An Interview with Erin Caterson

Copyright Julie Williams

At long last, I have finally sat down, and put this together. A while back I contacted Erin about her giving me, and other readers some insight into her life with Kelpies. Erin and her twin Perina Giles have been in Kelpies longer than I have been alive, and thusly, I think they may know a thing or two that we wet behind the ears youngsters don't. Here are some excerpts from that interview- with more to come later.

When did you get your first Kelpie?

After I got married and left home and moved to Illawong where we had three acres of land. I bought some sheep.
Before I bought my first Kelpie I had a female German Shepherd, three Cattle Dogs two red and one blue plus my Kelpies. Cattle dogs are very good watch dogs and Kelpies are excellent watch dogs as well. The dogs would let me know if anyone was around.
I bought my first Kelpie female in 1961 it was a red show Kelpie she was supposed to be a good worker, and I tried working her on the sheep but I found out she could not work very well.

I tried breeding working strain over show strain. It was an improvement in working ability. I decided to get rid of her and her offspring and get some pure working strain Kelpies that could work.
Bought my first working kelpie in 1965. Then I bought others in 1966 1967 1968

How did you come up with the name Spinifex?

Spinifex is a name of a very strong hardy grass that grows in arid land, I liked the name and thought that would be a good name for a Kelpie stud.

What were your early stud dogs like?

My first stud dog was Karrawarra Nap he was black and tan a very handy dog. I used him a few times and sold him to Tasmania.
My next stud dog was a black and tan Doonans Boss. He was a very good dog and a lot of people used him as a sire and he produced very good pups that were good workers.
The next dog was a red and tan Cudgee Dodger used him a few times and he produced good pups. I bred I bred a lot of stud dogs and used them. To name a few- Spinifex Big Ben. Spinifex Quicksand, Spinifex Loch. Spinifex Dereck, Spinifex Paddy, Spinifex Doc, I had good results from these stud dogs.

Spinifex Big Ben, I should have used him more than I did he was such good dog. Big Ben used to love to go fishing with me and the family and we used to fish with a rod and float to catch blackfish (luderick) and Spinifex Big Ben would watch the float floating down the river and when you would get a bit of a bite and the float bobbed up and down he would stamp his front feet. The more bites you got the faster his feet would stamp, I never had to watch the float Big Ben would let you know if the fish were biting and we caught a lot of fish. One day we were fishing and there was a boat anchored out in the river off the rocks where we were fishing and the blokes in the boat were watching Big Ben and they yelled out to me and said “Why don’t you buy your dog a fishing rod?’

The last lot of stud dogs I have used are Spinifex Paddy black & tan, Potters Clyde red & Tan, and Meson Punch red and tan.
When I wanted a particular bloodline to breed into my Kelpies I would go to various studs and buy a good pup.
I also used outside stud dogs as well, I will name some, Rockybar Rusty, Rockybar Joe, Elgovers Casey, Joes Tau, Kanbara Merlin, Meson Glint, Meson Otto, Wyvelloe Silver, Kanbara Brandy, Meson Minder. Lundavara Tarboy. These dogs are all dead now.
I also bought female Kelpies from other working kelpie studs, Doonans Stormy, Karrawarra Lisa, Mudu Gwin, Mudu Sal, LeCliffe Wendy, Wooton Sue, Croakes Ruby, Karrawarra Patch, Karrawarra Lisa, Meson Thistle, Strathblane Fler, Rockybar Star 11, Webbs Mega-Watt, Rockybar Bessy. Cudgee Bunty. These dogs have all died.
I bred a lot of female kelpies, which I bred from over the years. I think it is too many to list, they would all be in the WKC Stud Books. I have bred about 350 Kelpies may be more.

When did you start competing in sheepdog trials?

I first trialled a kelpie about 1962 got a fourth place.
Worked some Kelpies in the first WKC trial at Linnanes place.
Trialled Doonans Boss at Goondiwindi
Have worked Kelpies ducks in ducks trials and given demonstrations of Kelpies working ducks.
Put some of my Kelpies in the Dog Olympics and won a number of medals
I have entered in a few trials over the years but don't seem to have time to work my dogs in trials.

Why do you prefer a Kelpie over any other breed?

Kelpies rarely get sick, and are so clever they can outsmart any breed. A lot of people do not know how to handle them. You have to be a couple of steps ahead of them all the time because they think for themselves and you do not have to keep telling them what to do.


What problems do you see with respect to working, in today's Kelpies?

I don't think its a good idea to breed yard dog bloodlines into paddock dogs, because you can lose distance and you may get barking that you do not want in paddock work. If you need yard dogs to bark and back the sheep just breed to yard dog bloodlines

What are your plans with respect to Kelpies and sheep herding?



I will train my young kelpies to work in the paddock and do some obstacle work with them. I will let them do yard work as well but they do not bark like the yard dog bloodlines do. My present day Kelpies have to bring the sheep from the paddocks and into the yards for drenching, worming etc. I might put them in a trial one day if I get them going good enough to trial.

I now live in Manildra. Manildra is in the central west slopes of NSW. I have a property of 73 acres and run merino whethers on the land. I have a trial ground set up for Herding trials and three sheep trial work, also yards for yard work. People come here to learn how to work their dogs on sheep. My sister Perina and I hold clinics and instruct them how to do obstacle work and yard work with their dogs.