Colt and Meg are two working dogs who have no idea that they’re fast becoming popular models to pose with ‘for the gram’
Two of the canine cohort of Murray Wilkinson’s Working Dogs, these pups keep a keen eye on their targets be it sheep, ducks, or their boss – but they’re also perfectly placed on barrels at the end of every show for city slickers to get up close to some of the country’s best trained working dogs.
They’re part of a pack who have travelled with Wilkinson to the Sydney Royal Easter Show from the Central West of NSW, and they’re the real deal. During an interview with AFTRS Show Radio Wilkinson said of his four legged teammates “that’s their daily life…they’re actually probably the only dogs on the grounds that do this for a living. “
While mustering the 16 000 sheep across a property near Coolah, the dogs are capable of hearing Wilkinson’s whistled commands from over a kilometre away. He has eight different sets of whistle cues, depending on which dogs are working the flock. Whistle commands are preferable to vocal commands for the stockman in order to remove the risk of communicating frustration to the dogs. Wilkinson says, “you don’t want them thinking they’ve done something bad, it could make them think twice doing something for you in future”.
Wilkinson and his dogs can be found doing demonstrations at the Sydney Royal Easter Show at 10am, 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm daily on the Davidon Plaza Lawns. They can also be seen mustering 300 sheep across the Engie Stadium in a large scale show every evening, with Waltzing Matilda as their soundtrack – it’s a moving spectacle, reminiscent of simpler times, and not to be missed!
