Farmer Robert Hodge with his dogs.
OLD, good and faithful — that's Murphy. Robert Hodge took on Murphy when he was a pup, 14 years ago.
"He's been my number one dog since then."
"He's very good at what he does and very loyal — right from a guard dog in the yard to when we're out," he said.
Mr Hodge also has two younger dogs Casey and Jacko (black).
"The other two I'm not quite as attached to at the moment, but when Murph moves on I'll probably have another favourite."
Mr Hodge works transporting animals, so his dogs work getting livestock on and off trucks. But it's not just work Murphy is at Mr Hodge's side.
"I wouldn't leave home without Murph — everywhere I go he's got to come along, whether it's just for a drive around the paddock or if its a drive to get some spare parts."
Mr Hodge almost lost Murphy. "Murphy used to have a little girlfriend that went everywhere with him.
"One day Murph and he's little girlfriend got out of the truck. I was asleep &mdash on my way to Western Australia, and I didn't notice they were gone until the next morning.
"I'd gone about 400 km and the next morning I got up and checked the dogs.
"Two dogs were gone — I had three, and one was still in the crate.
"I was back 24 hours later and they were both sitting there on the side of the road, waiting for me like a hitchhiker.
"There were sheep in the paddock beside where he stopped, and he just parked his bum up in the middle of nowhere — waiting for me to come back.
"They were pretty excited when they saw me come back — they knew I wasn't going to drive past."
Although Murphy is Mr Hodge's number one dog, he's far from social with other dogs or people.
"There's not too many dogs at the saleyards or around the farms that he hasn't had a run in with.
"He won't listen to anyone else — he's a one man dog."
Mr Hodge describes his Murphy as one of a kind.
"He's got his own character — every day he's different. You can never be quite sure if he wants to work or float."