Muster Dogs begins as all TV shows should – with a basketful of wriggling, squirming, squeaking newborn puppies. This particular litter of kelpies has been bred by Joe Spicer, a champion breeder whose dogs are in high demand across the country – a testament to his skill, at a time when the traditional Australian working dog doesn’t occupy the place it once did.
Hence Muster Dogs, the ABC’s new reality miniseries where five stock handlers around the country attempt to turn Spicer’s pups into fully-fledged working dogs in just 12 months. The five farmers – West Pilbara cattle station owner Aticia Grey, Victorian tree-changer Rob Tuncks, Top End cattle musterer Joni Hall, Northern Territory horse trainer CJ Scotney and third-generation Queensland farmer Frank Finger – put the puppies through a series of trials and challenges designed to assess their progress as they work towards full working-dog status one year later.
