The collies we’ve had and have now struggle with pushing sheep in the pens. They end up backing off in that situation. So I was thinking a kelpie or huntaway would be stronger for working in pens. Or is it luck of the draw and it’s the individual dog rather than the breed. Just interested to hear peoples thoughts.
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
What you need is a nice blue Merle
2D980F3F-F6A6-482F-BD29-C86C8AA49616.jpeg
and strangely enough that’s just what I’ve got 😂
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
Joking aside. Do you reckon they are any harder for working in pens than collies?
Mine are collies and not worked with the breeds your asking about but plenty folks work pens with collies, it’s more to do with the attitude of the dog than the breed! Having said that hunterways were bred to push up so they are designed for the job, me personally couldn’t stand the noise
 

Sheepykid

Member
Mine are collies and not worked with the breeds your asking about but plenty folks work pens with collies, it’s more to do with the attitude of the dog than the breed! Having said that hunterways were bred to push up so they are designed for the job, me personally couldn’t stand the noise
Yeah I’ve had a handful of collies now and they’re great at gathering but once the sheep are penned they don’t wanna know about forcing them up without you being there with them.
I seen kelpies get stuck in with the pens. Never seen a Huntaway in action. But the barking all the time would do my head in.
 

JSmith

Member
Livestock Farmer
Why they won’t push up would just be down to training not breed, if they can teach them to dance the tango an climb ladders an all such nonsense then getting them to push there natural opponent up a race should be straight forward! I know several collies that unload 4deckers all day long, the only thing they don’t do is open the gates, they just ram their self under/through/around to the back of the partition every time, it’s just what they’ve been encouraged to do repeatedly
 

Wood field

Member
Livestock Farmer
Our collies and those of our neighbours will certainly move sheep either on the moor or in the yards
We were just talking about this with a chap schooling two young dogs for us, I commented that one isn’t afraid to give the sheep a nip on the backside and the trainer said these will work , I think at the risk of being shot down there’s trials dogs and plain good work dogs , I know what we prefer
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
Why they won’t push up would just be down to training not breed, if they can teach them to dance the tango an climb ladders an all such nonsense then getting them to push there natural opponent up a race should be straight forward! I know several collies that unload 4deckers all day long, the only thing they don’t do is open the gates, they just ram their self under/through/around to the back of the partition every time, it’s just what they’ve been encouraged to do repeatedly

That's not strictly true. A dog still needs the confidence to face stock at close quarters. It's either there or its not, and you can't put in what God left out.
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
Why they won’t push up would just be down to training not breed, if they can teach them to dance the tango an climb ladders an all such nonsense then getting them to push there natural opponent up a race should be straight forward! I know several collies that unload 4deckers all day long, the only thing they don’t do is open the gates, they just ram their self under/through/around to the back of the partition every time, it’s just what they’ve been encouraged to do repeatedly

My collie will unload a 4 decker. I used to think she was a good pen dog, till I got a kelpie.
 

Optimus

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North of Perth
My collie is useless in the pens.sheep just look at him.soon as the huntaway x kelpie is in its a different ball game.by Christ he can bark tho.drives everyone mad bar me an my dad 🤣
 

Jonny_2

Member
I’ve got a 5m old collie x huntaway that’s already showing a lot of promise! It’s a bit of a handful but has loads of natural instinct. Got in with a pen of weaned calves and was rounding them up like a collie, later it got in with the pet lambs and stood barking like a huntaway. I only run 200 sheep and mainly struggle pushing them into my yard or Rappa, but still need a dog to round them up too. Hopefully will be a good match
 

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