You get out of a sheepdog what you put in, according to Muster Dogs season two star Russ Fowler, Bothwell, Tasmania.
The sheep farmer said if time and effort was put into training a sheepdog, it would be given back 10 fold.
"You need to love them and you need to enjoy working with them," he said.
"You'll never get the maximum potential out of your dog if you don't do that."
Mr Fowler ran an 18,500-strong sheep flock on 3000 hectares an hour north of Hobart.
The flock was mainly crossbred with 2500 pedigree Merino ewes in the mix.
He spoke to Stock & Land at the Future Ag Expo at the Melbourne Showgrounds this week, alongside his canine star of Muster Dogs Molly (18 months).
The Future Ag Expo saw exhibitors showcasing all forms of agricultural technology and inventions from drones to robots.
However, Mr Fowler said the good old sheepdog was "absolutely" a farmer's best innovation of all.
"You still have to programme it though," he quipped.
He said sheepdog training was not overly complicated but instead involved a few basics to put manners on the dog.
"When you see people in the cities getting dragged down the road by their dog that's because it doesn't have manners," he said.
"They don't understand how to put manners on a dog.
"It's really trying to show people not only in the cities, but in the bush as well, just how important it is."
Mr Fowler said he wasn't "too picky" when it came to which breeds of working dogs he liked best.
"I see the benefits in all the breeds and I try to utilise that across the board," he said.
"I don't want one dog that does it all.
"I want several dogs that are better at specific things."
Communication
The Tasmanian said being able to help communicate the story of farming to non-farmers was one of the reasons he signed up to partake in season two of the hit series.
"That was one of the reasons why I did it to be honest because I think we're sort of lacking that connection from the city to the bush," he said.
"We used to have people that would have either an uncle or a grandparent that was off the land and those city people would go out and learn about the way the world works in the bush.
"There's not that any more.
"I think this is a great way of showing that."
Mr Fowler said using the cute puppies and dogs of Muster Dogs was a great way to draw non-farmers in.
"[It's about] showing them the warm fuzzy stuff which everyone likes to see but also how you don't have to be harsh or controlling to have a good dog," he said.
He said "outward communication" from farmers was "really key".
"We seem to have shut people from the city out because they don't understand so we need to explain that better," he said.
Season two of Muster Dogs ran on ABC television earlier this year.
