During his years on the land working sheep, Turbo has broken bones, suffered a life-threatening bacterial infection and battled with stubborn grass seeds stuck in his skin.
But nothing will tame his finely-tuned instincts for herding livestock, his owner Daniel Pumpa from central-west NSW, said.
“He’s got a great attitude to life.
“He’s had a lot of injuries over his time and come back from them, which shows the determination of the kelpie breed — he’s one hell of a tough dog.”
After recovering from his ailments, Turbo competed in the top 10 in the international Cobber Challenges in 2019 and 2021.
The competition puts working dogs across Australia and New Zealand to the test, tracking them with a GPS collar that monitors speed, duration and distance.
Last year, four NSW kelpies called Cracka, Drake, Sorcha and Bundy won a new relay format by collectively covering 854km at an average speed of 10.14 km/h and working 84 hours while managing thousands of sheep and cattle.
Western Australian kelpies Flick, Millie, Suzie and Tez came in second, though they took out the top spot for speed with an average of 11.1 km/h.
This year the challenge will return to single dogs competing over 12 weeks, with data taken from their best three.
With more than a quarter of a million stock-herding dogs in both Australia and New Zealand eligible to enter, this year’s competition is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever.
In its eighth year, the Cobber Challenge will see a shortlist of 12 of the fastest and fiercest mustering champions battle out in a gruelling trans-Tasman contest.
Daniel, who has chosen to give Turbo a rest this year, said his farm was a “pretty big operation with sheep, cattle and crops”.
“I couldn’t imagine a day’s work without my dogs,” he said.
“They are the most valuable employees I have, and they’re my best mates.
“I’ve competed in the challenge twice over the past eight years and have had an absolute blinder of a time doing it. I’d encourage any farmer out there to give it a crack.”
Daniel said it could take up to three years to fully train a working dog, depending on its level of maturity.
“You can get a dog that has all the natural abilities even as a young pup, but you can’t bring out their full potential by just letting them run rogue,” he said.
“We do what we call balance work, which is holding sheep and learning to read their stock and not be too silly and just treat them well.
“Once they get to 12 months you start taking them to work so they can start learning the real life stuff.”
Daniel is very attached to his 15 working dogs, including his 12-year-old retirees.
“I can't let them go, they’re too close to family.
“They’re like my kids.”
Nominations for this year’s challenge are open now and close on Sunday, June 25. To enter, visit: www.cobberchallenge.com.au
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