Mr Ferguson, who turned 90 in December, enjoyed success at the recent Omarama dog trials, winning the maiden and intermediate in the short head and yard with Floss and placing fifth in the open with a score of 92 out of a possible 100.
Failing eyesight had been frustrating for the Oamaru man, who struggled to see the sheep and dog on long-distance courses, but a cataract operation in 2022 made a huge difference.
Now with his eyesight reinstated, he and Floss and his other dog Lady were enjoying competing at trials in the North Otago dog trial centre, rather than travelling throughout the country as he and his late wife Margaret had in the past.
Mr Ferguson has replaced Les Roughan as possibly the oldest competing dog triallist in the South; Mr Roughan, who celebrated his 100th birthday in Gore in December, stopped trialling in 2019.
It was 1976 when Mr Ferguson, a former milkman, began a new job as a hydatids officer that he began competing in dog trials. It had become a life-long 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 brought out from Scotland.
Mr Ferguson has competed at least 14 times in the finals of New Zealand championship events with various dogs and never won one. He has won two South Island championships and been on the popular A Dog’s Show twice.
In 2002, he and his dog Penny represented New Zealand in a transtasman challenge in Australia while Penny was placed 10th in the supreme 20 dogs in Australia.
So did the New Zealand team win? "Course we did, that’s what we went there for," he said.
Sometimes a little luck was involved; he recalled a New Zealand championships at Omarama where he was on the leaderboard for the yarding until the very last run when he was bumped off by renowned North Island triallist Bob Bryson who was still looking for his sheep after his run in the final, he said. But win or lose, "you’ve just got to put up with that", he said.
In the past, Mr Ferguson would have up to eight dogs in his kennels but he was now down to two — "and that’s the finish ... or else I’ll be finished before the dogs".
Before his wife’s death in 2021, the couple had talked about moving to a smaller property which did not involve work, but that meant he would not have had any dogs.
So he remained in the Ardgowan Rd home, in which the couple lived for much of their 63 years of marriage, and where he had 7ha to run a few sheep.
Over the years he would regularly take his dogs to other properties to give them experience on hills.
Floss, whom he bred, had always shown ability and she would "be a good dog if she had some work". She won a trial at Bluecliffs at the start of the season out of 60 dogs.
The pair were likely to compete at upcoming trials at Kyeburn, Waihemo, Waimate and Oamaru.
"It’s the only interest I’ve got now. It keeps me going," he said.
