He’s such a good mate, in fact, he helped the 13-year-old from Ballarat East to his first sheepdog trial victory last weekend.

Cody tied for equal first with Mark Fagan on 45 points in the encourage class at the Ballarat and District Sheepdog Trial at the Ballarat Show Grounds.

After finishing runner-up a couple of times last year, Cody was thrilled to claim his maiden win.

“I felt great,” Cody says. “I don’t really go out there to win, I go out there to learn.

“I guess there are not many 13-year-olds who’ve done that. I’m proud I’ve achieved the win.

“I was the last to go in my class, but I didn’t know any of the scores. The sheep were running around a fair bit, so I had to take a couple of deep breaths and slow it down a bit. It was a real challenge. 

“I’ve had two seconds before. The first was at Cressy in the middle of last year with (Granan) Roo and the second one was towards the end of last year down at Gippsland with a different dog, Tex.

“It is not always how good the dog is. The handler controls the dog, so if you have a dog that listens properly it is all up to you. You tell it what to do and if it is wrong it is your fault.”

Roo was trained by Cody’s grandfather John Tuddenham, who is a legend of the Victorian sheepdog trialing scene.

Cody describes him as “an awesome dog”.

“He loves you to bits and I love him to bits as well,” Cody says. “He has a really good personality and he is like my best mate out there when we compete.

“He is like a person in a way and it makes him a bit unique really.

“I do farm work with him as well. He is a very good listener. 

“The only bad thing is he loves his food.”

Like Roo, Cody has been trained by John, along with Jimmy Dodge who is also regarded as sheepdog trialing royalty.

Speaking of training, Cody looks set to do some of his own this year. He is getting his own border collie puppy, who will be ready to compete next year.