Working dogs are dogs who have jobs in the private sector (e.g. herding), government (e.g. bomb sniffing, drug detecting), in sport (e.g. racing, hunting), and for assistance (e.g. animal assisted therapy, seeing eye dogs). This survey addresses the sourcing, breeding, assessment, training, housing and veterinary care of working dogs in Australia.

Executive Summary:

“The inaugural Australian Working Dog Survey was conducted between June and October 2009. Information was collected about the sourcing, breeding, assessment, training, housing and veterinary care of 4195 Australian working dogs from private industry, government, assistance and sporting dog sectors.”

“Key Findings:”

• “Correction and electric shock collars are most commonly used by working dog trainers who have not received any formal certified education in dog training. “
• “External dog breeders are the most common source of working dogs. This random approach to the recruitment of working dogs presents the risk of ‘behavioural wastage’ – reduced success rates in training dogs to perform specific tasks. This finding raises concerns in terms of animal welfare and also in relation to industry productivity and efficiency.”
• “Based on Australian Companion Animal Council estimates of the number of working dogs in Australia, a high proportion of Survey responses were received from all but the private industry sector and in particular, farm dogs. The absence of peak industry bodies in this sector restricts communication with working dog stakeholders.”

“Recommendations:”

• “Development of a national education and accreditation program for working dog trainers.”
• “Development of task-specific working dog breeding programs to reduce behavioural wastage”
• “Consultation with the veterinary profession to develop strategies for facilitating information-flow to working dog trainers nationally.”
• ” Recognition of the need for an umbrella research body to coordinate research and development; manage and fund priority research and facilitate translation of results into practical outcomes for industry development.”