Working Dogs
Promoting excellence in stock dogs and working dog culture
Upcoming Events
Events and competitions for fundraising
Community
Making connections and supporting the industry to build tomorrows leaders
Our Mission
Working dogs have always played an important role in Australian agriculture, from moving sheep and cattle to helping make livestock handling safer, more efficient and less stressful for both stock and handlers. As rural industries continue to change, the need for capable, reliable and well-trained working dogs is not going away. If anything, the need for knowledgeable handlers and trainers is becoming increasingly important.
Good working dogs do not happen by accident. They require time, patience, education, appropriate training and handlers who understand both dogs and livestock.
The Herding of the Future Scholarship aims to help ensure that this knowledge is passed on to the next generation.
It is about giving a young person the opportunity to learn from experienced people, then encouraging them to bring that knowledge home and share it with the wider Australian working-dog and rural community.
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The theme of the scholarship is “Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today”, and that message is at the heart of what the National Stock Dog Association hopes to achieve.
Meet Our President
The president of the National Stock Dog Association is Mr Gavin Carr of Doon Doon at Mundubbera.
Gavin has a deep passion for helping the youth of today become strong, mature leaders of tomorrow. With years of experience in the industry of working with dogs, breeding cattle dogs, training handlers and running competitions, Gavin has the knowledge to guide our youth to do great things.
Mentorship, Leadership and Encouragement
The scholarship is about creating a culture where people are willing to mentor, encourage, educate and support the next generation.
Knowledge gained overseas can then become knowledge shared at home.
In this way, the scholarship has the potential to have an impact well beyond the individual who wins it.
A stronger future for working dogs and rural Australia
The working dog remains an important tool for Australian agriculture, particularly in sheep and cattle production.
Well-trained dogs can make livestock handling safer and more efficient, while also reducing pressure on both livestock and the people working with them.
The Herding of the Future Scholarship is designed to help build the skills and knowledge required to develop those dogs and the people who work with them.
By investing in young people and exposing them to proven training methods, experienced mentors, working ranches and stock dog trial environments, the National Stock Dog Association hopes to help develop a stronger pool of knowledgeable handlers and trainers for the future.
Better knowledge and training of working dogs can help support Australian farmers, graziers and livestock producers by ensuring there are people coming through who understand how to develop dogs capable of doing the jobs they were bred to do.
The scholarship is an investment in working dogs, their handlers, the rural industries that rely on them and the future of Australian agriculture.
It is an opportunity to learn, lead, share and give back.
The long-term benefit is intended to reach beyond the stock dog community.
Ultimately, the Herding of the Future Scholarship is about looking ahead.
It is about making sure the knowledge, skills and passion required to work with stock dogs continue into the next generation.
It is about creating leaders who can become mentors.
It is about encouraging young people to become involved in the working-dog industry.
And it is about strengthening the connection between working dogs, the people who train them and the rural industries that rely on them.
The Herding of the Future Scholarship — Building Tomorrow’s Leaders Today.
Get in Touch
Gavin Carr President of National Stockdog Association (NSDA)