Years ago a boyfriend gave me a Border Collie/Kelpie cross and overnight I was suddenly the owner of a working dog! That funny dog, Dougall, started me on an incredible journey.
Dougall was an utter character and travelled with me everywhere, even into the ABC studios where I used to work. Because I wanted him to be a dog that could behave in any situation I sourced all the information I could on dog training.
Scott Hunt’s Black and White Dog Book was my first port of call in finding out what made Dougall tick. Then, whilst living in Gippsland, Victoria, I took Dougall to Paul McPhail’s Working Dog Education courses. It was the foundation I needed and it has led me onto many years of dog training, stock handling and breeding working dogs.
As a jillaroo and working on cattle station, I saw the best and the worst of animal husbandry.
I also saw that if more farm women were educated to educate the puppies there would be less sad outcomes for pups labelled as ‘no good’ by ‘time poor’ farmers who would shoot many a good dog.
In 2007 I won a rural women’s bursary for Tasmanian Rural Woman of the Year. I wrote Dog Speak, a book designed to help all dog owners, but in particular, farm women and mum’s like myself.
