Lawgirl Posted January 14 Author Report Share Posted January 14 It's Muster Dog Day! Season 2 is here in Australia! I will be watching and reporting back with spoiler free content... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted January 14 Report Share Posted January 14 Hooray!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgirl Posted January 14 Author Report Share Posted January 14 So a hopefully spoiler free review... Five episodes where five puppies went to five people to train for a year, with testing at 5, 7 and 10 months before the final competition at 12 months. This is a slight tweak on the previous format. The tests are also slightly different in composition. Last series the focus was on the benefits to the livestock of using dogs to muster them. This time there was more.of a focus on how dogs can replace people in doing the work on a farm, during a staff shortage The age of participants is younger, with two in their twenties, two in their thirties and one in their forties. But you have the experienced dog trainer and teacher, the contract stockworker from the Northern Territory, an inexperienced but keen dog trainer etc. There is more variety in the stock worked, with a better balance of sheep and cattle (and goats!). There are also some cameos from Season 1 alumni. I probably can't say too much more in detail without spoilers. I loved this season as much if not more. No shortage of incredibly cute border collie puppies, both traditionally marked and not, a few twists along the way. I much preferred the final testing in this season, and felt it was a much closer competition. The personalities of the trainers may not have been quite as big this year, but they were still interesting and likeable. I am happy to answer questions if I can, but I can't answer when it will come to Netflix or be available overseas, unless you watch it on Australian ABC iView via a VPN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgirl Posted January 14 Author Report Share Posted January 14 https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/jan/14/muster-dogs-abc-season-2-border-collies Here is one review of the season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted January 15 Report Share Posted January 15 So happy that Season 2 has dropped. I hope that it comes to Netflix soon! Very soon. I checked 2 nights ago, and they were not yet offering it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgirl Posted January 15 Author Report Share Posted January 15 I don't think this is a spoiler, so I will discuss it. The sire of the litter is the current main trialling dog of the breeder, and is heavily white factored. The dam is traditionally marked black and white as far as I saw. I think in the trailer that I posted, or in the photo, people noticed that there was a lot of white in the litter of puppies. One of the puppies was completely white, and found to be deaf. The response of the breeder was that while he would not be suitable for herding, he was a wonderful cheeky puppy and would go to a good pet home. (PS you do find out what happened to this deaf pup at the end of the series and it is the best outcome I could have dreamed for him.) Two of the competition puppies are white/heavily white factored as well. This has launched quite a discussion online, as you can imagine, and the breeder has responded to say that white factor does not necessarily affect working ability, as he has a fully white bitch, with no hearing deficit, who was a supreme champion trialler, and that he does not breed for colour but for working ability. Based on the results in the series, it does appear that he gets results in terms of working ability, as I think they all did better than the kelpies in series 1.(I may need to rewatch series 1 though) It is noted that a white dog working sheep can be tested by the sheep more than other dogs, as the sheep will not necessarily see it as different from a sheep, being the same colour, and it will need to have more presence and perhaps more bark. I am interested in what other people might think about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcv-border Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 On 1/15/2024 at 6:49 PM, Lawgirl said: I don't think this is a spoiler, so I will discuss it. The sire of the litter is the current main trialling dog of the breeder, and is heavily white factored. The dam is traditionally marked black and white as far as I saw. I think in the trailer that I posted, or in the photo, people noticed that there was a lot of white in the litter of puppies. One of the puppies was completely white, and found to be deaf. The response of the breeder was that while he would not be suitable for herding, he was a wonderful cheeky puppy and would go to a good pet home. (PS you do find out what happened to this deaf pup at the end of the series and it is the best outcome I could have dreamed for him.) It is noted that a white dog working sheep can be tested by the sheep more than other dogs, as the sheep will not necessarily see it as different from a sheep, being the same colour, and it will need to have more presence and perhaps more bark. I am interested in what other people might think about this? When I saw the ads, one of the first things I noticed was the white-headed pup and immediately wondered if s/he was deaf. (Apparently so.) I believe that is a risk when breeding a heavily white-factored dog, but if the parent is a high-level worker, it may be a risk the breeder is willing to take. I dunno. If this was the first litter of the sire, I would be very cautious about using him again - and would pick a mate with extreme care. I would never use him with this female again. If he has been used before with no white-headed pup, well - genetics can be a cr@pshoot. Of course, because of the white-headed pup, my thoughts wander to 'what type of genetic testing is used before deciding on a mating?'. Is genetic testing in BCs common, or becoming more common, in Australia? As far as working efficacy or how sheep react to a mostly white dog, I can only relate one acquaintance's experience. She is a very experienced handler and had a mostly white dog, but with black ears. Her report is that sometimes new sheep would look 'askance' at her dog, but they would soon be responding to him normally. i.e. the interactions were as expected from using a more traditionally marked dog. She used him A LOT for set-out at sheepdog trials so he saw a wide range of sheep breeds. The take-away was that the presence and working ability of a dog was much more important than the color. Yes, there are old wives' tales about color and working ability of a dog, but that is simply that - an old wives' tale. (I have heard similar about red/white dogs.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawgirl Posted March 7 Author Report Share Posted March 7 OK, super early sneak peak news about Muster Dogs season 3 - will be 3 kelpies and 3 border collies! Filming NOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted March 7 Report Share Posted March 7 That should be very interesting! Thanks for keeping us in the loop, Lawgirl! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachdogz Posted March 9 Report Share Posted March 9 On 1/15/2024 at 6:49 PM, Lawgirl said: (PS you do find out what happened to this deaf pup at the end of the series and it is the best outcome I could have dreamed for him.) I went searching today to see if there was anywhere I could watch Season 2 and found nothing. So I guess I will have to wait. However, in searching, I did find the Muster Dogs Facebook Page and the update on the white, deaf puppy. And you were right - what a wonderful outcome for him. And I cried..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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