In rain or in shine, working dogs are ready to work, and a wet training day in Undera proved this.
Attendee Sophie Gilmore said she was excited to be at the day to extend her learning.
“[I’m here] to get experience, meet new people, get some tips and some help with Chili,” she said.
“The day’s good, I got some tips from a person before, just like outside stuff, not necessarily in the yards.”
She said her favourite part of handling dogs is the bond you get with your dog.
Trainer Roland Pell said the day, held on Sunday, July 6, went “terrific” and the feedback from attendees has confirmed it.
“There was a good crowd of people,” he said.
“Certainly, everyone said nice things to me, everyone says they got a lot out of it.
“We focused on just trying to control the dogs or better manage the way the dogs move and gave them some tips and, and so forth on how to manage that.”
The day was set up with three trainers in separate pens and attendees had the opportunity to have individual handling time with the trainer.
“They were comfortable enough to ask lots of questions and move around between the three different instructors,” he said.
Roland said he had to close the books three weeks before the event, as interest was high and attendees were diverse.
“It was amazing,” he said.
“A lot of locals and people coming from Gippsland and Western District and all over the state and southern NSW, it was amazing where people travel from.
“There were people from shearers to school teachers and tradies and farmers and all sorts of professional feedlotters.”
Attendee Chris Mackrill came to the event for some assistance with a new pup.
“I came because I’ve got the new pup and I don’t know what I’m doing as far as training them, so I’m looking for some instruction for myself,” Chris said.
After the success of the day, Roland said he’s looking at a more regular opportunity for training.
“I’m planning to just run some smaller scale stuff here, starting in September,” he said.
“So, an evening midweek because there were a lot of people came up to me and said, ‘when can we come back?’
“So I thought, we better get on it, and do something with that.”
The event, run by the Victoria Yard Utility & Farm Dog Association, saw about 50 trainers and their dogs each have one-to-one training with three experienced trainers.
Although the day started cloudy but dry, by 11am rainfall had begun, seeing 1.6mm fall.