IT was back-to-back wins for Bree Cudmore, Colac, and her Kelpie, Lanach Moana, at the Victorian Farm Dog Championships.

For the second year in a row, Bree and Moana managed to beat the competition in the nail-biting finish of the prestigious event.

Livestock overseer on Curkeith Homestead, Bree said time and effort is important, and quality breeding makes the job easier.

“My job helps a lot, enabling me to go from a newbie, six years ago, to an experienced handler,” she said.

“Bonding with the dog is important. They don’t have to be doing a job, just spend time with them, take them with you and develop that friendship and mateship.

“I just try to make sure the time I spend with them is quality time and not get distracted, so you are doing stuff together.

“But they also have to respect you and trust you. I can’t have a dog trying to make decisions itself, especially during a trial. When they listen to a command, they have to trust that I know what I am doing and will make the right calls.”

Bree said the competition was very strong, but enjoyable, just pulling ahead of Adam James, Branxholme, and Myamba Moss.

James and Moss competed in the Australian Utility Championships in Nyngan, NSW, on Sunday afternoon and then had to drive 1100 kilometres through the night to participate in the Victorian Farm Dog Championships on Monday.

Despite the lack of sleep, the pair managed to achieve second place in the championship competition.

Third place went to Kate Jubb, Morlake, with Woodja Cruise, and fourth place went to Joe Spicer, Glenthompson, with GoGetta Clue.

Joe is probably better known as a competitor and the breeder of the dogs in the first round of the heart-warming ABC series, Muster Dogs.

Championship finals judge, Lee Mickan, said the standard of the dogs, and handlers too, made for a really enjoyable couple of days.

“They were really good, all-round handlers, and were able to handle their dogs out in the paddock section in the pick-up and put-away as well as in the yard,” he said.

“They understood when to put the pressure on and when to back it off to get the sheep to do what they wanted them to do. They were very good stock people all-round.

“We saw very good standard of dogs, very good handlers and very good sportsmanship from everyone involved.

“It is a sport that you can compete in from eight years old to 80 years old and we are starting to see some of the younger competitors really starting to shine.”

Co-convenor of the dog trials, Jo Ward, said the competition attracted entries from Gippsland and South Australia.

“We had a really big pool of dogs in the encourage/maiden/novice competition, and while they were less experienced, the quality was really great,” she said.

“There was some really impressive dog work and stockmanship from the more experienced handlers and dogs in the open class.

“It was good to have a big crowd, which was great to see, but it also made it more challenging as they had to bring the sheep towards the crowds with balloons and kids running around. This meant we really saw some really impressive dog work.

“To get dogs of this quality, people have to put a lot of work into their dog, they have to have a great bond with their dog, which is why most are farmers or farm workers.

“Often working on farms can be very isolating, working with your dog on your own, so what better way to spend your weekend than with your dog and likeminded people. You will probably end up with a pretty good working dog during the week, but also for the health and wellbeing of the handlers as well.”