He might have been a nonagenarian, but Angus Ferguson proved he was still a force to be reckoned with on the dog trial course.
Just months before his death in Oamaru on December 3 aged 90, Mr Ferguson showed he could still foot it with triallists decades younger.
He and Floss won the maiden and intermediate in the short head and yard and placed fifth in the open at last year’s Omarama dog trials and then won the open and intermediate short head and yard at Waimate.
He replaced Les Roughan as likely the oldest competing dog triallist in the South when Mr Roughan stopped trialling in 2019 and told the Otago Daily Times in March that trialling was what kept him going.
Born in Invercargill, Mr Ferguson was the middle of Angus and Mary Ferguson’s five children. He spent his first four years at Grove Bush before the family moved to Seaward Downs.
He was schooled at Seaward Downs and then Technical College in Invercargill before starting work at the dairy factory at Seaward Downs. He was the only staff member employed year-round, doing maintenance during the winter months, and became a certified cheesemaker.
He met his future wife Margaret (nee McKay) at the Wyndham races - her father trained racehorses and Mr Ferguson dabbled in training - and the couple married in Wyndham in March, 1958.
Their first three children, Dianne, Angus and Graeme, were born in Southland before the family moved to Oamaru in the early 1960s, initially living at Weston. Annette and Russell followed.
Mr Ferguson worked in a milk bottling station before buying a milk run in the South Hill area, a seven-day-a-week delivery with 2am starts.
He later worked at the Regina confectionery factory before becoming a hydatids control officer, dosing dogs to prevent hydatids throughout the Waitaki district.
It was around that time he began competing in dog trials and the sport was to become a lifelong interest. He had previously had a go at Young Farmers trials but it was more about breeding, training and selling pups when his family was young. Much of the bloodline went back to two dogs his father imported from Scotland.
Mr and Mrs Ferguson bought a property on Ardgowan Rd in 1974 where he remained until his death. While his children were initially excited about the prospect of a tennis court, that was quickly turned into a vegetable garden.
He was a prolific vegetable gardener and visitors usually left with produce. As the couple’s children gradually left home, boxes of vegetables were delivered to them.
Before Mrs Ferguson’s death in 2021, the couple had talked about moving to a smaller property, but that meant he would not have had any dogs. He had 7ha to run a few sheep and he would regularly take his dogs to other properties to give them experience on hills.
Retirement in 1993 meant more dog trialling and Mr and Mrs Ferguson travelled the country together attending dog trials. Both were life members of the Oamaru Collie Club, Mrs Ferguson serving as the club’s secretary for many years. Daughter Annette said the connections the couple made and the places they travelled to were "amazing".
Mr Ferguson won many trials over the years, including a South Island championship at Wānaka with Rene in the long head in 1992, and in the long head with Kim at Cromwell in 2002. He had two third placings in New Zealand championships.
He appeared on the popular A Dog’s Show television programme several times and represented New Zealand in a transtasman challenge in Australia in 2002 where his dog Penny was placed 10th in the supreme 20 dogs in Australia and the New Zealand team was victorious.
Failing eyesight in his latter years had been frustrating for Mr Ferguson who struggled to see the sheep and dog on long-distance courses, but a cataract operation in 2002 made a huge difference.
Supported by his family, he got a new lease of trialling life, although he and his two dogs, Floss and Lady, tended to mostly compete at trials in the North Otago dog trial centre, rather than travelling as far afield as he used to. While thrilled to qualify for last year’s South Island championships in Marlborough, he felt it was too far to travel.
He is survived by daughters Dianne and Annette, sons Angus, Graeme and Russell, 11 grandchildren and nine-great grandchildren.
— By Sally Rae
