Each year people come from all over the country for the annual Casterton kelpie muster. Victorian sheep dog, Mack, has been crowned this year's working dog triathlon champ.

The Australian working dog muster brings breeders, farmers and dog-lovers together each year in the south-west Victorian town of Casterton.

The town on the banks of the Glenelg River claims to be the birthplace of the kelpie breed.

Novelty events include dog most like its owner, egg and spoon race and the fattest dog.

But serious competitors have come from far and wide to compete in working dog trials and the triathlon; made up of the kelpie dash, high jump and hill climb.

If triathlon winner Mack wasn't competing on the track or barking with excitement from the sidelines, you could find him in the arms of owner, Tony Wilson, from Balliang, in Victoria.

Maybe the extra cuddles gave this sheep dog the competitive edge to win the muster triathlon, concluding with the hill climb - where dogs individually sprint to their owner calling them from the top of the hill.

"He travels in the front seat of a ute, he sleeps indoors in the house. He is very, very well looked after," Tony says.

Although Mack won the high jump in 2009 and 2010 and was last year's triathlon runner up, Tony says he's surprised at how well he did.

"Mack's excited because he gets more attention."

The high jump is the obvious festival favourite.

Gippsland man Hugh Mawhinney's dog George placed first, clearing a height of 2.72m.

"It's natural ability, we didn't have to teach him. We had him in the hay shed, he jumped a few bails of hay and the rest he's done all by himself," Hugh says.

The record remains with breeder Claire O'Callaghan and her dog Riley, who jumped 2.91m in 2007.

While some leave Casterton once the competitions are over, others are getting ready to do business.

The festival auction attracts people in search of the best young working dog around.

Ross Fletcher travelled 1,600kms from Walcha in northern New South Wales to find a dog ready to work with his 5,500 fine wool merino sheep.

"I'm looking for dogs to better our dogs at home, and looking at dogs for a neighbour," he says.

"I want a dog for immediate work, so I'm going to need to have pretty deep pockets I think."

The auction record was set this year with a two-year-old kelpie from Tasmania which sold for $12,000.

Listen to the audio for more from the 2012 Australian Kelpie Muster.