Dubbo trainer's pups to charm TV audience in new season of popular series

The farmer from Mogriguy, near Dubbo, has won numerous Australian titles with his Australian border collies, and was approached by the Muster Dogs producers to breed a litter of puppies for the program.

"They asked me would I breed them a litter of pups? And I said, well, I'm not a breeder ... I'm a competitor and a farmer and we've got three generations of my family in it and we've bred dogs for ourselves for a number of generations," Mr Hudson said.

"But [I said] I will breed you a litter of pups on the condition that I make sure the pups are showing instinct before they go."

The second season of Muster Dogs features five graziers from across Australia, each of whom has been given one of Mr Hudson's Australian border collie pups from the same litter to train to be a champion muster dog in 12 months.

The series follows the lives of five very different Australian graziers and trainers as they take on the challenge to transform their pup into an efficient working member of the mustering pack.

The series is an emotional ride for the graziers, giving the audience a window into their lives and a deeper understanding of the unique bond between human and dog.

Mr Hudson's job was to start the pups off in life, alongside his wife, Carolyn Hudson, who raised them for the first 12 weeks of their life before they were sent to work with the program's graziers.

"My wife rears my pups and she does a fantastic job of bonding and socialising and we're very big on that first," Mr Hudson said.

"From the time their eyes open for 10 or 12 weeks, you must put a lot of time into them ... they are like little children.

"If they don't get time at that age, I believe it's the making of them for life ... so she puts a lot of time into them daily."

Once they are about four or five weeks, they learn to go for rides on motorbikes and go swimming, and they are handled and disciplined.

"... There's not to be any jumping on you and all that sort of stuff," Mr Hudson said.

"When people get these pups, they're calm and relaxed and settled and not climbing and barking and chewing."

ABC TV crews filmed the Hudsons' involvement in rearing the pups from their farm for around 12 weeks in 2022, and this will feature in the series. The Hudsons will also feature in in the final episode in which the pups' progress is evaluated.

Mr Hudson said he was excited to watch the show which he anticipated would be "exceptional".

"I think the general public will love it," he said.

"There's more than dogs in the show. You're going to meet people and personalities from different places. And I think there's a lot more going on in the show than just working dogs."

The first season of Muster Dogs featured Australian kelpies and Mr Hudson thinks the latest season, featuring Australian border collies, will be even more popular.

"Border collies are recognised a lot more in the cities where there are a lot of pet collie dogs," he said.

He said in contrast to the border collie in the city which is bred for "its prettiness", his dogs are bred for "type and nature and train-ability and working ability".

"We're not so much worried about how they look. It's more about their ability on livestock, how well they can be trained," he said.

The second season of Muster Dogs starts on Sunday, January 14 at 7.30pm on ABC TV, with all episodes to be streamed on ABC iview.