Dubbo’s Greg Prince brought home the trophy with Lyster’s Scratch, a rare brown and white border collie. It’s an award that has been a long time coming.

“I went for five or six years (without winning) and then finally got the 13th and it was unbelievable,” he said.

“You just never think you are going to get there.

“It’s the dream of all triallers. It has so much prestige.”

Originally from Cobar, the farmer first started trialling in 1986 before going to his first national championship two years later. In 1990 he finally got his hands on his first trophy.

“It is just the greatest sport of them all, it’s the only sport where I don’t have to do anything,” he said. Well not exactly.

Mr Prince admits to getting “a bit of a thrill” in rearing a pup, taking it to a trial and following it on to a win.

Mr Prince has “about a dozen” dogs on his property and 10 made it to the finals at this year’s championship held in Canberra.

“Lisa is now 10 years old so this will be her last Nationals and she will now retire,” he said. “I don’t think you can get a better mate than a dog.”

As for three-year-old Scratch, Mr Prince regards him as “probably one of the easier dogs I’ve trained”.

“We work to live and they live to work,” he said.

Lyster’s Scratch and Mr Prince scored an impressive 192 points out of a possible 200. From May to November each year, Mr Prince is on the road running dog training schools.