When there are just two of you running a dairy farm, a good working dog is priceless, and for Geoff and Yvette Brown from Lockington, their dog Sia is just that.
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Geoff and Yvette consider Sia their third staff member, and considering she only cost $1000, she is one of the best investments they have ever made on the farm and they both concede they would be lost without her.
Geoff said when she was working you could watch her thinking and once she works out what is going on she rarely gets it wrong.
She can take a little bit of reeling in if she thinks a cow should be going one way when really she has to go the other, but that doesn’t happen too often, and most of the time she performs 10/10.
So where did the amazing Sia come from?
We bought her online after watching some videos from a breeder. She was nine months old when we got her and she came down from Queensland.
The first time I took her out to work the calves, I cried, because she was just so focused and strong and she did everything I was thinking and I just thought how good is this.
Yvette: She really is a great dog, but she only works for Geoff. She knows what he is thinking and honestly, she is just as good as two workers, she is amazing.
What is her breeding?
She is a kelpie/border collie cross bought up working sheep and she is just a natural. When we retire from dairying I will get her some sheep to work with and I can’t wait to see how she goes with them.
What are some of these good things Sia does?
She can get the cows up by herself. If any cow escapes the herd, once she establishes which one it is, she will have it waiting at the gate in no time.
If she has springing heifers or cows to get she will bring them up to the gate and bring them up the driveway on her own — she just knows what has to happen and she just does it.
She is really handy around the dairy and will bring the cows into the AI race for me and keep the naughty ones in line, if any happen to escape, she rounds them up in no time, she just makes our life a hell of a lot easier.
Just checking to make sure the cows are where they are supposed to be.
Do you think this is because she was trained so well from the start?
Definitely. I have never been any good at training dogs and she really only knows three commands from me, but she is always watching me and the minute I move to go anywhere she is right beside me.
How is she around machinery?
She always rides in the tractor with me because I don’t want her to get run over and even then, if she sees a cow or heifer somewhere where it shouldn’t be, she is not happy until it is back where it belongs. She is the only dog we have on the farm now and we really would be lost without her.
What is she like with strangers?
She is really lovely to visitors, but in some ways she is quite disinterested in me when it comes to affection. She is always aware of where I am, but she never really comes to me to be patted.
Sia is an interesting name?
Yes, the breeder names all his dogs after famous singers and guess he must have liked Sia because here we are.
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