When Tallygaroopna dairy farmers Geoff and Natalie Akers hosted the Federal Shadow Minister Ross Cadell for a media conference recently, two fluffy friends stole the show and the attending journalists’ hearts. Natalie Akers had a chat with Country News about Misty and Mack.
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What breed and how old are they?
They are Maremma sheepdogs and are both three-and-a-half.
Mack takes a dip in the channel.
What type of farm do you have and how big is it?
We mainly do Jerseys, but we also have the show birds. We have about 730ha.
What are their jobs on the farm?
They have a very important job. We also show ducks and chooks, geese and turkeys. So there's a large collection of birds that they have to look after and keep Mr Fox away from.
Misty cooling off in the sand pile.
Is this your first time with Maremmas?
We've had two before this, purely to look after the birds, and they're a really good breed to look after birds and keep foxes away. Not great at listening. And do have a fascination with chasing cars that we can't quite get under control.
Outside of guarding geese, what do they enjoy doing?
We have two farm cats, and I don't know whether the dogs think they're a cat or the cats think they're a dog. But they are all the best buddies. Oh, and chasing cars.
The two best friends and guardians of a show flock were the VIPs at a Shepparton media morning.
Do they have any favourite toys or favourite places to sit?
They've got their own beds, you know, to get them up off the ground. They actually like the big sand bed on a hot day, and they like to chill and keep them cool.
They also love when we're irrigating, they will go and sit in the channel. Big Mack, it's not uncommon for him to just sit and chill in the water for 20 minutes.
What makes them different from each other?
Mack has a box of a head. But when they were puppies, we couldn't tell. Misty is certainly into car chasing more than Mack, and she is naughtier than he is. She's continuously leading him astray.
This isn’t the Akers’ first set of big fluffy guardians as the breed is great for protecting a flock.
