The Story Of Friday Mackenzie

Ruth Spencer shares the legend of one talented New Zealand sheepdog.

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SHEEP FARMERS in New Zealand have been quoted as saying that if there were no dogs, there would be no livelihood.

Considering the sheepdog’s incredible value, the memorial to the working dogs of New Zealand by Lake Tekapo on the South Island is a modest one.

There are more breeds than the collie working with sheep, but it is a small collie which stands, head erect, typifying its gutsy attitude to duty.

Collies were brought to the Otago area by Scottish farmers in the mid-19th century, and they reign supreme in the business of rearing sheep.

Motorbikes are now used in Australia, but New Zealand boasts some of the biggest sprawls of sheep land, which can be as high as 2,500 metres.

And dogs work the sheep, although the 21st century has not passed by the New Zealand sheep farmer, and for the very highest blocks of land dogs are airlifted and set down by helicopter.