THE Australian sheepdog of the year will be named at Port Fairy this Sunday.
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The awarding of the $5000 prize will mark the end of this week’s Commonwealth Championship Sheepdog Trials, run annually at the town’s Garden’s Oval.
Handlers spend numerous hours training their dogs to move three sheep through a variety of obstacles.
This year’s winner of the novice trial was Paul Okeane, with open and improver trials continuing throughout the week.
Organiser Bill Paton said the competition had grown to become a big event with representatives from each state travelling from across Australia to compete for the title.
“We have 376 runs to get in during the week – that’s about 1300 sheep and 53 competitors,” Mr Paton said.
The Commonwealth trials conclude a big fortnight for sheepdog trials in the region.
Record entries contested last week’s Koroit Sheepdog Trials at Victoria Park with people travelling from NSW, SA and Queensland.