STOCKMAN PROFILE -
Pip Flower
Article by Brydie McKillop | Photos Provided by Pip Flower
Born and raised in Bath, England, Pip Flower visited Australia in 2011 as a backpacker with her friend at the age of nineteen ready to enjoy and explore Australia. Their first six weeks in Australia was full of fun and parties but their money quickly ran out and it was time to replenish the bank account. Pip found a job on a cattle station in the Gulf and her love for agriculture blossomed from there. Growing up Pip, had pet dogs around her, but at the time she considered herself to be more of a cat person. Later in life, it became Pip’s dream to own her own Border Collie due to their intelligence and looks. Whilst working on properties in rural Australia she purchased her first working dog pup, Kaden’s Betty, off Denise Hawe from Longreach. Denise gave Pip her introduction to dog trialling. After three years of living in Australia, Pip moved back to England where she completed a degree in Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University and became a trained arborist. During this time, she discovered Australia is where she wanted to live permanently. Through the sponsorship of Jim and Rhonda O’Connell from Camara Station in Winton, Pip returned to Australia with a working visa and later on she received permanent residency. Pip’s desire to work sheep and attend dog trials resulted in her moving from Winton to work on properties in Tasmania for a while. Currently, Pip lives in Texas, Queensland, where she owns a starter block and contract musters goats and sheep work. After limited amounts of sheep and sheep work for her dogs, Pip has recently accepted a job offer in Maffra, New South Wales where she will be managing 10,000 crossbred ewes, allowing her to work her dogs every day.
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When looking for a dog, Pip’s main focus is their temperament. “They need to be sound and love you so that you can teach them anything you want” Pip said. Her main goal is to have a dog that is really strong, sound and biddable – the ultimate dog. Pip finds when conducting sheep work, she likes to have certain dogs for certain needs. Pip’s paddock dogs are mainly Border Collies whilst for yard work she now utilises Huntaways after her introduction to them in Tasmania. Pip finds the Huntaways give her a little more firepower, particularly when she is working on her own. This year Pip is focusing on building her ideal team of dogs for sheep work, containing a mix of both Border Collies and Huntaways.
“They need to be sound and love you so that you can teach them anything” When it comes to training dogs Pip has found Jim and Rhonda O’Connell taught her how to get her dog to carry its sheep, helping to calmly move her sheep between obstacles during a three sheep trial.
