The human and canine stars that featured in season one and two captured millions of Australians’ attention and, in some cases, hearts.
From babies and puppies, to charity work and training, we caught up with some of the alumni to find out what they’ve been doing.
Frank and Annie
Frank Finger and his first muster dog Annie stole hearts during the first season of the show, with Frank cementing himself as a fan favourite when he took on fellow participant Rob Tunck’s cheeky kelpie Lucifer.
In season two, Frank added another to his crew of muster dogs, this time a deaf border collie called Lucky.
A couple of years on, Frank said the number one question he stills gets when he goes to shows or is out and about is always: “How’s Annie?”
“Annie’s lovely, she’s very special. Every time I go mustering she’s with me, she works through the heat and the cold,” he told ABC iview’s Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now.
“She’s the favourite of the pack, but she’s certainly not bossy.”
As for Lucifer, Frank said: “He’s still naughty sometimes, but we’re getting on fine.”
“He’s a lovely dog to have, he just loves people,” he said.
He said when it came to Lucifer’s mustering skills they were still working on his zoning as “he’s working too fast and too close to the cattle and he puts himself in danger”.
And Lucky? “Lucky can’t do anything wrong,” Frank said.
“Even training a dog with normal hearing, they’re all different so you have to be flexible.
“Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and that’s all he needs, kindness.”
Frank and his trio of muster dogs have been busy in the years since the show first aired.
As well as taking them to visit aged care homes, his workload away from home has increased significantly thanks to a rise in demand for dog education and training.
He’s even had someone fly out from Israel to spend time on his farm and learn the ropes of using dogs to muster.
“I was just surprised that something [like the program] could have such an impact right across the cities and the bush,” Frank said.
“I was surprised that people have such an interest in what we do in the rural industries.”
Zoe and Buddy
Winner of series two, Zoe Miller and her border collie Buddy are still mustering together and, like Frank Finger, taking the time to visit regional shows and take part in teaching dog training.
Work-wise, Zoe’s swapped the Northern Territory for outback Queensland, doing contract mustering work.
Buddy’s also made big progress when it comes to his diet. During the second series he became ill and was put on a special diet to help get him back to full health in time for the final assessment.
“Buddy is well, he’s beautiful and I’m happy to report healthy and on a normal dog diet,” Zoe said.
“I was holding my breath. It was looking like Buddy was going to have to stay a pescetarian there for a little while.
“[Changing his diet] was just that reset, getting his stomach back on track and then he was able to transition back to beef.”
Zoe said it was a relief given it’s “hard to get fish out here [in rural Queensland].”
She also shared that Buddy is still his goofy self, but his mustering continues to improve every day.
“He’s holding his presence a lot better. [He’s got an] amazing natural ability, if there’s an animal breaking away he gets completely to the right position and can stay with them till they’re back in the right direction,” she said.
In case she wasn’t busy enough, Zoe set her sights on a new challenge — running a half marathon and auctioning off a custom painting of beautiful Buddy to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
It was a personal cause for Zoe, who shared that the RFDS saved her life twice, once when she was a baby and more recently when she was bitten by a snake.
“I see my fundraising for the Royal Flying Doctors as demonstrating my gratitude for the services and assisting in helping that service continue in Australia,” she said.
Lily and Snow
We met Lily Davies-Etheridge and her muster dog Snow, aptly named for his coat, in season two.
Since then, Lily has returned to her hometown of Wilcannia after an ACL injury and, despite joking about it, she hasn’t dyed Snow black (yet).
During the series, Snow’s colouring made it tricky for him to muster sheep that were the same colour and sometimes didn’t follow their orders.
But Lily said Snow’s confidence around them has come in leaps and bounds.
“With maturity, he’s got a bit more strength on stock and a bit more presence and I think it’s just experience, just learning,” she said.
“He’s got better at getting in and moving things when he needs to.”
The other big development for Snow is becoming a father after Lily’s mum bred pups out of him.
Work-wise, after recovering Lily said her plans were to keep contract mustering with the long-term goal to get her own stock together.
Russ and Molly
In Bothwell, Tasmania, seventh-generation farmer Russ Fowler and his border collie Molly are still going strong.
“Molly’s very much a part of the fabric,” Russ said.
“She’s become an adult now and is showing a lot of good instinct.”
Russ said Molly joins him out mustering most days and has become a great pack dog.
“She’s really pliable so she’ll sit, come up, go exactly where you want. To have that in a team of dogs is really handy,” he said.
“A lot of the stuff she was sort of struggling with [before], no problems now. She’s not the top dog but very much part of the pack.”
Molly still has her goofy moments but Russ said one key issue she’s overcome is not being bullied by sheep — something she struggled with in season two.
“She’s got over that really well and that’s one of her strengths now with any of those pig-headed sheep,” Russ said.
Away from the paddocks, Russ said Molly was still the star of the town and a welcome sight for many who are facing a tough time on the land.
“She loves the limelight,” he said.
“Business is pretty tight at the moment, in the agriculture industry we go through ebbs and flows.
“This is on the bottom of the trough, so to speak.”
Russ said the “perfect” storm of rising costs and interest rates, along with low livestock prices and little rain were making it hard for most to keep their heads above water.
For him, it meant cutting two staff and changing his flock for a better return.
But despite the rough patch, Russ said one encouraging change was people not being afraid to share how they’re feeling.
“One thing I think has changed even in the last sort of 10 years is farmers’ willingness to talk about that mental stuff and have the discussion around how shit it is, rather than just bottling it up,” he said.
Aticia and Gossip
Aticia Grey was paired with her chatty muster dog Gossip in series one when Aticia was living on her family’s remote station in the Pilbara.
Last year though, she made the big decision to move further south to be closer to family for a very special reason.
In July 2023 her daughter, Savannah, was born a little ahead of schedule — in fact before Aticia could even go to her own baby shower.
“I really wanted to move down closer to family while we were learning how to be parents,” Aticia said.
“There’s a lot of perks on the station but the isolation is definitely tough.
“In growing up with it I found that I couldn’t be the mum I wanted to be up there, you’re just torn and pulled in so many ways and responsibilities and things to do.
“Whereas being able to really embrace life down south where I don’t have that stress has been amazing.”
Aticia and her family moved south, to a small community in WA’s Wheatbelt region. And of course, Gossip came too.
“Gossip’s going great, still got attitude, she’s still her cheeky self,” Aticia told Muster Dogs: Where Are They Now.
“She’s still a chatterbox, she barks at me every morning.”
While Gossip was able to join the family down south, Aticia said she’d had to make the difficult choice to sell a number of her dogs.
“Some are happy to be part-time workers. For others, it’s not fair for them,” she said.
“I’ve actually sold quite a lot of my team, which is heartbreaking for me but it’s the right thing for them.
“But Gossip’s not going anywhere, she’ll stay with me for good.”
She said Gossip had adjusted to working part-time and that she “laps up” her celebrity status.
With a bit more time nowadays, Aticia has found a way to combine her dog handling skills with a cause close to her heart called Kelpies For Kids.
The fundraising initiative raises money for sick kids and their families who are doing it tough, with a puppy fetching a record price of $50,000 earlier this year.
“Since becoming a mother myself, it really hits home just how important it is to have these resources supporting rural families when their kids get sick,” Aticia said.
“It was a no-brainer, absolutely. It’s an honour to be involved and to have bred the pups who are in this.”
Cilla and Ash
Series two alumni Cilla Pershouse and her long-haired collie Ash have continued to refine their mustering relationship since the show finished.
“Life is great,” Cilla said.
“Ash is gorgeous and she’s grown up into such a beautiful and skilled dog.
“She’s gained so much confidence, strength and skill and she’s developed into such an incredibly diverse working dog.”
After going into the final assessment as the least-experienced duo, Cilla said Ash has now “muscled her way” to the top of her group of dogs.
“To the point where I really miss her when she’s having a day off,” she said.
Cilla added that Ash continued to fill a big space in her young family’s life.
It’s not just farm work at Ban Ban Springs in outback Queensland that Cilla, who studied musical theatre before returning to farming, has Ash doing.
‘Ash Barky’, as she’s been dubbed, also features in Cilla’s live touring show that she performs at regional shows.
“A big part of my life has always been presenting arts programmes, particularly in rural and outback areas,” she said.
“Because Ash is so outgoing and lends herself to it beautifully I couldn’t help but add her to our theatre show.”
As well as Cilla’s farm, which is a little over a thousand acres, she said she’d been working with her dad on taking over a parcel of his land too.
“He’s hoping that I will be able to step into his boots and carry on,” she said.
Joni and Chet
A few years on from season one, cattle whisperer Joni Hall and her right-hand man Chet are still living life in the outback.
But since the finale, Joni and her expertise are in high demand — she’s trained nearly 1,000 head of cattle, started her own training program, judged cattle handling competitions and travelled across the country from Queensland to Western Australia four times.
By her side has been Chet who, like many of the other Muster Dogs alumni, is a keen fan favourite at events.
“Chet’s going really, really well,” Joni said.
“His position in the pack is in the A-team, he does everything.
“He’s sort of the all-round but needs to be seriously guided on decision making.”
Sometimes that means a furious glare from Joni to let him know what’s what.
“I love it because he’s the only one that does what I say,” she joked.
One other big development for the pair is Chet’s move into fatherhood — something he seemed very indifferent to.
“I love the fact that he’s so pliable and easy to talk to; I just wanted to see if I could have something in my line that’s a bit more pliable,” Joni said.
CJ and Spice
In the sweltering Northern Territory heat, series one alumni CJ Scotney and Spice are still perfecting their mustering relationship.
“I call her the class clown, a little bit airy-fairy,” CJ joked.
“Spice is a very different dog, through the movements and her instincts.”
CJ said unlike other pups she’s had in the past, the focus with Spice has been to encourage her to have a go on the stock away from herself.
“I had to change what I was doing and I was always looking to create confidence in her to bring stock to me,” CJ said.
On a personal level, this year saw CJ’s daughter leave for boarding school.
It’s meant juggling work on the farm with trips into town to help her settle into school.
“It’s taken a toll on our family and our business as well,” she said.
“[Husband] Joe’s had to take on more … so I can adjust Lindsey well into her going to high school.
“But it’s just what you’ve gotta do for your family.”
Rob and Patch
You might be a bit surprised to see Rob Tuncks with a dog that’s not a kelpie — in season one he trained kelpie Lucifer, who eventually went to live with series champ Frank Finger.
What happened away from the cameras, though, was that in season two he was given a border collie pup from the same litter as the rest of the participants.
“When I was handed the pup I was told he was super top secret,” Rob said.
It inspired his full name — Super Top Secret Patch Bandit, or Patch for short.
“I wouldn’t put a price on this dog. He’s my mate now,” Rob shared.
Rob has spent the last couple of years training Patch and said he was still learning but all signs were promising.
“He’s a proper boofhead, they say they go like their owner,” he joked.
“I don’t think he’s the smartest dog but he tries hard and he’s loveable.
“He’s got a lot of talent, he needs to mature a fair bit more [but] he’s doing more good work than bad work.”
Most importantly, unlike Lucifer who was too aggressive on Rob’s sheep, Patch seems to be a much better fit.
“He’s just a pleasure to have on the back of the buggy and a fun dog to have around,” he said.
