He returned to West Otago and worked around the district before he decided to go farming on his own. Embarking on his own farming career, he discovered he really enjoyed working with dogs, particularly the progression and development of young dogs, seeing them learning new commands and "start embedding it in". He put time into training young dogs but, once they were up and going, he admitted he did not do as much as he should. While he had both heading dogs and huntaways, he was "definitely a heading man". He preferred working with heading dogs on his property as he did not need much noise.

Source: Otago Daily Times November 15, 2021 03:36 UTC