Whangārei Heads hosting sheep dog trials on Sunday

Northland SDTA president Shaun Haynes, from the Bay of Islands, will be competing at the Mount Manaia sheep dog trials on Sunday.

The skills of sheep dogs and their handlers will be on display in Whangārei on Sunday when the Mount Manaia Sheep Dog Trial Club holds its annual trial.

Northland dogs and handlers, and some from as far as the Waikato, will descend on Davies Bay Farm Taiharuru for the trial, competing in two heading and two huntaway events.

The heading events involve the dog being sent up a hill to fetch three sheep and return them to its owner at the bottom.

In the long head, the dog runs out for a considerable distance – 500 or 600m – to get the sheep and then bring them down in an orderly and controlled fashion to his or her handler who gets a “hold” by stopping the sheep in a 20m ring.

In the short head the sheep are pulled down a slightly smaller hill and then “driven” along a 200 or 300m course passing through a set of hurdles (gates) before being penned in a 3m by 3m pen.

The dogs used on the heading events are heading dogs which tend to be short haired border collies or what are commonly called eye dogs. These dogs don’t bark at the sheep but tend to work the sheep using the power of their eye and stealth.

Unlike the quiet, stealthy eye dogs, huntaways are bred for their big, brash, noisy barking and are a unique NZ breed.

They will be competing in the straight and the zigzag hunt where three sheep are pushed or hunted away from the dog and handler up a steep hill.

In all the events, both heading and hunts, each dog starts with 100 points and is penalised for each mistake. Most winning dogs have a score in the mid to high nineties.

Northland has a long and proud heritage in the sport, producing many NZ champions.

Host club Mt Manaia has former NZ champion John Nelley competing on Sunday.

Northland SDTA president Shaun Haynes, from the Bay of Islands, who recently won the NZ yarding champs at Taupō with his dog Sue, will also be there.

Sheep dog trials – a potted history

• Sheepdog trials are a competitive sport in which handlers direct their dogs to move sheep around a field and into fences and/or enclosures.
• The popular television series A Dog’s Show and Wonder Dogs exposed the skills of these dogs to a wider audience.
• Dog trials are part of New Zealand farming history and probably date back to a trial in Wānaka in 1867.
• There are reports of trials at Waitangi and Te Aka in 1868, at Wānaka in 1869 and Haldon Station in the Mackenzie Country, in 1870 – all before an 1873 trial at Bala in North Wales, which is claimed to be the first ever.
• The first huntaway events were at Black Forest station near Lake Benmore, in 1870.