Casterton lays claim to be the birthplace of the breed of working dog known as the kelpie, a Scottish term meaning 'Water Sprite' and a name given to a black and tan bitch British working collie owned by Scotsman George Patterson, a farmer who lived north of Casterton in the 1870s. Patterson exchanged 'Kelpie' for a horse and the dog's new owner, a drover named Jack Gleeson, took her to Ardlethan, NSW where she mated with a black male Rutherford Sheepdog named 'Moss', producing several litters. Kelpie later mated with another male named 'Caesar', producing a female pup named 'King's Kelpie' which grew to become a champion sheepdog.