The national win followed close on the heels of a maiden South Island zig zag huntaway championship for Jo Waugh and Guy, of Matawai, at Hanmer Springs in May.
Tweed and another dog, Lou, were third in that South Island run-off and Rebecca Baynes and Jazz, from Wairoa, were sixth.
Between 10 and 20 women and their dogs now compete at the highest levels of sheep dog trials and the successes for Tweed and Waugh were regarded as just a matter of time, Northland Centre patron Merv Cameron said.
He and many others are delighted the NZ championships in Northland, which come around only every 16 years, were such a notable occasion.
The first of the four NZ run-offs on the Te Ahuahu course near Kaikohe for event four, the straight huntaway, was a triumph for Tweed and Grit, clear winners by nearly four points over second place.
They qualified late with 97 points, which was enough to win the North Island championship then followed with 95.5 points in the second run, 2.5 points ahead of second-placed Colin Bolton and Crime, from Aria.
Canterbury and Northland pairings claimed two NZ championships each.
Winners of event one, the long head, were Andy Clark and Girl from Tai Tapu, near Christchurch, and Northland brothers and veteran triallers Neville Child with Harry and Murray Child with Frank won events two and three respectively.
Clark and Girl were also in the short head and yard run-off and placed sixth.
It was the first national championship for Clark, who has been selected New Zealand team captain, his fifth test team membership in seven years.
Girl made the run-offs in the South Island and NZ champs last year, was the top qualifying dog in Canterbury this year and won the centre championship.
Neville Child and Harry were placed fifth in the long head run-off before winning the short head and yard championship.
Neville and Rosemary’s son Stuart Child from Te Anga club came third in both heading championships with Mitch in the long head and Brodie in the short head and yard.
Murray Child’s winning margin was nearly as emphatic as Tweed’s when he drew first starter in the run-off and stormy conditions deteriorated afterwards, causing some call-offs.
Competitors in the long head run-off were also hampered by winds and rain on the slope of a volcanic cone, where sheep were held in the crater before release.
Clark and Girl had the best run with 96.5 points, followed by another Canterbury pairing, Neil Evans and Tess, Omihi club, with 94.5.
Tweed, aged 27, works on Mt Cass Station, Waipara, North Canterbury and has about 10 dogs in her care.
Schooled in trialling on the family farm by her father, Roger Tweed, of Waitahuna, south Otago, she has qualified for island championships in each of five years since 2014.
Earlier this season Tweed and Grit came second in the Canterbury Centre championships at Cheviot.
She intends to campaign again next year with the objective to qualify up to four dogs in centre and island championships.
“Any more than that gets a bit chaotic in training them and giving them all exercise and practice before the big events,” she said.
She was dazed and a little overwhelmed by her NZ championship success because of the numerous congratulations and good wishes.
Success does not come any sweeter for Murray and Neville Child than national championships in their home province in the same year.
Neville Child has been competing with Harry, aged six, for the past four years after buying him from Merv Cameron as a youngster.
Harry is a grandson of Deal, which in 2006 earned the first national championship for Child and for Northland in 75 years, at Omarama.
Another Deal son Dice then won a national long head championship for Murray Child at Wanaka in 2012.
Stuart Child’s dog Brodie is a full brother to Harry but a year younger.
Murray Child’s dog Frank was a former national straight huntaway winner, at Geraldine.
Now nine years old he will retire with two national championships.
The NZ team to compete against Australia at the Nelson A&P Show, November 23 and 24, is Clark and Girl, Neville Child and Harry, Guy Peacock and Chief and Stuart Child and Brodie.
