Working dog makes championship comeback after leg amputation
The Elphinstone Dog Trial was Cheese's first competition after his leg amputation. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)
In short:
Cheese the working dog was on track to be a champion, winning the Australian Novice Championship trial in 2022.
In 2024, an accident meant the yellow border collie had to have his front leg amputated.
He has made the comeback of a lifetime, winning the Elphinstone Dog Trials in north Queensland.
When Antony Mulder's champion working dog, Cheese, injured his front foot, the vet gave him a heartbreaking choice — amputate the leg, or say goodbye.
"There was no way I was putting him down," Antony said.
The yellow border collie was a rising star of the working dog world, having entered his first competition trial at just under two years old.
"From the beginning, there was something special about Cheese,"Antony said.
The pair have been "best mates" since Cheese was picked up six years ago from Belyando, about 400 kilometres south-west of Mackay in north Queensland.
When a friend remarked the eight-week-old pup was "the colour of Cheese", Antony said the name stuck.
"We do everything together, even if I'm not working," he said.
"If I'm checking cattle or putting out lick blocks or anything."
Between cattle mustering in north Queensland to moving to Guyra, north of Armidale in New South Wales, Cheese made his working dog trial debut.
"We hit our straps [in 2022] and he just had a ripper of a year,"he said.
Together, they won the Australian Novice Championship as well as competitions at The Man From Snowy River Bush Festival and Lake Elphinstone in Queensland.
But the champion's winning streak was dashed by a terrible injury.
"I'd love to give you some mad yarn about him being horned by a bull or him being jumped on by a cranky cow," Antony said.
"Unfortunately, he just got his foot stuck in the dog cage."
Cheese can still give cattle a "nip on the nose" if they give him trouble. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)
A champion struck down
The day after Cheese's surgery, he emerged from his cage with a little boot on his remaining front foot to help with the added weight, stunning the vets.
"It took him no time to adjust to it at all," he said.
"He just staggered straight out, put his front leg in the middle, under his chest and balanced himself and he was away.
"[The vets] were just amazed; they said they've never seen a dog come out that quickly missing a leg."
Cheese spent the next six months recovering in the house yard, but as he got healthier, he returned to working with sheep and then cattle.
Dog trial competitions emulate the work that dogs do in farm situations. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)
"I saw that he was fine with that, and he could still give one a nip on the nose if they give him a bit of trouble," he said.
"He could go pretty fast, still keeping up with the four-legged dogs — I thought, 'Nah mate, you can go back to trialling.'"
An underdog's comeback
Held around the country, working dog trials test the dog and owner's ability to guide cattle through obstacle courses, simulating the work they do in the paddock.
In just over a year, Cheese was ready for competition, returning to the scene of a previous victory — Lake Elphinstone.
"That Lake Elphinstone trial, in my opinion, is one of the best in the country," Antony said.
"The cattle are spot on, they're really well educated, and I knew they weren't going to hurt a dog, so it was just the perfect one for him to go back to."
Despite what they had been through, Antony was confident Cheese was up to the challenge, taking on 135 four-legged competitors.
Antony Mulder says Cheese is his best dog and best mate. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)
"We obviously did a bit of prep for it, we were doing a bit of training and I thought, 'You're ready … you know what you're doing,'" he said.
"When he goes quick, he's fine, when he slows down, he's just a little bit clunky, but it doesn't seem to worry him at all."
By the end of his first two runs, Cheese was tied for first place with another dog.
"We had to go for a run off — to have three runs in a row, the poor bugger," Antony said.
But Cheese came out on top — winning the tie-breaker and the championship.
Cheese adjusted quickly to life on three legs. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)
"It was pretty unreal — there was a little bit of emotion, I'm not going to lie, because we've been through a lot together,"Antony said.
"I was really happy that he could get back and do well.
"He's my 12-year-old daughter's favourite dog, so she was ecstatic when I told her he'd won his first trial back."
After the win, the comeback of a lifetime, Antony said both he and Cheese celebrated how far they had come.
"He got a fair few pats that's for sure … maybe a few extra dog bickies that night for doing a good job while we were having a few cold beverages," he said.
"He's a very special dog … one of those once-in-a-lifetime type of dogs."
Cheese was a dog trial champion before his accident last year, but has overcome his injury to become a champion once more. (Supplied: Catherine Phillis/Working Dog Photography)