For the past year, RNZ's Country Life has been following Wairarapa dog trialist Chris Shaw as he trains up young huntaway Miley. Photo / RNZ, Gianina Schwanecke
By Gianina Schwanecke of RNZ
More than a year of dedicated training sessions, good breeding and a lot of patience have seen Chris Shaw unlock that “X-factor” potential in young Miley the huntaway, the latest pup he’s trained.
RNZ’s Country Life has been out on training sessions with the pair over the past year to see what is involved in the training.
Miley’s a “main dog” now, working alongside older sister Duchess as one of two huntaways Shaw takes with him to work on the Wairarapa farm each day.
“She’s stepped up from just being a pup to being the key act.”
As Shaw has told Country Life many times over the past few months, every dog is different.
That’s especially evident with the two sisters working together - something which involves a degree of sibling rivalry competing for the top dog position.
“You see them side-by-side and they’re completely different dogs.”
Miley’s stubbornness has been something Shaw’s struggled with at times.
More often than not, though, he’s had to learn he’s not always right, choosing to trust her instincts over his instructions.
He said their partnership’s grown from there.
“There’s been a fair bit of coaching along with Miley because she has been a little bit on the softer side.
“But then that also comes with natural ability, too.
“She’s a little bit smarter than probably all of the others I’ve ever had.”
There’s a delicate balance between correcting bad habits and reassuring a young pup.
“As training goes along, every time you put a bit of gear on a dog, you actually take a little bit of that dog away.”
As training progressed, Shaw had to build her confidence back up, but now it’s at an “all-time high”.
At 2 years old, Miley’s most of the way broken in, but still not all the way there.
Her training’s progressed from regular one-on-one sessions with training sheep in the yards or a small paddock, to on-the-job learning alongside the other working dogs.
“She’s probably 90% finished. I’m just looking for that last 10%.”
One of the things Miley’s still working on is following directions.
“We’ve got sides, but she’s a bit like me; she still gets her left and her rights mixed up.”
From working sheep in close quarters in the yards to bolting up hills and driving stock around the paddock, she’s proven herself to be a “natural” and a good all-rounder.
Her boundless enthusiasm for the work, drive and ability to read the stock is exactly what Shaw bred her to be.
“This is what we breed them for, they just live and breathe work.
“That’s why I went to the dog I did. I want to get back to more natural ability. And she’s definitely got that.”
One would hope so, considering Miley is the third generation of a line of dogs Shaw bred from huntaway matriarch Edge.
Edge has recently returned to the farm as a retired working dog, joining her daughter Roxy and granddaughters Miley and Duchess.
“Edge would be 13 coming on 14 now. So it’s pretty special to have her back, and have the whole family back together,” Shaw told Country Life.
“I’m just rapt that I’ve been given the opportunity to have her home for her last few years and just make the most, you know, because Edge herself, she’s the foundation to all my dogs that are sitting in my kennel. Without her, I wouldn’t have any of the dogs I’ve got now.”
There’s a close family resemblance in the four black and tan huntaways on the back of Shaw’s truck - though Miley’s on the slightly smaller side, even for a young dog.
Just how he likes them: “I want a team of black and tan dogs like that.”
Meanwhile, two new huntaway pups - one black and tan, the other all black - have joined the team in the kennel, the last line of Shaw’s old trialling dog, Dixie, now retired after placing third in the North Island, and sixth in New Zealand at the National Champs last year.
“I’ll keep both of these right through, and the cycle starts again.”
Looking at them both, one realises just how far Miley’s come, and at times it’s easy to forget she’s not much more than a pup herself.
The breeding lines and multiple generations kept in Shaw’s kennels are a reminder of that original question, which first brought Country Life along to watch the training process.
Does a good dog come down to nature or nurture? Is it strong genetics or what they learn during training?
Shaw has close to 20 years’ experience working with and training dogs and has been competing in dog trials since 2008.
He said it often comes down to the trainer, including a dog’s faults.
Genetics plays a big part, but it’s up to the trainer to recognise certain qualities and try to draw them out.
One of the things he has the most pride in is being able to recognise and bring out good temperament in a dog.
“If they’ve got a good nature, then pretty much the battle is won.
“That’s something I’m pretty hot on when I breed dogs - they’ve got to have a good nature otherwise we’re just not going to get on.”
He said a good working dog was “worth their weight in gold”.
Almost literally - a well-trained dog is an investment on-farm, with the average price for a good working dog between $5000-$6000, though Shaw has heard of a top heading dog selling for $17,000.
The secret to training dogs well comes down to the bond between animal and trainer, he said.
While work is starting to slow down on the farm at the moment, Shaw expects Miley to be a “main act” come the busy season.
“All the foundations are laid. The rest is just up to us now. We go to work and do our job, and we’ll see where we end up in the next 12 months, two years.”
- RNZ