Not only did the win come in the face of a cancer scare which had threatened to end his trialling career, but it came in partnership with collie Somerville Nell – a pup born to Taylor’s champion dog Somerville Floss by cesarean.

The winner of more than 50 trials including the 2009 Australian Supreme Championships, Floss died during the operation - but not before Nell was successfully birthed.

Five years later in Northam, Western Australia, Nell proved her pedigree by winning the same championships with a “really impressive” performance - nearly as good as her mother.      

“Floss she was the best dog in Australia - she won the national and the supreme championships in the same year, there had never been another dog who had done that until just lately,” Taylor said. 

“Nell's a little bit nervier, a little bit jumpier - Floss was a very calm dog. 

“They're both very strong and steady but Nell's just that little bit nervy.” 

Having spent most of his life working a farm in Deloraine, Taylor has worked with dogs since the age of 14 but only took to trialling in 1991.

The bond and understanding Taylor shares with his dogs is undeniable to anyone who sees them in action, yet the champion worker insists he is still learning. 

“I'm learning all the time - it's the same with horses, you never stop learning how to handle them.  

“When they start to get into serious training it's no more than 10 minutes at a time because you want to keep your dog really keen, you don't let them get too tired.

“A lot of good dogs have poor workers and never achieve anything, a lot of good workers have dogs who are just average but they can make decent dogs of them.

“You learn from watching good workers and bad workers - actually the bad workers teach you a lot because you see all the things they do wrong.”

Set to celebrate his 80^th birthday in January, Taylor still trains a handful of dogs from his home in Bridport; running them around his backyard or taking them down to the beach in the back of the ute.

“I’ve got five working dogs, two mature dogs and two pups coming up.

“They're all different to work, you never get two the same.

“You use their ability with your ability and try and balance it out - sometimes their ability is better than yours.”

Taylor says retirement is on the cards, but not before one last crack at a trans-Tasman trial in New Zealand next year. 

“I was going to retire after a Port Ferry trial in February, but when I got in the Australian team (I thought) ‘that's the 15th time I've been able to get in the Australian team’ - no one else has done it more than six.”