The Australian cattle and sheep industries function in a climateof increasing input costs, competition with subsidised internationalmarkets and variable commodity prices [1]. To maintainprofitability, producers have had to invest in various methods toimprove productivity. Investments have occurred in areas such aslivestock genetics [2], pasture improvement [3] and marketing [4–6]. With an estimated 270,000 stock herding dogs working in ruralAustralia [7,8], these animals represent a significant component ofthe labour force in the livestock industries. Therefore, a similarinvestment to optimise their performance and efficiency may bewarranted.Australia has 91,000 livestock producers [8], who employ anaverage of three to four working dogs [7,9]. It is currentlyimpossible to quantify the number of herding dogs bred and theproportion that are successful. It has been estimated that anaverage of 25% of working dogs recruited for training in Australiafail to graduate successfully [10]. The cost associated withacquiring, keeping and training an unsuccessful herding dog fortwelve months, prior to its eventual dismissal, has been estimatedto be in excess of AU$1,000 [11]. This degree of performancefailure represents costly wastage.Behavioural issues are the leading cause of performance failureof dogs across several working sectors [10,12,13]. Addressing thisso-called behavioural wastage demands a focus on both thebehavioural genetics of these dogs and on the environmentalinfluences that affect behaviour. There is a growing body ofevidence that canine learning and welfare are significantlyinfluenced by husbandry practices and training methodology[14–17]. Furthermore, research examining working dogs in thepolice and military sectors indicates that individual handlercharacteristics and their relationship with their dog may have aneffect on performance outcomes [15,18].Identifying factors associated with stock herding dog success andfailure will enable producers to adapt their practices to gainmaximum financial return from their dogs. However, the possibleincentive to reduce cull rates of dogs is not limited to profitmaximisation. In the sustainable agriculture paradigm, farmingpractices must be socially responsible as well as economicallyviable to sustain productivity over time [19]. Thus, the impetus tooptimise the management of farm dogs should be to respond to thegrowing public awareness of the welfare issues associated with foodproduction. In Australia, for example, the economics related topublic opinion have had consequences for producers of exportcattle [20], wool [21] and eggs [22]. In recent times, proposedchanges to codes of practice that impact Australian stock herdingdogs have caused controversy and disagreement among stake-holders [23]. Therefore, objective information is required toestablish what may be considered appropriate care of stockherding dogs to safe-guard their welfare.This paper reports the findings of the Australian Farm DogSurvey. The questionnaire was designed to explore the currentcanine management and training practices on Australian farmsPLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 August 2014 | Volume 9 | Issue 8 | e104457and the characteristics of the farmers who handle and breed theworking dogs. These variables were analysed to explore potentialrisk factors for herding dog failure.