Search on for Australia’s top farm dog

Does your farm dog work harder than the rest? Now is your chance to put it to the test.

The annual Cobber Challenge is offering Australian farmers the opportunity to measure just how hard their dog works.

Cobber marketing manager Kellie Savage said the challenge provided hard data to prove what Australian farmers already knew.

“A good working dog can do the work of at least two or three people,” she said.

“In previous years, dogs have regularly clocked over 50km in a day, highlighting their contribution to the farm team.”

Dogs from each State will be fitted with a GPS collar to track their distance, working duration and speed over a three-week period.

Points are awarded, the dogs ranked and by the end of the challenge a new Cobber Champion is crowned.

Now in its fifth year, the 2020 Cobber Challenge is shaking up its format, with six favourite competitors from previous years to compete against six newcomers.

The 2020 Cobber Challenge: All Stars Vs Contenders will run from August 17 to September 6.

Each day competition data is uploaded to the Cobber Challenge website so fans can follow the performance of individual dogs, as well as the best-performing team.

South Australian farmer Peta Bauer won last year’s challenge with border collie, Jed, who clocked a record 717km.

“I found competing in the 2019 Cobber Challenge with Jed very rewarding. It gave me a better insight to how much our dogs actually do in one day,” she said.

“It gave me a new appreciation for Jed’s dedication to work and his drive to please me.”

Jed had a week off after the Cobber Challenge before returning to help with lambing, crutching, shearing and calving.

Unfortunately, Jed had a run in with a heifer two weeks ago and injured his leg and is out of action for about eight weeks.

To nominate a working dog, visit surveymonkey.com/r/2020cobberchallenge. Nominations close at 5pm on June 26.