By Stephanie Gardiner

Farmer Tom Perkins was in the market for a lithe new working dog when he came across a “pretty big lump of pup”.

The smoky-coloured kelpie named Bear was the last of a litter and keenly followed Mr Perkins’ every move as he looked at other dogs at a breeding stud.

“I said I’d take him and the rest is history,” Mr Perkins told AAP from his property at Dirranbandi, in southwest Queensland.

“He’s shone right through.”

That instant connection between man and best mate has proven a winner after six-year-old Bear took out the Cobber Challenge, which puts working dogs around Australia to the test.

The 14-day competition uses GPS collars to track the distance, speed and hours clocked up by canines as they work livestock.

The challenge fortuitously coincided with Mr Perkins having to muster and drench 4500 ewes on his family farm.

Bear covered 570km, including one day of nine-and-a-half hours hard yakka, at an average speed of about 13km/h.

The loyal dog’s easygoing temperament complements his role on the farm, as he’s both keen to work and happy to relax when the job is done.

“When it’s on, it’s on,” Mr Perkins said.

“Some pups always want to be working flat out the whole time, but he’s not like that.”

Mr Perkins says he treats his pack of 10 working dogs like part of the family.

Though they’re loved and well looked after, their ultimate reward is instinct-driven herding rather than the pats and naps domestic pets prefer.

“Dogs get the job done and love doing it and do it with a smile on their faces,” Mr Perkins said.

“You go and open their kennel at four o’clock in the morning and they’re just as keen to go as they were yesterday.”

Tasmanian Kelpie Nell and her owner Brad McDonald came in second at the Cobber Challenge, with the six-year-old dog covering 360km.

Rip – a kelpie who was the only one of his litter to survive an illness – ranked third alongside his owner Ben Coster from Yass in NSW.

Working dogs continue to have their day, widely seen as a convenient alternative to hiring labourers as shortages grip the agriculture sector.

A one-year-old kelpie named Eve, from a stud in central west NSW, was sold at a record-breaking price of $49,000 in 2022, also valued for her laid back personality.

Mr Perkins said the growing interest in working dogs was good for rural Australia.

“There’s often a lot of bad news coming out of the bush to urban areas and more often that’s a miscommunication, or a misunderstanding,” he said.

“(This) shows that what’s happening out here is all good.”