THEY’RE the backbone of many livestock operations, and a challenge is proving the working dog’s value to Australian farming.
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The Cobber Challenge, which wraps up this week, pits eight working dogs against each other in a three-week challenge.
The challenge uses a GPS collar to measure the distance travelled, duration and average speed, with data recorded daily and the top dog receiving the Cobber Challenge trophy.
The dogs have travelled up to 61.3 kilometres in a day and reached speeds of 17.20 kilometres an hour.
The competition is an idea from Cobber dog food manufacturer Ridley, as a way to highlight the work done by dogs every day on Australian farms.
Among the top dogs so far is Tally-ho Tammy, owned by Jeremy Grills, Rockvale Station, Armidale.
The 21-month-old black and tan Kelpie bitch is running second overall.
She might be one of the youngest workers on Rockvale Station, but she's one of the most valuable, becoming the top dog in a short time.
Most of the work on the place is done with dogs, with the livestock production including 12,000 Merino ewes and 5000 crossbred ewes as well as cattle.
Tammy was bred by Mr Grills' grandfather, Barry Grills.
She's a handy worker on the property, needing little pay and never stopping.
"We've got mainly sheep, but I do some cattle work with her as well," Mr Grills said.
"We take the dogs with us every day and they’re so valuable.”
Mr Grills said a dog could do the work of four or five employees, particularly in steep country which is hard to reach, even with a side-by-side vehicle.
“We couldn't do a lot of the work on property without the dogs – they certainly come in handy because they just keep going and they love the work.”
The other NSW competitor, Minute, is the oldest worker in the challenge and is running fourth.
The seven-year-old black and tan Kelpie dog, owned by Matt Ehsman, Delungra, is natural sheep dog, but mainly works with cattle.
He said one dog could do the job of three or four men.
“We require a good dog, they’re one of the tools of the trade,” Mr Ehsman said.
Larry, a three-year-old black and tan Kelpie dog owned by Damien Clifford at Woorndoo, Victoria, is currently at the top of the leaderboard, achieving the best speed and distance results to date.
The follow the dogs challenge journey, visit www.cobberchallenge.com.au
