Kelpie Oakey, winner of the National Kelpie Field Trials at South Australia in March 2026. Belonging to Roland Pell at Undera
The first thing you notice about national kelpie champion, Oakey, is how he not only listens to commands, but watches his owner.
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Oakey is watching for a subtle movement of his master’s hand, listening to the tone of voice and checking on commands.
His owner, Undera kelpie trainer, Roland Pell, respects the eight-year-old and points out the subtle control the dog exercises when rounding up sheep.
Roland and kelpie breeder Anthony Kilmartin agree with the observation by noted dog trialler, Greg Prince, that a good dog needs to behave like a “friendly predator”.
The dog’s influence is a primitive one, derived from the wild when wild dogs chased down sheep, but that influence has to be tempered.
Generating too much fear, tends to spook the sheep and it can induce a wild panic, putting safety and control at risk.
Roland believes his dog, Buntal Oakey, has the right mix, which was on show at the National Kelpie Field Trials, held in South Australia in March, where the pair won the open title.
“You want a dog to produce enough influence to take the sheep where you want them, and apply enough pressure without unduly scaring them.“
It was a double win for the Goulburn Valley, as the breeder was Anthony, a former farmer and more recently a pastoral assistant with St Brendan’s.
Anthony also owns the mother of Oakey.
Roland and his wife, Ann, have a small farm in the Undera district where, as well as growing out lambs, hold a stable of kelpies.
At any one time he has a few young kelpies in training and conducts training sessions for cattle dog owners once a month.
Oakey was put through his paces on the football oval of a tiny South Australian town at Kalangadoo, facing competitors from around Australia.
He was required to push five sheep through a gate, press a flock into a yard, draft them through a race, and finish by working five sheep into a small pen on the oval.
Roland said it was a challenging trial as it combined a dog skilled in the yards as well as paddock work.
Roland is the new president of the Victorian Yard Dog Association.
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