A previously untapped workforce is being drafted as trappers to fight the growing problem of wild dog predation on Australian livestock.

A recent two-day dog trapping training course at Gumbooka Station near Bourke, in far western NSW, was targeted specifically at women to give them the skills and confidence to trap wild dogs.

Rangelands graziers, like many, are operating with far fewer full-time staff than in previous years, with many run by married couples with no permanent additional help.

As the problem of dog predation has grown in recent years, dog control has become just one more job that needs to be done and now more women are keen to take on that work.

Using multiple tools to stay on top of predation

The course was organised and hosted by grazier Liarne Mannix who said she and her husband Ben had been very proactive in addressing the problem they had with wild dogs.

"The situation here at Gumbooka is better than it was — touch wood," she said.

"We are suspicious there is something going on at the moment in one area, and we are working on that with multiple tools to get on top of it.

"Ben caught a big dog here in May, [which] had caused a lot of damage before we trapped him."

Liarne Mannix (with daughter Millie) is keen to get the same dog trapping skills as her husband. ( ABC Rural: Sally Bryant )

Ms Mannix said she and her husband did not rely on just one method to fight back against wild dog predation.

"We use a variety of tools; we trap and we have cameras to keep an eye on what is going on," she said.

"And now we have three wild donkeys on the place as well, as companion animals against the wild dogs.

"I think I laughed when I first heard of people using donkeys, but now I'm happy to eat my words.

"It's all about building a suite of tools that help you beat the dogs."

Course organised to encourage women

Traps are coated in wax to guard against rust and have their metallic odour masked by the scent of native scrub. ( ABC Rural: Sally Bryant )

She said the impetus for an all-female training course arose from a conversation she had with trapper and trainer Paul Billsborough.

"We just looked at it and thought, 'the need is there', let's just do this," she said.

"So we have gone ahead and done it off our own bat, and Paul is doing it out of goodwill."

Trainer Mr Billsborough said he believed the women of western New South Wales were an untapped resource that could tip the balance in a battle that is causing hardship and grief to landowners.

"The aim of this training is to actually give them a base knowledge," he said.

"A lot of the women see the men suffering and the men are so busy doing lots and lots of other stuff that they don't do this well.

"I believe that a lot of women would make good trappers because they have a better eye.

"You need to be neat, you need to be tidy, you need to be clean — a lot of guys just aren't like that."

Keen to learn trapping

Cobar grazier Mel Mills (right) learns the intricacies of dog trapping at a workshop near Bourke. ( ABC Rural: Sally Bryant )

The women who have gathered at this workshop were keen to learn.

Clare Robson said she had no previous experience in trapping, but was confident the two-day course would give her a solid foundation.

"I'm glad it was a women's only course; that way I could say to my husband 'I'm going to do this'," Ms Robson said.

"Before this course, I had never touched a trap, I had never set a trap, but I reckon I'll be fine with it.

"I'm definitely going to set myself up, get myself a trap bag and see how I go."

Mel Mills travelled from Cobar to join the course; she used to go rabbit trapping with her father, but has not trapped dogs before.

"I'm definitely going to do this. What is failure? If I catch a cat, or a fox then that is a bonus," she said.