SHEEP DOG TRIALS

Taranaki Daily News, 6 October 1934, Page 17 (Supplement)

SHEEP DOG TRIALS

VALUE TO STOCKOWNER MUCH DAMAGE DONE BY DROVERS. NEW TRIAL CLUB IN PROSPECT.

(By

“Tamaroa.”)

The establishment of a sheep dog trial club in the New Plymouth-Opunake coastal district has been taken in hand bv some enthusiasts,, and a public meeting will be convened in the near future with a view to bringing the movement to finality. A meeting will be held at some central place between Opunake and New Plymouth. The promoters already have the promise of a large entry of dogs from outside the district mentioned; in fact more than could be run in one day, and among the entries are some well known trial performers equal to the best dogs in Australia, New Zealand or Britain, judging from the trial scene displayed in the picture “Song of the Plough.” All that the promoters now require is support from the settlers and others in the district, and such support need not necessarily be cash payments, because a trial can be run with a very small amount of cash. What at present appears to be the greatest obstacle in the way is the procuring of sheep, but as it is proposed to hold the trials in January or early in February next it is expected that satisfactory arrangements can be made. If arrangements cannot be 'made for sheep there are plenty of cattle in the district, and a trial on cattle would serve to convince people that trial dogs can work cattle as well as three or any number of sheep. The district mentioned is not widely known by outsiders and the establishment of the club would be a good advertisement for. the district, because dog trials bring people from many parts who would perhaps never travel into some districts but for the trials. _ Mr. Hargraves, president of the Okoke Sheep Dog Trial Club, considers that the holding of the trials in the Okoke valley is the best advertisement the district has had because it brings people from all over the North Island. All the back country districts where trials are run tell the same story. For instance, Mangamingi, Tarata, Kohuratahi, Ohura, Awakino and many other places were not “on the map” until dog trial clubs were started. The .trials are not promoted for sport only nor for the purpose of a few experts to win cash prizes; they are promoted as schools of education in the scientific, steady and correct handling of all classes of stock. Details may differ according to the class of stock being handled, but the essential' 7 principle is the same for all. . We have plenty of stock m New Zealand, but in some districts there is a scarcity of scientific men and dogs to handle stock, with the result that a tremendous sum of money is lost yearly through damage to stock caused by overdriving and inexperienced handling. Mr. T, A. Duncan, a member of the Meat Board and a practical stock-owner who has probably owned and handled more stock (fats in particular) than any other single man in New Zealand during the past 40 years, recently stated that if our meat export trade is to be carried on successfully greater care must be given to the driving of stock. Mr. Duncan is a solid supporter of sheep dog trials. ' A prominent veterinary surgeon, who has a wide knowledge of the meat export trade, informed the writer that the droving and handling of stock in some districts was deplorable, and a large P er * centage of the meat was ruined through bad droving. . A prominent North Taranaki settler informed the writer that he had recently bought a line of store cattle, and owing to over-driving he considered they would take six months to recuperate. These cases are only a few of the number that can be put forward to prove that the handling of stock is in need of a thorough overhauling, and that is the object of dog trials. Some maintain that we now have too many trials, but such a view is wrong, because if Only a few trials were held only a few people would see them as all people cannot travel long distances from their homes. If a trial is held ,in any one district the majority of the .people therein attend. If we have too many dog trials we also have too many primary schools, and'no sane person would support the latter statement. •