De eisen die gesteld worden aan de standaard van de Working Kelpie zijn eisen in het belang van de hond om zijn taak als herdershond te kunnen uitvoeren. Tijdens het ontstaan van het ras en tot op heden wordt er steeds geselecteerd op het werkvermogen, zonder rekening te houden met kleur, aftekeningen ...
Working Kelpies zijn middelgrote honden met een aangeboren instinct om een kudde bijeen te houden. Het zijn extreem actieve en intelligente honden met een onvermoeibaar uithoudingsvermogen en kunnen met gemak 50 tot 60 km lopen per dag. Ondanks hun actieve karakter mogen ze geen nervositeit of agressie vertonen.
De WK heeft een afgeronde schedel met een uitgesproken stop. De ogen staan zo ingeplant in het hoofd dat ze de hond een zo breed mogelijk gezichtsveld geven zonder dat hij zijn hoofd moet draaien. Over het algemeen hebben ze opstaande oren die aan de top in een fijne punt komen, hoewel er ook WK's zijn die gaan staande oren hebben of vaak maar één. De binnenkant van de oren zijn goed voorzien van haren om te voorkomen dat vuil of stof het oor binnendringt.
De lengte van de punt van de elleboog tot de grond is gelijk aan die van de schoft tot aan het onderste van de ribbenkas. Liever nog iets te lange dan te korte poten, maar in elk geval moeten de poten recht zijn en niet naar binnen of buiten draaien. Voor de WK bestaat er een lengte-hoogte verhouding van 10-9: d.w.z. dat de lengte van het voorste punt van het borstbeen tot het achterste van de billen staat tot 10, zoals de schofthoogte staat tot 9. Zo is een hond van vb. 18 inches groot, 20 inches lang. Ook hier geldt dat de hond beter te lang kan zijn dan te kort.
Ook de achterpoten horen recht te staan en mogen de hakken van langs achter gezien niet naar binnen (koehakkig) of naar buiten (O-benen) draaien. De staart komt tot aan de hak en kan aan de punt een lichte krul naar boven vertonen, wanneer deze in rust hangt, maar mag in geen geval te hoog ingeplant, te kort zijn of een knik hebben. Gezien de staart als tegengewicht werkt bij het draaien tijdens het lopen is een staart beter iets te lang dan te kort.
De vacht is kort, recht en weersbestendig met of zonder dichte ondervacht. Het haar op het hoofd, de oren, voeten en poten is kort. Iets langere haren kunnen voorkomen in de nek, aan de achterzijde van de dijen of aan de onderzijde van de staart.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The production of a written description of breed type requirements for Working
Kelpies stems from the need to place prime importance on the dog's ability to
perform efficiently and to remove the emphasis on the unrelated and unsuitable
qualities set down in the standard adopted by the Australian National Kennel Control and which is used as a guide by breeders of Show Kelpies. The fact that his ears are half up, or he has a white streak on his face, white feet or that his coat is scraggy and so on, has nothing to do with his conformation.
Selection for the best working qualities and a thorough understanding of proper conformation will contribute more to the future of the breed than will ever be made by a selection for superficial things like size of ears, coat quality, colour and so on.
Using the generally accepted format the breed characteristics, overall appearance, and conformation of our Working Kelpies could be described in the following way:
Click here for the full text about the characteristics and conformation of the WK.
GENERAL APPEARANCE:
The overall appearance of the Working Kelpie should be that of a medium sized, lithe, active, strongly muscled dog
possessing great suppleness of limb, and conveying the capability of untiring work.
TEMPERAMENT:
The Working Kelpie is an extremely active breed, who can run 50 to 60 km a day. They are intelligent, friendly and real workaholics with a strongly inherited natural instinct and aptitude in the working of sheep, (and other livestock) both in open country and in the yards. They need to have a good balance between keenness to work and ability to relax. However they are extremely active, they may not show any form of nervousness or aggressiveness.
MOVEMENT:
During movement the gait should be free, smooth, and effortless with a good length of stride, showing a tendency for foot
placement to move towards 'single tracking' just before breaking into a trot, and becoming more pronounced as speed increases.
There must be ability to turn suddenly at speed, and be capable of the crouching stealthy movement demanded by its work. When walking slowly (and when standing still) the legs seen from front or rear should be 'four square.'
Because of the association with loss of efficiency any tendency to heavy 'pounding' gait, 'stiltedness', loose shoulders or restricted movement; weaving or plaiting gait should be considered highly undesirable.
HEAD:
An acceptable Kelpie type head has a slightly rounded skull, broad between well-pricked ears, forehead curved very slightly
towards a pronounced stop. The cheeks neither coarse nor prominent but rounded to the fore face, cleanly chiselled and defined. The muzzle, of moderate length tapered towards the nose and refined in comparison to the skull; lips tight and clean.Too much emphasis should not be placed on the finer points of the head.
EYES:
The overall placement in the skull should provide the widest possible field of vision without the need of head movement with the
eyes slightly oval shaped, of medium size and widely spaced, clearly defined at the corners and showing a kind, intelligent and eager expression. Small eyes particularly, if badly placed, should be considered undesirable.
EARS:
Ears should be widely spaced, pricked and running to a fine point at the tip, the leather fine but strong at the base, inclining outwards and slightly curved on the outer edge and of moderate size; the inside of the ears well furnished with hair to discourage entry of foreign bodies. Comment: there should be a marked ability to rotate the ear to catch sound to minimise head movement.
NECK:
The neck should be of fair length, strong, slightly arched and showing quality, gradually moulding into the shoulders. Incorrect attachment at head or shoulder; short thick ‘bull’ or ‘ewe’ neck are undesirable structural faults.
FOREQUARTERS:
As a whole should be clean, muscular with sloping shoulders close-set at the withers; elbows set parallel with the body. The forelegs should be muscular with strong but refined bone, perfectly straight when viewed from the front, but pasterns should show a slight angulation to the forearm when viewed from the side.
SHOULDERS:
The shoulders should be clean, muscular, with a long sloping shoulder blade (scapula) set at approximately 45 degree angle to the ground; close-set withers, upper arm (humerus) forming a near 90 degree angle with the blade (scapula) and appropriately angulated to the forearm (radius and ulna) with elbows set parallel to the body. Particular emphasis should be placed on the sloping shoulder.
Two main faults to avoid are shoulders set too far forward and straight (upright) shoulders, both of which affect balance and inhibit free movement and should be considered serious faults.
FORELEGS:
Clean, muscular, refined boned and perfectly straight when viewed from the front. The length of leg should be approximately the same from the point of elbow (tip of the ulna) to the ground as is the distance from the wither to the base of the rib cage, with preference towards longer rather than shorter forelegs. The pastern should show a slight angle with the forearm when viewed from side.
Short forelegs and straight pastern (viewed from the side); Feet toed in or out (viewed from the front) should be considered
undesirable.
Close knitting of toes should not be exaggerated.
BODY:
The chest should be deep, rather than wide; ribs well sprung (not barrel-ribbed) with a top line showing a rise at the withers (to allow sufficient action of the forequarters); strong and well muscled loins, sloping to the butt of the tail. Any tendency to a 'level top line' is undesirable.
Length to Height Ratio 10-9:
The body measured from the point of the breast bone in a straight line to the buttocks should be greater than the height at the withers, as 10 units is to 9 units. eg a dog 18 inches in height should measure 20 inches in length. It is better for the dog to be too long than too
short. Any tendency to squareness in a working dog is undesirable.
CHEST:
The chest when viewed from the side should be deep; the point of breast bone showing ahead of the junction between shoulder
blade (scapula) and upper arm (humerus). The bottom line of the rib cage should curve downwards from its point, to below and slightly in front of the elbow (tip of the ulna) then remain level to the eighth rib before continuing in a gradual upwards curve towards the flank.
Because of the affect on heart and lung room any structural deviations in this area should be considered highly undesirable.
HINDQUARTERS:
Should show breadth and strength with the rump rather long and sloping; the upper thigh (femur) well set into the hip socket at the pelvis at a corresponding angle to the shoulder blade. When viewed from the side the overall upper line of rump and tail should form a
smooth curve when the dog is standing at rest. The stifles (junction of femur with tibia and fibula) well turned (angled), the hocks fairly well let down and placed parallel with the body when viewed from behind.
Particular emphasis should be placed on the turn of stifle and any tendency to straightness should be considered undesirable as
are Cow hocks (hocks turned in) and Bow hocks (hocks turned out) when viewed from behind.
FEET:
The hind feet should be slightly elongated in comparison with the front feet, strong, deep in the pads, with flexible well arched toes with strong short nails to allow the dog maximum thrust under differing ground surfaces. Toes turned in or out, are undesirable.
TAIL:
When viewed from the side the butt of the tail should be well let down. During inactivity the tail should hang in a slight curve reaching the hock -longer rather than shorter is desirable. Because they act as a counter-balance. Tails which are set too high, short, kinked, screwed or hooked tails are all undesirable.
SIZE:
Classified as a medium sized dog with a height to length ratio of 9 10.
COAT:
The outer coat should be moderately short, flat, and straight and weather resisting, with or without a short dense undercoat. On
the head, ears, feet and legs the hair should be short. The coat can be slightly longer at the neck, at the rear of the thighs, and on the underside of the tail to form a brush.
Working Kelpies zijn middelgrote honden met een aangeboren instinct om een kudde bijeen te houden. Het zijn extreem actieve en intelligente honden met een onvermoeibaar uithoudingsvermogen en kunnen met gemak 50 tot 60 km lopen per dag. Ondanks hun actieve karakter mogen ze geen nervositeit of agressie vertonen.
De WK heeft een afgeronde schedel met een uitgesproken stop. De ogen staan zo ingeplant in het hoofd dat ze de hond een zo breed mogelijk gezichtsveld geven zonder dat hij zijn hoofd moet draaien. Over het algemeen hebben ze opstaande oren die aan de top in een fijne punt komen, hoewel er ook WK's zijn die gaan staande oren hebben of vaak maar één. De binnenkant van de oren zijn goed voorzien van haren om te voorkomen dat vuil of stof het oor binnendringt.
De lengte van de punt van de elleboog tot de grond is gelijk aan die van de schoft tot aan het onderste van de ribbenkas. Liever nog iets te lange dan te korte poten, maar in elk geval moeten de poten recht zijn en niet naar binnen of buiten draaien. Voor de WK bestaat er een lengte-hoogte verhouding van 10-9: d.w.z. dat de lengte van het voorste punt van het borstbeen tot het achterste van de billen staat tot 10, zoals de schofthoogte staat tot 9. Zo is een hond van vb. 18 inches groot, 20 inches lang. Ook hier geldt dat de hond beter te lang kan zijn dan te kort.
Ook de achterpoten horen recht te staan en mogen de hakken van langs achter gezien niet naar binnen (koehakkig) of naar buiten (O-benen) draaien. De staart komt tot aan de hak en kan aan de punt een lichte krul naar boven vertonen, wanneer deze in rust hangt, maar mag in geen geval te hoog ingeplant, te kort zijn of een knik hebben. Gezien de staart als tegengewicht werkt bij het draaien tijdens het lopen is een staart beter iets te lang dan te kort.
De vacht is kort, recht en weersbestendig met of zonder dichte ondervacht. Het haar op het hoofd, de oren, voeten en poten is kort. Iets langere haren kunnen voorkomen in de nek, aan de achterzijde van de dijen of aan de onderzijde van de staart.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The production of a written description of breed type requirements for Working
Kelpies stems from the need to place prime importance on the dog's ability to
perform efficiently and to remove the emphasis on the unrelated and unsuitable
qualities set down in the standard adopted by the Australian National Kennel Control and which is used as a guide by breeders of Show Kelpies. The fact that his ears are half up, or he has a white streak on his face, white feet or that his coat is scraggy and so on, has nothing to do with his conformation.
Selection for the best working qualities and a thorough understanding of proper conformation will contribute more to the future of the breed than will ever be made by a selection for superficial things like size of ears, coat quality, colour and so on.
Using the generally accepted format the breed characteristics, overall appearance, and conformation of our Working Kelpies could be described in the following way:
Click here for the full text about the characteristics and conformation of the WK.
GENERAL APPEARANCE:
The overall appearance of the Working Kelpie should be that of a medium sized, lithe, active, strongly muscled dog
possessing great suppleness of limb, and conveying the capability of untiring work.
TEMPERAMENT:
The Working Kelpie is an extremely active breed, who can run 50 to 60 km a day. They are intelligent, friendly and real workaholics with a strongly inherited natural instinct and aptitude in the working of sheep, (and other livestock) both in open country and in the yards. They need to have a good balance between keenness to work and ability to relax. However they are extremely active, they may not show any form of nervousness or aggressiveness.
MOVEMENT:
During movement the gait should be free, smooth, and effortless with a good length of stride, showing a tendency for foot
placement to move towards 'single tracking' just before breaking into a trot, and becoming more pronounced as speed increases.
There must be ability to turn suddenly at speed, and be capable of the crouching stealthy movement demanded by its work. When walking slowly (and when standing still) the legs seen from front or rear should be 'four square.'
Because of the association with loss of efficiency any tendency to heavy 'pounding' gait, 'stiltedness', loose shoulders or restricted movement; weaving or plaiting gait should be considered highly undesirable.
HEAD:
An acceptable Kelpie type head has a slightly rounded skull, broad between well-pricked ears, forehead curved very slightly
towards a pronounced stop. The cheeks neither coarse nor prominent but rounded to the fore face, cleanly chiselled and defined. The muzzle, of moderate length tapered towards the nose and refined in comparison to the skull; lips tight and clean.Too much emphasis should not be placed on the finer points of the head.
EYES:
The overall placement in the skull should provide the widest possible field of vision without the need of head movement with the
eyes slightly oval shaped, of medium size and widely spaced, clearly defined at the corners and showing a kind, intelligent and eager expression. Small eyes particularly, if badly placed, should be considered undesirable.
EARS:
Ears should be widely spaced, pricked and running to a fine point at the tip, the leather fine but strong at the base, inclining outwards and slightly curved on the outer edge and of moderate size; the inside of the ears well furnished with hair to discourage entry of foreign bodies. Comment: there should be a marked ability to rotate the ear to catch sound to minimise head movement.
NECK:
The neck should be of fair length, strong, slightly arched and showing quality, gradually moulding into the shoulders. Incorrect attachment at head or shoulder; short thick ‘bull’ or ‘ewe’ neck are undesirable structural faults.
FOREQUARTERS:
As a whole should be clean, muscular with sloping shoulders close-set at the withers; elbows set parallel with the body. The forelegs should be muscular with strong but refined bone, perfectly straight when viewed from the front, but pasterns should show a slight angulation to the forearm when viewed from the side.
SHOULDERS:
The shoulders should be clean, muscular, with a long sloping shoulder blade (scapula) set at approximately 45 degree angle to the ground; close-set withers, upper arm (humerus) forming a near 90 degree angle with the blade (scapula) and appropriately angulated to the forearm (radius and ulna) with elbows set parallel to the body. Particular emphasis should be placed on the sloping shoulder.
Two main faults to avoid are shoulders set too far forward and straight (upright) shoulders, both of which affect balance and inhibit free movement and should be considered serious faults.
FORELEGS:
Clean, muscular, refined boned and perfectly straight when viewed from the front. The length of leg should be approximately the same from the point of elbow (tip of the ulna) to the ground as is the distance from the wither to the base of the rib cage, with preference towards longer rather than shorter forelegs. The pastern should show a slight angle with the forearm when viewed from side.
Short forelegs and straight pastern (viewed from the side); Feet toed in or out (viewed from the front) should be considered
undesirable.
Close knitting of toes should not be exaggerated.
BODY:
The chest should be deep, rather than wide; ribs well sprung (not barrel-ribbed) with a top line showing a rise at the withers (to allow sufficient action of the forequarters); strong and well muscled loins, sloping to the butt of the tail. Any tendency to a 'level top line' is undesirable.
Length to Height Ratio 10-9:
The body measured from the point of the breast bone in a straight line to the buttocks should be greater than the height at the withers, as 10 units is to 9 units. eg a dog 18 inches in height should measure 20 inches in length. It is better for the dog to be too long than too
short. Any tendency to squareness in a working dog is undesirable.
CHEST:
The chest when viewed from the side should be deep; the point of breast bone showing ahead of the junction between shoulder
blade (scapula) and upper arm (humerus). The bottom line of the rib cage should curve downwards from its point, to below and slightly in front of the elbow (tip of the ulna) then remain level to the eighth rib before continuing in a gradual upwards curve towards the flank.
Because of the affect on heart and lung room any structural deviations in this area should be considered highly undesirable.
HINDQUARTERS:
Should show breadth and strength with the rump rather long and sloping; the upper thigh (femur) well set into the hip socket at the pelvis at a corresponding angle to the shoulder blade. When viewed from the side the overall upper line of rump and tail should form a
smooth curve when the dog is standing at rest. The stifles (junction of femur with tibia and fibula) well turned (angled), the hocks fairly well let down and placed parallel with the body when viewed from behind.
Particular emphasis should be placed on the turn of stifle and any tendency to straightness should be considered undesirable as
are Cow hocks (hocks turned in) and Bow hocks (hocks turned out) when viewed from behind.
FEET:
The hind feet should be slightly elongated in comparison with the front feet, strong, deep in the pads, with flexible well arched toes with strong short nails to allow the dog maximum thrust under differing ground surfaces. Toes turned in or out, are undesirable.
TAIL:
When viewed from the side the butt of the tail should be well let down. During inactivity the tail should hang in a slight curve reaching the hock -longer rather than shorter is desirable. Because they act as a counter-balance. Tails which are set too high, short, kinked, screwed or hooked tails are all undesirable.
SIZE:
Classified as a medium sized dog with a height to length ratio of 9 10.
COAT:
The outer coat should be moderately short, flat, and straight and weather resisting, with or without a short dense undercoat. On
the head, ears, feet and legs the hair should be short. The coat can be slightly longer at the neck, at the rear of the thighs, and on the underside of the tail to form a brush.