THE Paws Up dog jumping team has returned from this year’s Royal Melbourne Show with a swag of ribbons, the State of Origin title and first and second place in The Greatest Leap.
With 14 boys from Armidale, Gunnedah, Tamworth, Tenterfield and Uralla and 20 dogs, predominantly border collies, the team cleaned up the major prizes as well as giving seven demonstrations over three days of the show.
“It was smashing,” BackTrack founder Bernie Shakeshaft said, who started the dog jumping training six years ago.
“It pulled in the crowd and we answered questions about the secrets of training dogs and the program.”
As a result of the success, a Paws Up team has been invited to participate in the Pet and Animal Expos next year in Sydney and Melbourne.
Two champion dogs, Bindi with trainer Nathan Bliss and Spike with trainer Trey Werribone, won first and second prizes in the most closely contested show event.
Nathan Bliss trainer of Bindi. Trey Weribone trainer of Spike and Stephanous Olsen trainer of Boy took out the top honours.
The state of origin was a battle between the top six NSW dogs and the top six Victorian dogs with the NSW Paws Up team taking the title.
On the way home from Melbourne the team was given a three-hour conducted tour of the Dubbo Sheep Abbatoir whose owner Roger Fletcher is one of the largest employers of indigenous workers in the state.
“Four of our boys had never been outside NSW before,” Mr Shakeshaft said.
“It was a terrific experience for them and for all the team who benefit from competing and also meeting so many people who are interested in the dogs and the training.”
The Paws Up team, one of the BackTrack programs, also holds the Guinness Book of Records title for dog jumping.
