Selwyn_Times: September 27, 2023
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Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>27</strong> <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
NEWS 3<br />
Does Sass have what it takes?<br />
• By Sally Murphy<br />
FARMER KELSIE Meads is<br />
passionate about her job, and the<br />
best part is easy – her dogs.<br />
Based at Coleridge Downs in<br />
the Rakaia Gorge, she has nine;<br />
seven working dogs and two<br />
pets.<br />
Leader of the pack Sass is<br />
taking part in this year’s Cobber<br />
Dog Challenge. The trans-<br />
Tasman competition sees 12<br />
dogs fitted with a GPS tracker to<br />
see how far and fast they travel<br />
over a three month period – with<br />
the hardest working dog being<br />
announced next month.<br />
Small in stature but not in<br />
attitude, Sass is compact, only<br />
about two thirds the size of a<br />
normal heading dog, but out in<br />
the paddock she uses the trait<br />
she’s named after to show the<br />
sheep who’s boss.<br />
“I just entered the competition<br />
for the sake of it at the start, but<br />
it was great to get picked, it’s<br />
been really cool seeing what Sass<br />
can do,” Meads said.<br />
“Some days she’s running<br />
42 kilometres when we’re set<br />
stocking which is a lot, but then<br />
other days when it’s a bit quieter<br />
on farm, she’s hardly doing<br />
anything.”<br />
A small walkie-talkie-like<br />
HARD WORKER: Kelsie Meads with working dog Sass at Coleridge Downs<br />
Station.<br />
PHOTOS: SALLY MURPHY<br />
remote turns on the GPS tracker<br />
when Sass is on the job.<br />
“I control it because we<br />
obviously can’t have it on when<br />
we’re driving down the road<br />
in the ute at 100 kilometres an<br />
hour.”<br />
Chasing sheep, cattle and deer<br />
all over the farm, Sass is only<br />
three so has a few good years<br />
work left in her yet – but Meads<br />
can’t wait for her to retire.<br />
“She’s my mate.”<br />
While chatting to Meads about<br />
the competition, Sass is never to<br />
far away and when the rest of the<br />
pack on the back of the ute start<br />
whining she’s quick to tell them<br />
off.<br />
Meads says her dogs are vital<br />
on the farm as they can reach<br />
parts of the paddock she cannot.<br />
“They’re such hard workers<br />
and I love taking proper care of<br />
them. Farm dogs are usually just<br />
workers but mine are a bit more<br />
like pets, when we’re at home I<br />
try give them as much time out<br />
of the kennel as possible.”<br />
She even has a tattoo of her<br />
much-loved first dog Tui on<br />
her arm.<br />
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