163. James Rayner

Yeah.

What is it about your red and tan kelpies, mate?

Uh, mate, um, my first, uh, proper dog, I suppose, was, um, was a red and tan.

Um, and yeah, he sort of meant the world to me, and he was pretty handy, and he was probably, yeah, the first one, uh, that, uh, I actually properly trained, I suppose.

And then, um, actually watching, um, the kelpie, uh, DVD that had Gordon McMaster's in it, and um, yeah, obviously we'll get into a bit later too, but, um, well, I grew up in a Merino stud, so I knew Gordon, um, through, through parents and, um, yeah, I just sort of, thing resonated with him.

He said about, um, breeding dogs and, and breeding, uh, sheep, there's no- not too much different, and breeding to a type.

And so I set myself a personal goal that, um, yeah, I just wanted all red and tans, I suppose.

[laughs] And, uh, this time-

Wow

... 12 months ago, we sold our last black and tan, so I have had a full team of red and tans for-

[laughs]

... 12 months, yeah.

Was that, was that out of the back of when you joined, those two red and tans have got 10 black and tans?

Uh, yeah, that, that didn't go down well.

Um, that might have had, uh, Croak Trevor's name all over that.

He was the, uh, instigator of all the black and tans that we, we had here.

Um, but yeah, he now lives with the old man out in the, out, out in the hills, and he loves the old man to death, and I'm glad he's not in my kennels anymore.