Retreat is situated on the banks of the Barcoo River near the township of Windorah in western Queensland and is around 350 000 acres with a mixture of country from Open Downs and River Channels to Spinifex and Mulga to rough jump up country . It runs approximately 27 000 sheep and 2000 head of cattle and with stock work lasting up to 10 months of the year, it was great experience for both myself and my dogs. While working here I learnt the true value of working dogs for both their labor saving ability and their ability to handle large numbers of difficult stock for long periods in some of the hottest and hardest country I have worked in.
Since leaving Retreat we have managed various types of properties ranging from smaller more intensive fattening and background enterprises to larger pastoral stations.
We are currently managing a property North of Cassilis in the Upper Hunter region of NSW. The property is approximately 5000 ha and is producing feeder steers . The steep nature of the country is ideal for working dogs, with steep hills , river flats and some undulating paddocks. It makes the dogs read there stock and to pace themselves.
The smaller undulating paddocks are ideal for teaching dogs to caste long distances and the steep tree covered hills teaches our dogs to work on their own with quiet control. The dogs get a large variety of work most weeks moving large mobs of steers to there next paddock, . They do this quietly and efficiently with little fuss. As with all the properties we manage, stress free stockmanship is very important to us. It is a proven fact the quiet controlled handling of stock increases production and saves labor, both of which help to improve profits to the businesses we run. This is made a lot easier to achieve with the use of our dogs
We have been selecting and breeding high quality Border Collies from some of the best bloodlines in Australia and the UK for the last 15 years, these dogs need to have a high work drive, intelligence, strength and stamina for yard and mustering work as well as the right temperament to be able to handle the intensive training for trial work. With the the first of progeny from our imported dogs starting to go to work, we are very excited with the direction we have taken.