Stage set for Cobber Challenge

Peta Bauerweb TBW Newsgroup
IN COMPETITION: Four-year-old border collie Jed will compete against 11 other working dogs from across the country for the title of Cobber Challenge champion.

Peta Bauerweb TBW Newsgroup
IN COMPETITION: Four-year-old border collie Jed will compete against 11 other working dogs from across the country for the title of Cobber Challenge champion.

THE stage is set for Australia’s hardest working farm dogs to go head-to-head in the fourth annual Cobber Challenge.

Wearing GPS collars, the dogs will be tracked over a three-week period to determine how far, fast and how long they work for.

Twelve dogs from six states across the country have been selected for the challenge, including two South East competitors.

Peta Bauer and her four-year-old border collie Jed will represent the Limestone Coast in the challenge at their Conmurra property – north of Millicent – along with Upper South East resident Peter Barr and Breakit.

Breeding working dogs for over 20 years and working on the land, Ms Bauer is no stranger to the industry.

Regularly entering working dog competitions in the past, Ms Bauer said this would be Jed’s first time on “the big stage” and believed it was a good way to gauge his abilities against other dogs around the country.

“I think he competed once at a dog trial at a show when he was quite young and did well, but we have not really done anything with him besides obviously just working on the farm,” she said.

“The Cobber Challenge will give us a chance to see how he stacks up against other working dogs, but we already know he is pretty good.

“He is a great all-rounder, which is something you do not see too often – other dogs might be really good on cattle but not so great in the yard whereas he is quite good across the board.”

Previously owning kelpies during her career, Ms Bauer said she started using border collies in the past few years and has not looked back since.

“All of our dogs’ bloodlines come from the UK so they’re quite well bred,” she said.

“Jed’s grandfather won the International Sheep Dog Trials in 2010 and both of his parents were amazing working dogs, so he had a lot to live up to.

“Sometimes you have a perfect bloodline of great dogs but you just cannot get a pup that meets the mark, but Jed is a great representative of his bloodline and a hard worker.”

Working off a 10,000 acre property with 25,000 sheep and 1500 head of cattle, Jed has a lot of weight on his shoulders, but Ms Bauer said he takes it with ease.

“When he was younger he was a bit of a menace because he was on a smaller property with less to do and too much energy,” she said.

“But now there is so much space and work to be done, he is really thriving.

“He loves the exercise and the work and just gets to run around all day.”

A good dog is as good as any piece of machinery according to Ms Bauer and she believed competitions like the Cobber Challenge showcase what the animals can do.

“It is really amazing to have border collies and kelpies to show off for these competitions,” she said.

“They are absolutely invaluable to us so it is great to educate the public a bit about what they do as well.

“We know Jed is a brilliant dog so we are really hopeful he can keep that same energy up for the three weeks of competition and maybe win it.”

The Cobber Challenge will run from August 12 to September 1 with competitors scored based on distance, speed and duration of work per day with points accumulated based on daily activity.

Visit www.cobberchallenge.com.au to keep up to date with Jed and Breakit during the competition.