Two of our Favourite Boys

Young Kelpie Will, and his Border Collie friend Jago

Thinking of a Kelpie or collie as a working dog? Kelpie Will and Jago (above) are two of our favourite trainees. Will’s training is progressing a little slowly, but he’s definitely getting there, while Jago (a Kay and Oliver puppy) is making great progress.

If anything, Jago’s a little too keen. He can’t resist running off to the sheep at every opportunity, even when he knows he shouldn’t. It’s only a phase he’s going through, and we don’t mind too much because, although it can be inconvenient to have the flock brought to us while we have around twenty dogs in the field, the way young Jago brings them is very impressive. Instead of chasing the sheep all over the field, which is usual when a puppy goes to them, Jago goes out wide and gets behind them before bringing them towards us. He can keep around thirty sheep under control at a time.

His “proper” training will begin quite soon, so here’s hoping he continues to work so well when it’s official.

Will’s progress is slow and steady, and as a Kelpie his working technique will be quite different from a Border collie. However, he’s a joy to have around. We’ve not trained many Kelpies, but those we’ve had here have had the nicest temperaments, and been loads of fun!

Kelpie or collie as a working dog?

A few years ago we kept a blog of our experiences training a home-bred Border collie and an Australian Kelpie. Read it here. Ultimately we favour the collie but if you’re a lover of Kelpies please don’t take it personally – we’ve loved them all.

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