To mark Wanaka as the location of the world's first recorded dog trials, a 2.7m high steel statue of a shepherd and his dog will be put up next to the Mt Iron walking track.
Wanaka's first dog trials were held at Dog Match Flat, on Cardrona Valley Rd, which was originally suggested as a memorial site in 2007 when Marlborough sheep dog triallist Ken White discovered an Oamaru Mail newspaper article confirming Wanaka as the site of the world's first recorded trials.
The article, dated July 9, 1869, said trials were held in Wanaka on June 22 and 23 that year and that they were the third annual trials held in New Zealand.
Articles from 1868 and 1867 confirmed trials were also held in Wanaka in those years, disproving earlier claims by the International Sheep Dog Society that Bala, Wales, held the first recorded trials in 1873.
Wanaka Collie Dog Club secretary Vicki McRae teamed up with Lake Wanaka Tourism to raise funds for a shepherd and dog sculpture. A steel cut-out version was proposed a couple of years ago at a meeting of the Upper Clutha Historical Records Society.
Tarras artist Shaun Burdon designed the statue, which has been cut from mild steel by Morgan Engineering and Marine Ltd and will be mounted at the site in the next couple of months. The project will cost about $9000 and is funded by the society and the 1999 Musterers' Reunion in Wanaka.
