Taranaki dog trialist Graeme Dickson has established a two-dog hope of wresting east coast North Island domination of the North Island and national sheep dogs with trophy-winning Maude on the leaderboards of both huntaway events.
At the 4pm call on the third day of the championships at Pouawa, the Whangara clubs home north of Gisborne, the pair were in the top seven in both the zig zag and straight hunts.
In 2016 they won a double in the two classes at the Taranaki championships, and Dickson has fashioned an impressive record on the bigger stage with three national titles and three North or South Island titles since winning a South Land title at Omarama in 1996, the first year he reached a nationals runoff.
Late today almost 700 runs had been completed across the four classes of the North Island championships, from which the best seven in each class will contest the New Zealand championships runoffs on Saturday.
Leaderboards at 4pm on the the third day (trialist, dog, club):
