A top trainer of farm dogs and their handlers will return to Wairarapa next month to share the trade she learned on the region's hills.
Anna Holland will host a one-day clinic near Masterton on May 6, demonstrating work with both trained and untrained dogs and talking about all stages of dog development from puppy onwards.
Ms Holland grew up in Auckland but fell in love with the farming life through yearly visits during school holidays to a distant uncle on a Martinborough farm. That uncle was Ian Nichol of Drumcairn, who was well regarded for his abilities with horses and dogs.
At the age of 21 Ms Holland was living in Gladstone, having left home at 17, and she spent the next 23 years shepherding in Wairarapa before moving to Manawatu and later Taihape.
Ms Holland became a renowned breeder and trainer of farm dogs and trial dogs, and she continues to train her own dogs and holds training days for farmdog handlers.
