The History of the Australian Working Border Collie Registry

Mission Statement: To substantiate the provenance of a pedigree, to foster and promote pure bred working Border Collies within Australia, and to maintain a continuum of fine breeding records for that purpose and moreover to assist breeders and owners in promoting the breed.

I first became aware of the working Border Collie in 1985. My partner Guy had purchased a young bitch Glensloy Jan A0008 (Bengeo Scamp T446 x Carra 106115 ISDS) from Allan Gordon ‘Glensloy’ Young as a sheep dog. He had just relocated from Northern Queensland to Ellerston in the Upper Hunter NSW and he needed a sheep dog to assist him with the work. She was black and white, smooth coated with prick ears; a mating with Alibi the Boss A0014 (Tony McCallum’s Boss) produced Woollys Bingo A0001 in 1991. Thus commencing our own line of Woollys Border Collies, but that is another story.

Article by Tricia Thomas - Registrar AWBCR

Previously I thought all Border Collies were black and white, long coated and show dogs, with semi erect ears. The more we learnt about Jan’s ability and pedigree the more dedicated to the bred we became. They are without doubt a versatile and resilient working animal. Their intelligence and adaptability ranks them as one of the most trainable breeds of dog world-wide.

During the summer of 1995-96 I was investigating the possibility of sending dogs to the US for a friend, when it became apparent that there was an issue with proving the pedigree and provenance of the Australian strain of working border collies as far as other breed societies and kennel clubs were concerned. In particular one such dog of pure English pedigree, ‘Glensloy Gooch A0002’ from two imported and registered parents with the ISDS (International Sheep Dog Society, namely Glen 141609 ISDS x Dryden Nell 169206 ISDS) he was considered unsuitable for registration as he was predominately white coated. I could produce all the papers to verify the breeding, his full sister who was traditionally marked was accepted into the club, he was denied.

This was nonsense. It made no sense and it was a disingenuous rationale.

I started to ask questions, contact the various Sheep Dog Associations in each state and spend numerous hours talking to people at various sheep and cattle dog trials and over the phone. It occurred to me that we needed to ensure our provenance and maintain our rich heritage of working Border Collies that had been established as early as the late 1800’s.

So in April 1996 I started the Australian Working Border Collie Registry, registered the business name purchased a stud book programme and got to work. My aim was to preserve the history, collate the data and ensure the provenance. The mission statement that started the registry has not altered from that time.

In my endeavours to acquire information and pedigrees I am eternally grateful to both Pam Dunlop the keeper of the Victorian Sheep Dog Stud Book and Charlie Cover the keeper of the New South Wales Sheep Dog Stud Book who fielded very graciously many calls from me during the early years and they were of invaluable assistance and knowledge.

Border Collies have been widely used here for longer than in any other country outside Great Britain. In fact it was the early importers of these dogs from the British Isles that coined the name Border Collie.

Presently each state working dog association currently accepts all working dogs, whether they are Border Collie, Border Collie cross, Kelpie, Huntaway, Cattle Dog, and the various crosses with other working, herding type breeds.

Officially, from an international point of view, that standard is not recognised as being of a particular breed. In order to register purebred Border Collies, they have to show that they have a four generation pedigree of pure lines, Registered with a recognised Registry or be ISDS registered.

They must be fourth generation pure, in fact many of our imports actually pre date the ISDS but nowadays most dogs registered with our various state bodies go back to the most recognizable ISDS Champion Bloodlines.

In March 2010 I travelled to the UK and met with Judith Sheen the Registrar of the International Sheep Dog Society to establish dialogue and communication to ensure recognition of the Australian Pedigrees.

Other members also travelled to the UK and met with the stud book committee to state our case.

We have been successful in establishing an appendix register with the ISDS. Furthermore, we experience reciprocal arrangements with the American Border Collie Association (ABC). This gives the registry a true international flavour and it allows for the flow of information through the various breed registries around the world. As our world becomes more global and in a sense smaller, the tyrannies of distance shrink considerably, it is in all of our best interests to have bloodlines accessible all over the globe; it ensures a strong genetic pool.

In March 2012 the registry was incorporated and at that time there was 467 registered dogs. As of today 3 February 2023 there are 1485 registered dogs. More and more breeders, workers and enthusiasts want to register their bloodlines and take pride in maintaining accurate records. Today well-bred working dogs attract a premium price and ability backed by pedigree goes a long way towards ensuring you have a quality product.

The online stud book came to life in 2016. This enables all our members to view pedigrees and find suitable bloodlines online.

In April 2023 the association will celebrate 27 years of the Australian Working Border Collie Registry; a passion that started as a quest to prove a beautiful working border collie that was predominately white ‘Glensloy Gooch A0008’ was just as pure bred as his better marked litter mates. Not only that; his ability to work in all three disciplines, three sheep, cattle and yard dog trials as well as on the farm was proven and he gave us a lot of fun.

Australian Supreme Sheep Dog Championships. Campbell town, Tasmania

The Supreme Championships are alternated between six states and, after a few false starts due to Covid restrictions October 2022 was Tasmania’s turn to play host the event. 2023 will be South Australia.

Crossing Bass Strait was easy, docking at the ferry terminal in Devonport was the hard part; with unprecedented torrential rain causing major flooding and closing the port. Many mainland trialers had arrived early but some were marooned and were not available for the start of the trials but were slotted in when they arrived.

A New Zealand team consisting of four trialers, a team coach judge and all of their partners crossed the ditch to defend the Waylego Cup which they have fiercely defended and held onto for six years in a row but not this time. Australia won by 88.5 points, run over three rounds on a Trans-Tasman course with Australian course and rules in a section and then New Zealand course and rules in another section.

To select a team of four to compete against New Zealand, each state is represented by their top two most consistent top dogs with their handlers so twelve competitors.

This is the TED GABBY INTERSTATE CHALLENGE, run off over three rounds. This friendly interstate rivalry was formed somewhere about 1990. Tasmania was represented by Bernard McGlashan with Sommerville Nell and Lee Jamieson with Shannondoah Steele. Unfortunately, neither made the team but that is dog trialling.

The final Australian team against New Zealand were Mick Hudson, New South Wales, team captain with MGH Rabbit, Geoff Gibson,Queensland with Gibsons Col. Milton Cross, South Australia with Adrina Floss and Grant Cooke from Western Australia with Grassvalley Bluey. Individual state winner was New South Wales with Bill Davidson and Mick Hudson, coming in second was Queensland competitors, Barry Knight and Geoff Gibson. Mainland dog trialers dominated this Supreme event with many laughs about who was responsible for allowing that boat to dock?