May 2026

Continuing very dry here with an even more uneven distribution of rain than usual, people on the coast and northwards are complaining about the wet. I’ve been trying to water a bit of grass for my few sheep and keep the lawn and garden alive, but the windmill hasn’t been keeping up with my requirements! This last week has been cool and windy so maybe there’ll be a little bit of green before the first frost browns it off. Also trying to green up a pup run for Speedy’s litter but I’ve been minding three little daxie girls for a friend and they seem to keep it mown just running around.

It’s been cooler for starting pups and the sheep have been busy running off a bit of fat. Em and I had a look at a few before she returned north with family, and this last week Chevi Bain has been here waiting for Karmala Karma to whelp to Karrawarra Cash. He bought Karma a couple of years ago and didn’t intend mating her so soon, but she and Cash had other ideas. Luckily she’s been hanging on and he’s had plenty of time to give a number of my dogs a run and start a few pups. It’s always exciting to see how they react to sheep for the first time and none disappointed. I was interested to see a Karrawarra dog working here again after many years, old Karra. Gift IV would have been the last… apart from the dogs Tony asked me to start. Karrawarra Mallee who Kevin Howell bred so many good ones from was maybe the last of them. 

Cash                                                                Karma

Happy to report the pups arrived last night, May 2, not counted yet but a lovely puppy pile this morning. The pups will be registered under Chevi’s prefix, Brooklyn Terrace…the name of a Hereford stud that was in his family for many years. 

Another “blast from the past” was little Riana Bevvy having her first look at sheep and showing some of that classy work that reminded me of Riana DeltaDawn, the bitch I bought about 20 years ago.

During April I was contacted by the owner of Karmala Glisten/Beth(K.Gibson x K.Livvy) who offered to return her due to change of circumstances and Beth’s discovery that she could jump. I doubt I’ve seen a better looking bitch, and as an added bonus she’s been fed raw all her life! Her exposure to stock has been very limited and Matt Mitchell has very kindly taken her to see how she goes; he brought Craig McPherson when he came to pick her up and we had a good chat while checking out the dogs and having a cuppa.

It hasn’t been a good time to sell dogs/pups with the uncertainty hanging over fuel prices ongoing. I’ve had a couple of slightly older bitch pups hanging fire, lots of nibbles, no bites. Lots of enquiry for pets which I usually turn down. This situation reflects the growing divide between city and country which is clearly shown by the rise in popularity of One Nation; our PM was reported to call this” the rising of dark forces”! If that’s what he calls common sense I can see his reasoning, let’s hope he vanishes into the dark, the sooner the better! At least the deteriorating situation has wiped that annoying smirk off the Treasurer’s face.

To more practical matters. I did a bit of research into kibble this month, the info is readily available online if you look for “Australian Dog Food Reviews”….but I was really shocked at what I found. One of the more popular brands sponsoring studs and trials is Enduro which scores 2/10. The highest scores are the air dried ones of course, too dear for most of us to use every day but I always have some Eureka for milking bitches as a treat.

The lower ones that are full of cheap grain fillers, sorghum, wheat and corn are the worst.

1/10 Bonnie

2/10 Enduro Full Boar, Chum, Pedigree Vital, Beneful, Riverina Top Dog

3/10 Cobber Working Dog, Uncle Albo’s  3.6 Supercoat

4/10 Game On(Dogpro), 

5- 5.5 Pure Pro, Optimum

6-6.5 Aldi Grain Free, Eukanuba, Royal Canine

7 True Blue  7.2 Advance  7.8 Ivory Coat G.Free, Stockman and Paddock, 7.9 Hypro Premium, Blackhawk

8.4 Instinctive Bite

Air Dried: 9.5 Eureka,  9.4 K9 Natural

Of course it’s best to feed raw meaty bones as well! Roo is an excellent food but very lean, ideal for overweight dogs.

I also did a deep dive into flea and tick chemicals but that’s for next month.

The Riana Note x Koonamara Quaint/Speedy litter is a joy, just beautiful pups.

Bevvy was gentle with them and it was interesting to watch how they reacted to her.

I posted some short vids of dogs working on FB during the past week, will try and sort some more soon.

Karma has nine healthy pups, they’re very dark. I don’t know where the tan’s gone!