Troy Mellington with his dogs Kelly and Macey.
NOW that Troy Mellington has his working dogs, he has no interest in going back to cropping.
"When I was working out at Skipton it was a cropping farm, so there were no sheep out there.
"I've been out (at Corindhap) about a year now," he said.
"I would never go back to being by myself.
"They (the dogs) make the job a lot easier for me, that's for sure."
When he started sheep work, he already had Kelly as a pup, so Mr Mellington sought out a dog that knew what he was doing.
"When I first moved here, Kelly was just a pup so I needed another dog while Kelly was still progressing," he said.
"I knew a farmer that was getting rid of Macey, so I bought him off him, and he's been a really good dog."
Both dogs have been an asset to Mr Mellington at the farm where he works, where they farm between 12,000 and 14,000 merino sheep for their wool.
"Macey's a paddock dog and Kelly does more work in the yards," he said. "Macey can do both, but I'm trying to train Kelly to be a yard dog more."
He doesn't always work the pair.
"There's a lot of sheep here and I don't want to wear one out, so I swap them a bit as well."
Although they're working dogs, Mr Mellington values their gentle nature.
"They've never fought with anyone. They're pretty placid and friendly," he said.
"Both of them had good working dogs as parents, so a lot of the work is instinct for them.
"In the mornings they always jump straight on the back of the ute they know they're going to work.
"They listen really well. They weren't tough to train at all."