WA farmer Blythe Calnan and her gorgeous dog Banksi set to star on Muster Dogs season three

It’s hard graft being a Muster Dog. If you’ve watched the first two seasons of ABC’s series of the same name, you’ll be all too aware just how dedicated those little pups have to be to cut it on their handlers’ farms and stations.

But for little Banksi, the WA kelpie pup who’s front and centre in the upcoming third season, there are certain benefits.

“He does spend a bit of time on the couch with me,” Banksi’s Muster Dogs partner and handler, WA regenerative farmer Blythe Calnan, admitted.

“Wherever I am, he is.

“He’s got his crate inside, and if I’m inside in the office, I’m most comfortable where I can see him — and he is most comfortable where he can see me.

“He’s my A team; my best mate, and we spend so much time together.”

Calnan farms a property in Uduc, 40km north of Bunbury, raising cattle and pasture-roaming chickens. She connected with producers for the hit ABC series via her good friend Aticia Grey, who appeared in series one alongside her own pup, Gossip.

This time around, the show is putting Australia’s top working dog breeds, border collies and kelpies, to the test to determine the ultimate Champion Muster Dog.

Calnan said she knew she wanted to be involved.

Paired with Banksi in “Team Kelpie”, the pair had an instant connection.

“He was just a delight,” she said of their meet-cute.

“Whenever you meet a puppy, you are not only meeting that puppy, you have got this big imagination around the life you will have together, and with this being a Muster Dogs pup, this tiny, gorgeous, innocent pup represented this big adventure we were both about to go on together.”

Banski had to hit the ground running once arriving in WA from South Australia.

Not only did he have to fit into Calnan’s sizable working dog contingent and learn on the job quickly, he would also be required to meet Muster Dogs milestones, passing various challenges set for him by the show’s training experts, designed to rate each pup’s progress.

“It was a lot of pressure,” Calnan said.

“But I work quite well under pressure, so I was enjoying the fact this dog was part of such a big show, and because we had these milestones, it meant (training) was definitely a priority.”

Calnan, who has trained dogs for several years, said she thoroughly enjoyed her intensive time with Banski in front of the cameras as it reminded her of the very first time she worked with pups in a professional capacity.

“It takes you back,” she said.

“Everyone’s first dog is so special, because you invest so much in that relationship. But as you go on in life, and life gets busier, there is just not as much investment made, so this felt almost a rerun of having that ‘first dog’ again, because we got so close, and spent so much concentrated time together — it’s been a real gift.”

Banksi is now one of a large menagerie who call her Uduc property home. As well as the chooks and cattle, there are also several working dogs.

“I have (currently) got six herding dogs altogether — some older dogs, and some pups,” she said.

“We also have five guardian dogs (who guard our chickens), and they are just incredible.

“They are a very different dog to the herding dog — their skills and their dedication and the amount of instinct they bring to their job is amazing. They bond to the chickens when they are young — actually, they bond to anything — and whatever they grow up with, then that’s their village.”

But how will Banski go with all his new feathered friends nearby?

“I will get absolutely hung and quartered if I give away anything,” Calnan said.

Will he end up graduating off the couch? You’ll have to watch to find out!

Muster Dogs: Collies and Kelpies starts on February 2 at 7.30pm on ABC.