Erin isn't accepting new mentoring applications until April 2024. Please contact Awel Jones on 07961 958 807 / awel.jones2@menterabusnes.co.uk to discuss your other options.

Why Erin would be an effective mentor

  • Erin has been training and competing with her border collie sheepdogs since a young age. In 2018 she was crowned young British champion, a success she followed in 2019 by winning the BBC television show 'One man and his dog',
  • Despite her considerable success in competitions, Erin believes the most beneficial and valuable thing for her is that her dogs work day-to-day on the farm at home, playing a hugely important part when it comes to shepherding the family’s flock of 350 Talybont Welsh and Texel x sheep
  • Being the fourth generation on both sides of her family to be interested in sheepdogs, she has benefited from plenty of helpful encouragement and guidance. 
  • A patient and kind individual who has empathy for both dog and handler, Erin understands that training a sheepdog is not easy without specialist guidance.  This is why she is now delighted to have the opportunity to pass on her knowledge through her appointment as a Farming Connect mentor and as she says enthusiastically, “I am looking forward to doing all I can to ensure that the tradition of working sheepdogs on farms in Wales continues!” 

Current farm business

  • Working alongside her grandad, Erin helps run the family farm at home in Bala, North Wales and trains and competes with her own sheepdogs. 
  • She also breeds dogs under the prefix ‘Pandy’. Her great grandfather, Maurice McNaught started the prefix ‘Pandy’ in 1930, and his name can be seen in the first volume of the International Sheep Dog Society breeding book (ISDS).
  • The farm is located a stone’s throw away from where the first recorded sheep dog trials were held in 1873. 

Qualifications/achievements/ experience

  • Erin has been appointed as secretary of the Bala sheep dog association and continues to uphold the traditional of hosting these trials, which have now been held for 150 years.   She also helps arrange the association’s well-known sheep dog auctions twice a year

  • 2019 – Winner of the ‘One man and his dog’ competition on the BBC 

  • 2018 –Young British Champion at the International Sheepdog Trials in Ireland.

  • 2022 – Erin has worked with and trained a number of well-known individuals including Emmerdale actor Dominic Brunt, preparing him to compete in the main ring at the Yorkshire Agricultural Show
     

Top tips for business success

“Repetition is key when training a dog. Try to keep each training session     short but ensure you do them often!” 
“Spend time with your dog away from the sheep. This will create a stronger bond and a feeling of trust between the dog and yourself which will improve the progression of the training.”

Apply for this mentor