The 2021 Cobber Challenge starts today, with 12 dogs from across Australia and New Zealand competing to be crowned the hardest working dog.
The dogs will wear GPS collars over three weeks to track the distance, duration and speed of their work.
"The Cobber Challenge is about recognising the hard work that these dogs put in and celebrating their enormous contribution to Australian and New Zealand farms," said Kellie Savage, Cobber's Marketing Manager.
This year, the challenge welcomed New Zealand dogs to compete against their Australian counterparts for the first time ever, Savage said.
"We can't wait to see that friendly rivalry play out."
"It's our chill time before everything gets hectic, but I think Spark will still ramp up the number of kilometres and do a fair amount of work because he likes to hog the work," Aitken said.
Peter Aitken and his Heading Dog, Spark, are one of three New Zealand teams competing in the Cobber Challenge. Photo / Supplied
Meanwhile, over the Tasman Sea, stockman James Knight and his Border Collie, Krui Snowy, will be checking stock across properties in Queensland and branding calves later in the week.
During the competition they will also muster groups of cattle including cows to be pregnancy tested.
Knight said he had high hopes for his team.
"If I look after Snowy, feed her right and manage her workload well, she'll be competitive. But deep down I think the Kiwis are the ones to beat."
James Knight's Border Collie, Krui Snowy. Photo / Supplied
There's a chance of rain in Coolac, NSW, where Emma Stocks and her Kelpie, Koby, will be hoping for the clouds to part so they can mark lambs.
"Where there is work, I know Koby will put in some solid miles as he is a big strong dog with loads of stamina and determination," Stocks said.
"We may not make it to the top but we're certainly going to do the best with what we get in terms of weather – Mother Nature always wins."
Emma Stocks, from Coolac NSW, with her dog Koby, who is one of 12 working dogs that is competing in the 2021 Cobber Challenge. Photo / Supplied
Northern NSW Kelpie-cross, Buddy, was last year's winner, and his owner Glenda Rogan was looking forward to seeing how this year's competitors compared.
Buddy set a new record, clocking 835km over the three-week competition.
Rogan had some practical tips for this year's competitors: charge your GPS collar every night and plan your time.
"I didn't book many social outings during the Cobber Challenge because if you're fair dinkum about competing, you have to give it priority."
Now in its sixth year, the 2021 Cobber Challenge will run from today (Monday, August 16) to Sunday, September 5, with 12 dogs across the two countries giving it their all.
Each day of the competition, data is uploaded to the Cobber Challenge website so fans can follow the performance of their favourite dogs and national team.
For three weeks, the dogs will be scored based on distance, speed and duration of work per day with points accumulated based on daily activity to determine the winner of the Cobber Challenge trophy.
