In a small town in southern Western Australia some of the country’s most skilled sheepdogs and their owners are about to be put through their paces.
The men and women from all parts of the country, and remarkably different backgrounds, travelled to Kojonup, 265 kilometres south-east of Perth, for last week’s National Yard Dog Championships.
But their love for the animals — highly skilled, rigorously trained, and sought after in Australian agriculture — is what unites them.
National Champion Bree Cudmore paid her own way across the Nullarbor because of the passion she holds for competing at such a high level.
Cudmore said being a woman in what was once a male-dominated sport is something she does not really consider.
“There’s a lot of people who say ‘do it for the girls’, but I’m like ‘I’m doing it for me’,” she said.
“I think the disadvantage in the past was women weren’t working as much on farms, whereas now we’re working our own dogs and understanding stock.”
Dog training an outlet for ‘nuisance farmer’
While competitors travelled from across the country, local representation was also strong.
Retired wheat and sheep farmer Nigel Armstrong now calls himself a “nuisance farmer” after moving to a 16-hectare property east of Perth.
“I started 40 years ago, because it means a better dog for the farm,” Armstrong said.
“You don’t win much, but you do it for the pleasure.
“I guess it’s taken me 20 years though to find the dogs I like.”
At the opposite end of his career is 30-year-old Wagin farmer Blake Robinson, who sees the competition as an outlet during tough times.
“It’s tough at the minute, prices and no rain, everyone is in the same boat,” he said.
“I treat these [events] as my holiday, my getaway from the farm.”
Age is just a number
Kevin Howell has just travelled over 3,000 kilometres with his wife and eight dogs.
It is the seventh trip across the Nullarbor for Howell and his wife Kay, who farm in rural New South Wales.
He has been transporting his dogs around the country for 40 years and has won a string of titles.
“I’ve won 10 national utility kelpie championships, one Australian yard dog championship,” Howell said.
But it is not the accolades the yard dog veteran competitor travels all the kilometres for.
“I’m 82 years old, but that doesn’t matter. The dogs don’t know my age,” he said.
“This is a sport I can do as long as I’ve got my marbles and two legs.”
Sitting amongst fellow competitors and their four-legged friends in the backblocks of Kojonup, Howell reflected on why it was he kept coming back to a sport where he has already proven his abilities.
“I’m getting a lump in my throat just thinking about [my dogs]. They have something special for humans,” he said.
“They can also save you the place of one man, and can do everything if not more than what most workers can do.
“You don’t have to pay them superannuation either.”
Stories from farms and country towns across Australia, delivered each Friday.
Posted , updated
