Angus and Sarah Waddell’s Border Collie Stud is located in the south-west slopes of NSW, at Young about 3 hours south of Dubbo.
After leaving school, I headed off Jackerooing working full time with livestock. This is where my love and affinity originated with working dogs. Initially with Kelpies, I did an enormous amount of work and trialing. Frustrations within the breed left me looking for more, and I started to get in the odd Border Collie. The differences to me were staggering. So with natural attrition the Kelpie phased out and the Collie became the main focus. This was an incredible opportunity to breed a tough , talented work dog that was going to have many applications.
There had to be a few essential criteria that had to be met.
Firstly was temperament - it was no good having a really smart dog with a poor temperament, as I was never going to get the best out of him. They also had to be great with kids, as we have a young family.
Heading ability – this is terribly important to me, to have a clean heading dog is a must.
Strength – I need a dog to be able to stand nose to nose with a beast in a calm manner and hold it until I give the command to bite.
These important ingredients were always going to be tested with the work the dogs had to do.
As a Livestock Contractor, the days, miles and numbers were always big. Also when the need arises, stock work is done on our property.
I’ve argued often about the amount of bite a dog had to have, and I think that a dog has to have “feel” on his stock as well, its ability to be able to read its stock is paramount. The dogs also need to be leggy and fast, with stamina integral for performance.
For me, this is all summarized in one word, GENETICS. It is so important to get a dog from people who are doing the same work or more as you intend for your pup. A look at the dogs and their pedigree’s start telling a great story of phenomenal backgrounds that makes up the dogs and our direction.
