TRM has been promoting the Shemozzle on 28 October as a great day out for some rural entertainment. This is when all the farmers and shepherds take their Huntaway dogs into Hunterville to compete in the most hilarious dog trail you could ever imagine. If you wish to know more about the Shemozzle rules (?) then google it. It is their Big Day Out and mainly for farmers with over 300 farm dogs competing to prove their intelligence and fitness and training over a very physical and difficult obstacle course.

So naturally TRM entered our brave savage guard dog Juno.

Juno was in peak condition when we acquired her having previously lived with a vet as her house dog on a farm. We tried to maintain her fitness but she was too smart for us.

She discovered all these units nearby with kindhearted inmates and especially young children who constantly wanted to pat her and invariably spoilt her with the odd sausage or two. Inevitably over the last year she put on too much extra weight and lost all her conditioning and desperately needed retraining.

But as soon as I started to train her in earnest on the Tongariro River Trail she knew something was up. Over the last week she has developed a limp. That disqualifies her from the Shamozzle. She is so proud she won and we have had to cancel her trial against real working dogs.

So she is back working on inmates sympathies again to encourage more pats and cuddles and food…