A veteran working dog breeder and trialler, who developed renowned border collie bloodlines, is being remembered as a champion and a mentor after he died suddenly this week.
Key points:
- Tatham grazier Robert Johnston was killed in a farm accident this week
- Mr Johnston was a well-known working dog breeder and trialler
- He won a number of a state and national titles for his dogs and performances in trials
Robert Johnston, 71, was killed in a farming accident on his Tatham property in northern New South Wales on Wednesday, his family said on social media.
NSW Working Stock Dog Association president Lew Molloy said the news came as a massive shock.
“It got around the traps very quickly that he was gone and a lot of fitting tributes have been paid to him since then,” he said.
“Robert was always competitive, he was always friendly to everybody, he loved a yarn.
“He mentored a lot of people and he would have helped a lot of people out with dogs over the years.”
During his career in the sport, the grazier won multiple titles at local, state and national levels.
“He said in the past that winning the Australian Dog of the Year with [Shady Acres] Pattie was a massive highlight in his career and rightly so and he went on to win again, so kudos to Robert,” Mr Molloy said.
After taking out the title in 2013, Mr Johnston went on to win it another three times in a row, from 2016 to 2018, with his dogs Shady Acres Jimmy and Shady Acres Tania.
“It’s quite a feat, and unlikely to be repeated anytime soon,” Mr Molloy said.
“He travelled far and wide, both NSW and Queensland, and left his mark with his dogs and his competitiveness right across the board.”
Dedication to dogs and sport
It was his competitiveness with his own dogs that left a lasting impression on many.
“Some people tend to buy dogs that someone else had bred but Robert always brought his own along and brought them up through the ranks and did extremely well through that,” Mr Molloy said said.
“Pattie, his original dog … put him on the map. After that they just kept coming through and everybody wanted that bloodline.”
The veteran trialler was always involved in the running of the sport, including as past president and vice-president of both the North Coast and the NSW Working Stock Dog associations.
“He also ran a charity trial at his own property, I’d say probably to his expense, but he used to love running it and all the money used to go to a charity on the North Coast,” Mr Molloy said.
“He just loved the sport and loved to see it increase and expand, and so we’ll all miss him in that respect.
“You’d hear his laugh in the background, somebody would be cracking a joke and you’d hear him and just the fact that he was helping people all the way along.
“Whilst we all live far and wide, we are a big community, we are a big family in dog trialling, and he will be sadly missed.”
