Myles Maheno with Coco, Jess and Star all bitches, came up from invercargil to give his dogs a run through the pig block.
Star was only 7 months old and her mother is Jess who’s about 3. Coco is also about 3.
For our 1st run into the pig block we took Coco and Star with my dog Fog. Coco did not like the muzzle much and sulked so Myles had to encourage her to follow us. In the block she was still worried about the muzzle untill she saw the grey boar that Fog was bailing, from then on she did not mind the muzzle. Young Star was a bit standoffish for a start so we just let her walk around doing her own thing until the boar broke the bail and then she was away and stayed with the other dogs. When we were close to the bail Star came off as if she was not sure what she was allowed to do.
Our next run we took my dog Rastus and all 3 of Myles bitches. Both the black boar and the black and white boar were up by the house and the dogs mucked around a bit until I managed to break the black and white boar which done the trick and got the dogs into it. It was great watching the improvement of Star as she really stepped up for a young bitch.
Next morning we took my bitch Sassy and Myles 3 and headed up the hill. We could see the dogs were keen when down the hill at 100 miles an hour came Cecil the ram with the dogs giving good chase and Cecil made a point of trying to knock me over on the way through. Luckily I managed to jump around him and sort the bitches out with the electric collars. What would have happened was the big sow likes hanging out with the rams and when the bitches turned up Cecil would have charged them.
When we regrouped we headed back into the middle of the rams to get the bitches to bail the sow. As the rams bolted we had to give Star and Jess a reminder on the collar which animal we want to bail. Even when we had the sow bailed Cecil came in looking for a dog to bunt. It was great training for the dogs having the different animals together. The sow finally broke down the hill with the bitches giving chase.
This run went for 2 hours and at one stage we came and sat on the deck and had a cold drink and some food while we listened to the bail. After our smoko break we took the bike up the hill and then walked into the pig block, high up and on the other side Myles 3 bitches were still bailing the sow but also the grey boar was with them. When the sow broke away down into the gully we called the bitches off to give them a well earned rest. I was impressed with young Star for only her second day seeing a pig and staying with the others for the whole 2 hours.
I’m sure I will be seeing Myles again, cheers for a great 24 hours.