Lyndal Dean and Buster on their Violet Town property.
“I think three kelpies is plenty,” Lyndal Dean observes as the three dogs tear around the backyard in pursuit of a ball.
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One of the youngest, Buster, is energetic to the point of mania, while 15-year-old Mac shows polite interest in the game, and younger Bonnie seems obsessed with pursuing Buster, rather than the ball.
The Dean household, near Violet Town, is located on a farm — but the Angus and Hereford cattle don’t often require herding, so the dogs get plenty of ball playtime.
Buster and Mac are residents, but Bonnie belongs to Lyndal and Keith’s daughter, who dropped her off while she was holidaying.
Buster, who gets fired up over ball games, has mixed parentage because his mum was a border collie. It shows in the ears.
Lyndal confesses to being smitten by the kelpie breed, which probably goes back to her early days on the sheep farm south of Euroa where she grew up.
“I just love the kelpies. They are great dogs,” she said.
“You can train them if you get them young enough. They have great personalities and they are easy to care for, because of their short coats.
“I have never met a kelpie with a nasty nature.”
If there was any doubt about her attachment, it was cemented on her first wedding anniversary when Keith announced he had a special gift for her.
It was, of course, a kelpie pup.
“He was pretty special,” Lyndal said. The pup, that is, not Keith. Well, perhaps Keith was too, for thinking of her.
Mac, the retired gentleman dog, came to the family from a vet, who was trying to find a suitable home for him. Despite a bit of arthritis, he holds his 15 years well.
Mac is 15 years old but still active.
The Dean family property at Riggs Creek was established by Keith’s ancestor, Frederick Dean, in 1877 and has been in the family ever since.
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