Farmers' Best Friend, Hunterville,NZ - Dog Statues on Waymarking.com

The Huntaway
A dog that barks as it gathers and moves sheep is called a Huntaway.
The statue of a Huntaway dog recognises the immense contribution this dog has made to the farming district of Hunterville, and is a memorial to Sam, Rough, Luke, Bob, Glen, Scot, Paul, Gus, Quin, Tahi, Rua, Flo, Maude, Bess, Queen and all the other Huntaways who have worked so faithfully and tirelessly where ever and when ever required.
NZ’s can claim they bred the first Huntaways, but a type of forcing dog was being used in the British Isles in the 1700’s, and no doubt some of this blood must have come to NZ with the original sheep dogs.
Much of the pastoral farming is on the steep and broken hill country of the North Island and vast high country runs of the South Island. A dog had to be heard by the sheep or cattle to have any effect. Farmers bred from the dogs that were the most use to them, and in the early years other strains of dog were added, some by accident and some by design. Labrador, setter and hound blood are known to infused into the Huntaway, this added the barking ability to the natural herding instincts of the original sheep dogs.
This dog could chase or hunt sheep or cattle away – hence the name. Today Huntaways are a recognised type of dog and can be registered in the stud book of the N.Z. Sheep Dog Trial Association. Competitions are held in clubs throughout NZ where the Huntaway can demonstrate its ability and skill.
What a Huntaway looks like does not matter – they are bred on their ability as sheep dogs. They are usually big upstanding dogs, agile with a strong head that has a kind gentle expression. Most are black and tan but range from black through brindle or almost yellow. The coat is smooth but can be rough or long as in the beardy. Huntaways are the most common type of sheep dog in New Zealand. They muster the high country, they are on the flats, they get the cows for the dairy farmer, there are very few livestock farmers in the country that don’t have a Huntaway. In the words of Fred Dagg – without them “where would we be”.
Hunterville people have recognised that the handling of sheep and cattle on the farms in the district would be more difficult and almost impossible in the early years without Huntaways. Picture high steep hills covered un burnt stumps and logs, paddocks a hundred acres and at times much larger, mobs of sheep numbered in hundreds and at times thousands, which had to be mustered. It was the shepherd on a good horse and his team of dogs, most of them Huntaways, that got the job done.
Success in droving the large mobs to the railhead or freezing works was dependant on the Huntaway. Most of todays Huntaways are an all purpose dog on which we depend. One man with a good team of dogs can do the work of several men without dogs. Indirectly they contribute to the wealth of our district.

Breed: Huntaway Date Built: 1999/4/10

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Date Logged Log User Rating   01/04/2016 waiiti20 visited it 01/06/2011 taybee visited it 03/05/2010 No Fixed Aboder visited it 02/21/2010 Punga and Paua visited it

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