A ruff day for Rural Catch contestants

It was all about dog handling skills for the Rural Catch guys and girls on the second day of Fieldays.

Always a crowd favourite, Chelsea and the Ultimate Canines brought her four dogs, Shift, Chrome, Sprint and Dirt, for the eight contestants to prove they knew a thing or two about man’s best friend. A challenging obstacle course saw them directing the dogs to weave around poles, jump, spin and even walk backwards to a mixture of results.

The competition kicked off with a call challenge between shepherd Mairi Whittle and sharemilker Berny Hall, who both stood on opposite sides of the ring in a bid to see who could first get the attention of Shift.

Full of confidence, Whittle announced that “the challenge should be my forte, I’ve got six dogs at home.”

“I’ve got a dog, all she does is chase birds, she’s supposed to be a cattle dog,” said Hall, whose ideal date would be on the coast with dinner to match.

It seemed Renae Flett wasn’t going to have much luck with Chelsea’s dogs either, missing the jump three times with her partnered dog Chrome.

“I’ve got the worst trained dog in the world at home,” announced Flett, a contract milker and bulldog owner from the Manawatu.

The joker of the group, Mat Hilhorst, also failed to command the attention of his female canine companion, Dirt, who proceeded to find nibbling at the grass a lot more interesting than listening to Hilhorst.

“I’m not that bad with woman,” said Hilhorst, drawing laughter from the large crowd.

The winner will be announced on Saturday as Rural Catch continues with cooking, fitness, tractor and problem solving challenges still to go in the battle for a prize pool worth over $20,000.