Muster Dogs

Television ABC
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Muster Dogs

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World Premiere Sunday 23 January 7.40pm

Spanning the red earth of the Top End to the green pastures of regional Victoria, Muster Dogs is a four-part, family-friendly, feel-good documentary series that follows five Kelpie puppies from the same litter on their journey to become muster dogs. The pups are split up and sent to five graziers around Australia who will try to get the pups up to speed in just 12 months.

Under the watchful eye of respected expert trainer, Neil McDonald, these puppies and their new owners will be expected to hit training milestones, before meeting again in twelve months’ time for the ultimate working dog challenge. Who will be crowned ‘Champion Muster Dog’? And will any of our eager puppy participants graduate into the adult muster dog pack?

The journey to train these uniquely Australian dogs is an emotional ride into the graziers’ lives as we gain a deeper understanding of the unique bond between human and dog. The series also explores different approaches to mustering, revealing the training involved in attaining top results, whilst ensuring animal welfare and limited environmental impact as farmers move away from mechanisation and back to relying on skilled working dogs.

We experience the distinctive bond the graziers and trainers have with their best mate – their muster dog – and how this ancient herding art form is having a renaissance in Australia, revealing the underlying emotional, economic, and environmental benefits of using dogs rather than machines to muster.

Production credit: An Ambience Entertainment production for the ABC with production investment
from Screen Queensland and financed with support from the ABC. Series Director: Monica O’Brien.
Directors: Michael Boughen, Sally Browning and David Wallace. Producers: Monica O’Brien and Michael
Boughen. Co- producer John Unwin. ABC Executive Producer: Rachel Robinson. ABC Manager,
Screen: Jo Chichester. International Distributor: ABC Commercial. Narrator: Lisa Millar.

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Two wheels good, four legs better

The heart-warming series Muster Dogs starts Sunday, 23 January, 7.40pm on ABC TV with all episodes available to binge on ABC iview.

Spanning the red earth of the Top End to the green pastures of regional Victoria, Muster Dogs is a four-part series that follows five Kelpie puppies from the same litter on their journey to become muster dogs.

Five pups are sent to five graziers around Australia who will each try to get their pup up to speed in just 12 months. Joni Hall travels alone with her pack of dogs across the Top End mustering cattle; Frank Finger’s family have been farmers in Clermont, Queensland, for three generations; Station owner CJ (Catherine) Scotney is a gifted horse trainer; Aticia Grey is a third-generation grazier and dog breeder in the Pilbara, Entrepreneur Rob Tuncks walked away from stockbroking to pursue his real passion: farming.

Under the watchful eye of respected expert trainer Neil McDonald, the puppies and their new owners will be expected to hit training milestones, before meeting again in twelve months’ time for the ultimate working dog challenge. Who will be crowned ‘Champion Muster Dog’? And will any of our eager puppy participants graduate into the adult muster dog pack?

Mustering stock with dogs is an ancient herding art form that is enjoying a renaissance in Australia. This series explores the unique bond graziers have with their best mate – their muster dog – revealing the underlying emotional, economic, and environmental benefits of using dogs rather than machines to muster.

Production credits: An Ambience Entertainment production for the ABC with production investment from Screen Queensland and financed with support from the ABC. Series Director: Monica O’Brien. Directors: Michael Boughen, Sally Browning and David Wallace. Producers: Monica O’Brien and Michael Boughen. Co-producer John Unwin. ABC Executive Producer: Rachel Robinson. ABC Manager, Screen: Jo Chichester. International Distributor: ABC Commercial. Narrator: Lisa Millar.

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Muster Dogs round up large number of fans

Five kelpie pups, all from the same litter, have become the stand-out hit of summer viewing on Australian television with Muster Dogs ending its four-week run on the ABC with a current total audience, including encores, of 1.43 million viewers*.

It is currently the ABC’s top non-kids program on both broadcast and ABC iview for the year-to-date and is ranked #2 in its timeslot, up against strong competition including The Australian Open tennis coverage and Married at First Sight .

The first episode, which screened on Sunday 23 January 2022 has delivered a total audience of 1.7 million viewers to date.

The series has been warmly embraced by audiences across Australia with fans sharing photos, videos and stories of their dogs on social media. There were more than 2.1 million views of Muster Dog content across Facebook, Instagram, You Tube and Twitter and just under 400,000 pages views for digital articles.

Early interest has also been shown from international broadcasters with the first overseas sale confirmed for New Zealand.

An original format created by Ambience Entertainment and the ABC, Muster Dogs tells the authentic stories of remote and regional farmers as they meet the challenge to train a Kelpie puppy in just 12 months. The series explores the benefit of using this unique Australian pedigree to muster stock after years of reliance on machines. It advocates the use of dogs as an environmentally sustainable practise that “takes the rattle out of the cattle” and promotes regenerative farming to better protect the land.

The production was supported by The Queensland Government through Screen Queensland’s Screen Finance Program.

ABC Commercial holds worldwide distribution rights for Muster Dogs.

*Source: OzTAM 5 City Metro, Regional TAM Agg incl WA, OzTAM VPM, Ep 1-3 broadcast figures are based on C7 data, Ep 4 is preliminary overnight.

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The ABC News Breakfast host Lisa Millar is taking five weeks’ long service leave to write a book to accompany the smash hit ABC TV show Muster Dogs, which she narrated.

HarperCollins approached Millar to write a book to accompany the second series, which she will also narrate, when it’s released in 2024.

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Season 2

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The Australian Broadcasting Corporation hit series is back! Narrated by Lisa Millar, this new series sees five loveable Australian Border Collie pups from the same litter sent to graziers around Australia to train their pups to become working dogs in just 12 months. Under the watchful eye of expert trainers, the puppies and their new owners will hit training milestones before meeting for the ultimate working dog challenge where one will be crowned Champion Muster Dog. This series explores the unique bond graziers have with their dogs and addresses issues facing regional communities in the agricultural industry, including the need to build a workforce skilled in training muster dogs to replace machines.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

An Ambience Entertainment production for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Production investment from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Queensland and Screen NSW. Executive Producer Matthew Street. Producers Monica O’Brien and Michael Boughen. Co-producer John Unwin. ABC Executive Producer Rachel Robinson. ABC Commissioning Editor Jo Chichester. ABC Head of Factual Susie Jones. International Sales: ABC Commercial. Narrator Lisa Millar.

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New season from Sunday 14 January 7:30 pm

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Season 2 trailer

A companion book to Season 2 written by Lisa Millar will be released on January 17, three days after the TV broadcast.

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Muster Dogs – from pups to pros Season two of the smash hit series starts 14 January

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The much-anticipated second season of the smash hit series Muster Dogs starts on Sunday 14 January 7.30pm on ABC TV, with all episodes available to binge on ABC iview.

In 2022 the heart-warming series captured the hearts of audiences around Australia, reaching a series average of more than 2 million. Muster Dogs was the most watched non-kids’ ABC program on ABC iview in 2022 and the most watched ABC Factual series ever*.*

Narrated by Lisa Millar, the new five-part series sees five loveable Australian Border Collie pups, bred from the same litter by champion dog educator Mick Hudson, sent to five graziers around Australia who will each try to get their pup trained in just 12 months. Cilla lives near Gympie in Queensland and has her hands full with three kids under the age of 5; Steve lives in Winton, Queensland, and is one of the most well-known competitors on the dog trial circuit, winning multiple awards and competitions; Zoe is a contract weaner tailer in the Northern Territory; Lily in Wilcannia has been training dogs since she was 7 and runs a property with her mum, and seventh-generation farmer Russ lives in Tasmania with his young family.

Once again, under the watchful eye of respected expert trainers Neil and Helen McDonald, the puppies and their new owners will be expected to hit training milestones, before meeting again in twelve months’ time for the ultimate working dog challenge. In Season 1 the adorable ‘Annie’ was crowned Champion Muster Dog. Who will be crowned ‘Champion Muster Dog 2024’? And will our eager puppy participants graduate into the adult muster dog pack?

This series explores the unique bond graziers have with their best mate – their muster dog – revealing the underlying emotional, economic, and environmental benefits of using dogs rather than machines to muster.

A companion book to Season 2 written by Lisa Millar will be released on 17 January 2024.

Watch season 1 of Muster Dogs on ABC iview.

Production credits: An Ambience Entertainment production for the ABC with production investment from Screen Queensland and financed with support from the ABC. Series Director: Monica O’Brien. Director: Sally Browning. Producers: Monica O’Brien and Michael Boughen. Co-producer John Unwin. ABC Executive Producer: Rachel Robinson. Commissioning Editor: Jo Chichester. ABC Head of Factual: Susie Jones. International Distributor: ABC Commercial. Narrator: Lisa Millar.

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NYE preview.

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Episode 1

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Sunday 14 January 7.30pm; Stream all episodes on ABC iview

Five adorable Australian Border Collie puppies set out into the world to meet their new owners, establishing a lifelong bond as they take their first steps to becoming a Champion Muster Dog.

In Goondy Creek NSW, we meet Debbie and Snip, the mother and father of the brand-new litter of Muster Dog pups. After fourteen long hours Debbie delivers ten gorgeous Australian Border Collies. Five of these pups will steal our hearts as we watch them grow in the twelve-month experiment.

These pups were bred by dog trialling champion and dog educator, Mick Hudson, and their bloodlines come from more than one hundred years of Australian dog trial champions. Will this litter be as good as their ancestors and become Champion Muster Dogs?

Neil McDonald returns as our training expert with an updated experiment to cater to the training style of Border Collies. The key milestones for this season are set at five, seven, ten, and twelve months. Can this litter of pups be trained in twelve months to be quality working dogs and what will we learn about their natural instincts along the way?

After thirteen weeks the dogs are delivered to our five excited graziers who are eager to take on the challenge to train a muster dog. Spread across Australia, they welcome us into their lives and their new pups into their families.

There’s Zoe, a contract weaner tailer in the Northern Territory, Steve, a grazier from Winton, Queensland, Lily who runs sheep and goats with her mother in Wilcannia, NSW, Cilla who is juggling her farm work with three young children in Ban Ban Springs, Queensland, and Russ, a seventh-generation grazier in Bothwell, Tasmania.

The cute new puppies instantly wriggle their way into the hearts of our new owners and training begins for the first five-month milestone assessment. Through the mischief and chaos our puppies are named: Buddy, Indi, Snow, Ash and Molly, and the lives of our trainers are changed forever.

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Episode 2

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Sunday 21 January 7.30pm

The pups are starting to develop their own unique personalities and building a good bond with their owners, while training for the five-month assessment is well underway.

The pups are starting to develop their own unique personalities and building a good bond with their owners. Training for the five-month assessment is well underway, with Zoe and Cilla struggling to find their rhythm with boisterous Buddy and Ash.

Puppy expert Neil McDonald explains that at the five month mark the key to success is establishing a strong bond with the puppies, known as the Bluetooth connection. Neil sets out the eight key assessments that the pups must pass to move onto the next stage.

With businesses to run, staff to manage and families to care for, our trainers are constantly juggling priorities to deliver the essential ten minutes a day of quality training that they have committed to, and which is required to keep the pups on track.

It’s spills and thrills as our puppies and trainers stumble and at times leap through the tasks with mixed results- three puppies pass and two puppies fails. Expert Neil is worried the puppies may have gotten the better of their trainers, with a desperate call to Cilla to make some important changes.

The next two months will be very interesting for our fabulous five. The trainers need to put in the time with these potential champion muster dogs and really be consistent with their training if they have any hope of passing the seven-month assessment.

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Episode 3

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Sunday 28 January 7.30pm

At seven months, the pups have a strong bond with their handlers. But they face big tests as they learn to herd livestock and respond to calls. The results are certainly surprising.

Since we last saw the puppies they have grown and are developing their stalking livestock techniques and learning manners and basic calls.

Steve and Indi in Winton, Queensland, are going great guns, but cracks are starting to appear in the Northern Territory’s Top End for Zoe and Buddy, who are feeling the pinch of the labour shortage. And with no trainer mob to work Buddy on the seven-month assessment, it’s shaping up to be an epic fail.

Lily and Snow in Wilcannia, NSW, and Russ and Molly in Bothwell, Tasmania, are also flat-out busy, struggling to find time to train their pups as they juggle their families and workload. The seven-month assessment will be the best they can muster on the day. As the only white dog in the litter, Snow must do a lot of work to convince the stock that he isn’t just another sheep.

In Ban Ban Springs, Queensland, Cilla and Ash are super confident and certainly putting the training in. Ash has been out of action for two weeks with a sore foot and is failing to demonstrate the confidence to push the stock from behind.

It’s judgement day for our five pups and the results are certainly surprising. Some of our pups just scrape through on key tasks but Neil is really impressed with the ability of all of them. The training intensifies as we head into the ten-month assessment.

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Episode 4

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Sunday 4 February 7.30pm

At ten months the dogs have hit puberty and are starting to show some teenage rebelliousness. There are mixed levels of success in the assessment, and one of our pups falls gravely ill.

It’s been a gruelling summer for our handlers. It’s now winter, but so hot it still feels like summer. Our puppies are ten months old and are starting to develop some undesirable traits and teenage rebelliousness. So far, all pups have conquered the five and seven-month assessments but are anxiously anticipating the upcoming ten-month challenge.

Lily and Snow in Wilcannia, New South Wales, and Steve and Indi in Winton, Queensland, are progressing well, both confident about where their dogs are and how they’ve progressed in the last two months. But it’s not all fun and games for our handlers, with a few facing some big setbacks.

In Ban Ban Springs, Queensland, the demands of motherhood have taken a toll on Cilla. Her youngest child has been struggling to sleep and she fears her exhaustion is impacting her mood and ability to effectively train Ash.

In the Northern Territory, Zoe is facing a challenge of her own. Buddy has been unwell and has been in and out of the vet several times. Deeply worried about her best mate, Zoe has a lot at stake, especially with the ten-month assessment looming. She is unsure if Buddy will be home and well enough to participate.

In Bothwell, Tasmania, Russ and Molly have their wires crossed. Molly is still getting bullied by the tough, grumpy livestock, so Russ is ramping up training, trying to get Molly to learn a bit of force and assert more dominance before the next assessment.

With only two months to go, the competition is heating up as we come closer to the final assessment to discover who will be crowned Champion Muster Dog.

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Episode 5 - season final

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Sunday 11 February 7.30pm

With the12 month experiment now complete, the Border Collie siblings reunite for the first time to face their final challenge. It’s neck and neck but one dog shines brighter than the pack and is crowned Champion Muster Dog.

After a hot autumn it finally feels a little like winter as our puppies and trainers descend on central Queensland for their final assessment. It has been an epic journey for all involved and the road to Hillview, Clermont, was long and dusty for our eager trainers and their much-loved pups. Our puppies are now twelve months old and are warmly welcomed at the home of Muster Dogs veteran Frank Finger and his Muster Dogs Champion kelpie, Annie.

Our experts, Neil and Helen, are joined by special guest and former champion Frank and dog educator Mick Hudson, who bred this quality litter of pups, to assess how the young dogs measure up after a year of structured and focused training. The three challenges are explained, and our dogs are raring to go. It’s neck and neck in the first two challenges, with all dogs passing. With no clear winner in sight, it’s time for each of the dogs and trainers to take on the final challenge to determine who will be crowned the Champion Muster Dog.

It’s a close call but one team shines brighter than the pack and is rightfully crowned our Champion Muster Dog.
Together all five dogs have graduated from the year-long experiment and are now effective working dogs. They have each proven that you can train a dog smarter and faster in just twelve months rather than the usual three-year training cycle. But more importantly, they have shown that the bond between human and dog is unbreakable and something to be treasured.

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Lisa Millar’s book on season 2 (published by HarperCollins Australia) is now available. Note the book includes spoilers from the episodes.

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For a limited time, order Muster Dogs from Booktopia website and you will receive a copy signed by Lisa. Available while stocks last.

The audio CD version of the book (read by Lisa) will go on sale on January 28.

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