Welshman Meirion Jones comes from a farming family where his father, Harry, farmed the 160-acre Wernbongam Farm. In English, this means ‘tree with a crooked trunk.’ Meirion no longer lives on the family farm but he still helps out from time-to-time. He lives in a bungalow with this wife, Llinos, two children, Ioan and Caryl, and a kennel full of border collies. He has 14 acres next door which is perfect for training young dogs, and he runs 300 Texel-cross mules (sheep!) on rented land. Meirion is a full-time fencing contractor, when he is not out with his dogs.
Meirion first became interested in sheepdogs when his would visit his life-long friend and neighbour, Meirion Owen. As young lads, the two Meirion’s were taken under the wing of Ifor Owen (Meirion Owen’s father) – a quiet and shy man who had a gift for not only training young dogs but teaching others how to train and handle dogs. Ifor taught Meirion the basics of training a sheepdog - lessons which he has not forgotten. At 15 years of age he started trialling and he hasn’t looked back ever since. To start with, Meirion was trialling with good farm dogs but then one day he saw Bobby Dalziel’s Dryden Joe at a trial and he just knew he had to have a pup from this dog. Kay was this pup.
Kay was Meirion’s first quality bitch. She was clever, willing in every way, always there to help, a great outrunner, terrific listener, a good driving and shedding dog, and you didn’t have to ask her twice to do anything. For Meirion, Kay set the standard for what a dog can do. She became the foundation bitch for Meirion’s breeding program.
Joe is the dog Meirion will be running at the World Trial, the second World Trial for this team. He is home-bred by Meirion’s Jim and Maddie (a bitch from Stuart Davidson’s Hope). At first Meirion didn’t think Joe would make the grade as he is very laid back and seemed a little disinterested. However, one day Meirion had to get some gathering done and he thought he would take Joe along with another dog. Joe took to practical work with enthusiasm, and, as a result, he has been trained while working. He took Joe to a nursery trial one weekend to make up the numbers, and Joe won this trial. They ended the nursery season in second place in their county. In 2007, Meirion and Joe represented Wales at the International. That was Meirion’s third time at the International. While he did not qualify in 1999 or 2003 for the International Supreme Final, in 2007 he made the final and finished in 6th place overall. Not too bad for a dog that almost didn’t make the grade! In 2008, they finished 6th at the World Trial.
Meirion has a very simple approach to selecting dogs. If it isn’t black and white, smooth –coated, prick-eared and lean, he doesn’t want it! Well, at least he is honest. His advice to new people starting out is just as straightforward. “Persevere. Don’t give up. If things are going wrong this week, get out there again next week” he says. “Sheepdog trialling is a great leveller. You can be at the top one week and at the bottom the next. “ Meirion likes to encourage new people whether they are 14 year olds or 82 years young. He likes to help if things go wrong and has been known to ask the judge for 5 minutes of time to go help a new handler settle things down. What a refreshing approach. But then, that is very characteristic of Meirion.
