It’s been said that a dog is a man’s best pal. When it comes to a New Zealand farmer, this is undoubtedly true. Some New Zealand farmers do not just have a handful of acres, they have a handful of thousand, and trying to get your flock of sheep into the stockyards can bring a entire new meaning to the phrase ‘working for your money’ if the farmer had to do all the leg perform. There are around 43 MILLION sheep in New Zealand, which is an average of 12 sheep per particular person. Wouldn’t want to get them mad now would we? (A well-liked statement from comedians from overseas). The average flock size on the average farm is around 1400 sheep. The initial sheep arrived in New Zealand around 1773, and their population exploded to a whopping 83 million prior to it began to decline due to other farming possibilities such as dairy and raising beef cattle.
The vast size of New Zealand enables for some massive farms, or stations as they are referred to as. This is especially correct in the South Island exactly where some rocky mountainous terrain can only be inhabited and used for grazing sheep. The average farm in the South Island of New Zealand is around 536 acres, the bigger stations can range from more than 300 hectares to 25,758 Hectares (the popular Walter Peak Station, founded in 1860). The largest station in New Zealand is now owned by the Government and measures 1,800 km². So as you can picture, you need to have a ‘best friend’ to aid.
New Zealand has formulated its own kind of breed to support muster the big number of sheep in from the hills and all nooks and crannies. Instead of the precision and silent method from the trusty ‘eye’ sheep dog (those black and white sheepdogs usually seen in English movies), the shepherds of the stations needed a much more robust dog with a loud voice and one that is not afraid to stand its ground. So what’s a farmer to do if that ‘breed’ is not readily available? Effectively, do the Kiwi factor off course and invent (breed) a single. Enter the New Zealand Huntaway, officially not a breed as no a single in history knows precisely what their pedigree is, what other breeds were utilized, how significantly of which breed or can even agree on a ‘standard’ by which to measure the breed. All colors, sizes, breed mixes are offered and used, as long as they are loyal, like to bark and can listen it’s a New Zealand Huntaway. Selective breeding from great working dogs have narrowed the ‘breed’ into a instantly recognized dog in New Zealand, but there is no strict ‘breed standard’. New Zealand Huntaways are normally black and tan, sturdy dogs that are very athletic. The dog wants to have excellent stamina as on some stations they are needed to cover nearly one hundred km per day. When the farmer has a fantastic functioning dog, it is treated with respect but is expected to do its job. A huntaway’s principal trait is the bark, which can be switched on and off by command. This is off course really essential, as noise at the wrong time and in the wrong spot, can lead to disasters such as a smothering of sheep as they pile on top of every other and suffocate, or a stampede in the direction of the shepherd! And trust me when I say a huge flock of sheep running at full speed can be ‘wool blind’ (or just don’t care) and can be a rather frightening encounter. Commands are generally verbal but can also be completed by whistle. A great shepherd with a number of dogs can train each dog to obey particular commands and have a number of dogs ‘working’ together performing different issues utilizing diverse commands. To see this in action is an incredible sight, I’m usually curious to if they ever muddle up the commands, off course a true shepherd would just not let on a error and to the untrained eye like myself, I wouldn’t know if the sheep had been meant to go left or correct. It just appears like a perfectly executed operation.
As puppies the Huntaway should show a organic instinct to perform by around 6 months of age and typically the puppies who don’t show this are euthanaised, hence the stockmen are keeping only good solid functioning dogs who primarily create great offspring.
The story goes that farmers started the Huntaway with the Border Collie, then for good measure mixed in some Beardie (sheep dog from Northern Scotland), Old English Sheepdog, the Smithfield (both from England), abit of Labrador, Fox Hound, Retriever and what ever else was about at the time. Contrary to the primary coloring, the German Shepherd was not involved.
A excellent huntaway is as useful as any other member of the functioning team of the farm, occasionally even much more so. The Huntaway is a New Zealand Farmer’s ideal buddy.
About the author :
Monica Toretto is a writer, painter, photographer and blogger. She lives with her two young sons in Invercargill near Bluff. She has travelled broadly in Canada and the US and worked as a veterinary technician ahead of returning to New Zealand. Her operate has appeared in several magazines in the UK and New Zealand. She has also authored a book of poetry and photography named ‘Words’.
0 comments:
Post a Comment