Ken White grew up in Patearoa, Central Otago (New Zealand) on a sheep and cattle farm. As a young lad, Ken would socialize pups for his father and a family friend, Robert Elliot. Robert would arrive with two pups and when they were old enough to start their training, he would come back for one but leave the other with Ken’s father. After leaving school, Ken took up shearing. In 1973 Ken married to Natalie, purchased 20 acres in Southland and was gifted a pup called Jake from the Manson family who lived in the Styx. From 1982 to 1992, Ken and Natalie owned and operated a 475 acre dairy farm in the Rai Valley of Marlborough. Today they live on a 52 acre farm and graze dairy cattle. To train for sheepdog trials, Ken relies heavily on friends to gain access to hill terrain and larger fields for distance work.
Ken started his trialling career through the Young Farmers Club with a dog called Jake. Jake and later Jake’s sister, Queen, were both successful on the trials fields. Jake placed second in the South Island competition and 6th in the New Zealand championships in 1976. Chang, Ken’s next dog and from the same breeding lines as Jake and Queen, won the 1988 New Zealand Championships and went on to represent New Zealand in the inaugural test against Australia at the Queensland Royal Show – incidentally, a test that New Zealand won. Ken’s grandfather, James Donald, also trialled for many years and was a founding member of the St. Bathans club. He went on to win the South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin in 1925 with his dog, Mac. His prize – a horse and a very large Rose Bowl!
Jake, Queen and Chang form the foundation breeding lines of Ken’s dogs. The bloodlines of these dogs can be traced back to T.T. McKnight’s 1967 International Supreme champion, Gael, Bobby Dalziel’s Dryden Joe, Phil Gibb’s Haig, Ginger Anderson’s Ben, Merv Utting’s, Pat, and Don McPherson’s Guy. Ken likes to bring new bloodlines into his breeding program to continue his quest for the type of dog he likes to work with – a dog with natural working ability, a good listener, gentle nature, good conformation, and, Ken admits, he prefers a dog to be black and white.
Gibb is the dog Ken will be running at the 2011 World Trial. In 2008 and 2005 he ran Chide. Their first World Trial was a real learning experience. New Zealand sheepdog trials are completely different to ISDS-style competitions. Ken tried to learn about ISDS-style courses from watching every ‘One Man and His Dog’ videos he could get his hands on. However, the editing of these programs made it difficult to get a full sense of the ISDS-style of trialling. After the 2005 World Trial, Ken visited Bobby Dalziel, Michael Shearer and Aled Owen who all taught him a tremendous amount about shedding and the finer details of running ISDS courses. Back home in New Zealand, Ken was visited by Will Cormack from Scotland who also shared his knowledge of the UK-style of trialling. Ken has also benefited from the insights of Cam MacKay on how to start training pups. Just as important as learning how to train dogs, Ken firmly believes that you have to understand the sheep you are working to be good on the trials field. In this regard, Don McPherson taught him a lot about managing stock and the finer points of trialling. The best advice Ken has for newcomers is to try to think like a dog, understand your sheep, get a well-bred pup, and work with good mentor who can guide you and will answer your questions.
When he is not training sheepdogs, Ken is the Archivist for Marlborough, Nelson, where he collects and records information to preserve the history of trialling, and he is very passionate about preserving New Zealand’s rural mustering (gathering) and shepherding history. It was in this capacity that Ken recently discovered the first sheep dog trial was held in the South Island of New Zealand in 1867 – a full 6 years before the first British Sheepdog Trial in Bala, North Wales (October 1873). Ken is also a rose enthusiast. He has recently taken up growing roses and is always on the look-out for as many perfumed old English roses as he can find. He says “If you can’t get up and smell the roses, it’s not worth getting up.” Let’s hope England has lots of roses in bloom come September.