THAT there is something special about dogs is unquestioned.
Canines have been man’s best friend for thousands of years whether as companions, colleagues or even first responders.
Dogs play a big role in helping pastoralists keep large flocks of sheep or herds of cattle under control.
If you’ve always wanted to see a true-blue cattle dog in action check out demonstrations by The Boonah Working Stock Dog Club.
The club’s president is Errol Gill, and he breeds Kelpies.
As a registered breeder Mr Gill’s dog line goes under the name Caviar.
All dogs he breeds hold that name alongside their given ones.
Watching him control his dogs using simple commands like whistling is a real treat and something that has impressed even those long in the game.
Mr Gill tells the story of a time he had a job doing fencing at Rockhampton, his cattle dog Caviar George at his side.
“We were only supposed to look after one house on the one property, but it was 880,000-acres,” he said.
“They found out what we could do and so they said ‘come early and do some fencing for us.
“We did about six weeks fencing for them, getting things ready for mustering and we were down in the yards one day when a young fella said he had just bought some bulls from Rockhampton.
“We were just standing there talking and one bull came out of the yard and walked down to the trough.
“So I went ‘shweeooo’ and George immediately went down around him, brought him back and put him in the yard.
“‘Good grief’ the landowners said, ‘do you want to break in all the weaners?’ I said ‘yep’ and George and I broke 500 weaners in for him. It was good.”
Now Mr Gill puts on demonstrations publicly, so everyone can see just how smart these animals are.
The Boonah Working Stock Dog Club was formed when a group of passionate dog handlers put together a series of training days.It soon became obvious that many others, mainly local farmers and owners of working dogs – were keen to further improve their knowledge and skills to work stock with their dogs.
As president of the group, Mr Gill heads up regular training days and holds both sheep and cattle trails.
The club’s most recent competition attracted participants from NSW and throughout Queensland.
Watch working dogs in action at the Scenic Rim Agricultural Expo daily at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm.
Working dogs play an integral role in both the sheep and cattle industries, and the demonstrations provide a great opportunity to see working dogs do what they do best.