THE annual Cobber Challenge to find Australia's hardest working farm dog is back.
Eleven dogs selected to compete from all around Australia will wear a GPS collar to monitor the distance they cover and how fast they work.
The competitors scores will be based on distance, speed and duration of work per day in the three-week competition that started on August 12.
Western Australia has one competitor this year - Jim Harradine, of Kondinin and his four-year-old border collie, Bridie.
Mr Harradine has been working with livestock since he left school in 2013 and has taken on the role as a livestock contractor, working predominantly with sheep.
He said his training techniques revolved solely around pressure and release.
"I use body language and position to teach my dogs the meanings of each command," Mr Harradine said.
"This was the way I trained Bridie, there was no set method, but the principles of pressure and release are fairly common and can be applied in numerous ways."
A first-time competitor in the Cobber Challenge, Mr Harradine said his strategy for the challenge would be no different to how he approached everyday work.
"On a daily basis Bridie can be doing anything really, but most commonly it's backing, barking, pushing sheep through yards and up onto my boss' crutching trailer," he said.
"She is very adept at mustering and works her way through any situation with relative ease.
"I'll still use Bridie in the same way as I normally would - for me it is all about getting the job done as efficiently as possible with as little stress to the livestock as possible."
Mr Harradine said his relationship with Bridie had only developed over the past two and a half years when he lost his old dog, Mikey.
"While Mikey was around he was king of the castle but when I lost him I was a bit lost myself for a while, and Bridie started to come into her own about that time," he said.
"From there she's been my go to dog for anything.
"I know she'll give me 110 per cent every time and to have that level of trust in each other is something else."
Mr Harradine has six other working dogs, including a brother to Bridie, with the dogs at various ages and levels of training, but said he mainly uses a working team of four.
Looking to the future, he hopes to establish himself in the Kulin/Kondinin area as a livestock contractor.
"I've only recently moved out there so that's the aim of the game and Bridie will hopefully be a central part of that," he said.
Last year, Victorian farmer Henry Lawrence and his Kelpie, Boof, took the trophy, recording an average speed of 10.62 kilometres an hour and covering a total distance of 638.1km.
More infomration: follow the competition at cobberchallenge.com.au
