Sheepdogs: Child brothers help secure Cyril Perry Shield

Neville Child competed with Harry, Scott McRae with Corey and Murray Child with Dice. Photo / Supplied

Neville and Murray Child were in dominant form as they took podium placings at the national sheep dog trial championships in Blenheim last week.

The standout performances unsurprisingly came from the accomplished Child brothers, Neville and Murray, who picked up first and second placings in the long head final with Harry (scoring 94 plus 95 for a total of 189 points), and Dice (95.5, 93, 188.5) respectively.

Scott McRae and Corey from Wellsford finished fifth (94.5, 91, 185.5).

With those results Northland Centre won the Cyril Perry Shield by 25 points, and Neville Child was the supreme trialist. It's the first time that Northland has claimed the Cyril Perry Shield, the equivalent of rugby's Ranfurly Shield.

Veteran Kaitaia trialist Merv Cameron was unable to make it to the event due to other commitments but congratulated all three, particularly Neville.

"I was ecstatic as about four years ago as a fundraiser for our club, I auctioned a young dog which was eight-and-a-half months old and it was bought by Neville. It was Harry!" he said.

"Harry was a very talented dog when I trained him, always giving his best to please and showing exceptional ability in working sheep."

"I must say Neville has really taken Harry to new heights and he is now in his peak years and a lot more will be heard of him in years to come."

Cameron said Neville would be over the moon to get the prestigious green tie (given to the winners of national championship titles), having actually won a green tie a few years ago with Deal - "Harry's grandfather of all dogs" - only to lose it when his vehicle was the target of theft at a motel in Wellington.

Deal's pedigree certainly shone through, being the father of Murray Child's extremely successful bitch, Dice, as well.

There was also no little jubilation over McRae's third-place finish with Toby in the zig zag hunt final with a total of 191.25 points (96.75, 94.5).

The result was even more remarkable considering Toby had literally risen from death's door after being struck down three weeks earlier with a serious complaint huntaways are susceptible to, commonly referred to as "twisted gut".

"A very fatal complication if not detected in time," Cameron said, describing Toby's top-five finish after recovering from the emergency operation - which saw him spend five days at the vets - as a "mindboggling" effort.

"To be at these national champs is an achievement in itself but to be looking like a finalist is unbelievable. Scott told me that when they went on the mark to start his run, he said to his dog, 'Mate, you owe me!' and guess what, Toby delivered!"

- The Northland Age