Grenfell's Riley Watson and his dog Kip will be representing the town and the state of New South Wales (NSW) in the 2025 Cobber Challenge - a nationwide competition to find Australia’s hardest working dog.
The Cobber Challenge is an annual showdown where the country’s best working dogs go paw-to-paw in a tribute to the unsung heroes of our farms, the four-legged legends behind Australia’s billion-dollar agriculture industry – and a vital force driving food and fibre from paddock to plate across the country.
Each working dog will be fitted with a GPS tracker to log how far, how fast, and how long they work each day over a three-week period that commences at the start of October. Points are scored based on distance, speed, and duration. It’s three weeks of grit, grind, and good old-fashioned Aussie hustle.
At the end of October, the dog that clocks up the most points will take home honour, glory, a cash prize, and a year's supply of ‘Cobber Working Dog’.
Riley Watson said Kip is a three year old black and tan kelpie female and has been having a crack at mustering since eight weeks old.
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"At eight weeks old she was straight into the cattle yards and wanted to have a crack, so I thought we had a pretty decent dog on our hands," he said.
While he has done a bit of training with Kip, Riley said a lot of it is natural instinct and they can drop her out of a helicopter onto a mob of sheep, cattle or goats and she will muster them following the line of the air craft.
"She's one of a kind dog, that I know I'll probably never find again," he said.
Despite a dislocated hip last September which required surgery to correct, Kip wasn't slowed down, Riley said and is still keen to keep on working.
"She just keeps going," he said, "You put her away for five minutes to have a bit of a break, she'll just yap at you [because] she wants back out."
"She's one of a kind," he said.
Riley said Kip has shown potential in mustering both cattle and sheep from a young age and even managers to manage goats pretty well.
While he doesn't work out of a family farm and contracts out across multiple properties, Riley said Kip will be in the running as a strong challenger if he can keep the work up to her.
Despite a slow start with technical difficulties with the GPS tracking collar and computer, Riley said Kip is a pretty good contestant for the title, although being a little behind the other contestants.
Kellie Savage, Cobber’s Marketing Manager is looking forward to seeing how this year’s finalists can set new records for the tenth edition of the competition.
“To date, the record distance that a working dog has completed in the Cobber Challenge is over 1,260km! While it’s a high bar to compete with, we’re confident that there’s a working dog in this year’s competition that’s going break this record and take things to the next level,” Ms Savage said.
“All but one year, a Kelpie has taken the crown - so we’re keen to see if another breed can rise to the challenge, or if the Kelpies will keep their throne.”
“It’s also fantastic to see that a lot of women who’ve made it through to this stage of the competition. While I’m not one to have favourites, I’m looking forward to seeing how our girls go this time round," Ms Savage said.
Riley said he had done a bit of work with last year's winner Tom Perkins and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
The 12 Cobber Challenge finalists for 2025 are:
Denzel Bambridge and Buck – Tarlo, NSW
Jess Zammit and Bundaberg – Wonthaggi, VIC
Riley Watson and Kip – Grenfell, NSW
Tahlia Carroll and Stan – Carroll, NSW
Tony Ward and Boss – Baldivis, WA
Kasey Connor and Moon – Lock, SA
Lachie Groves and Borris – Ross, TAS
Laine Eade and Rose – Tresco West, VIC
Beck Smith and Duke – Stonehenge, QLD
Ben Wade and Flynn – Narrangullen, NSW
Daniel Bibby and Raffa – Loxton, SA
Caroline Houston and Beloka Vaila – Mirboo North, VIC
