A MAN from Chard has qualified to represent Great Britain with his German Shepherd at a dog training competition in September.

Aidan Jackson, 23, will represent GB at the All-Breed World Championships taking place in the Czech Republic later this year.

He said: “It was a really good feeling, I wasn’t really expecting to win because it was the first major tournament I took part in.

“It should be a really good event, the sport itself is really big in Czech Republic and I am looking forward to it.

“My dad has been involved in the sport since its inception in the UK in the 1980’s. He is an internationally recognised and respected judge.

“When I was around 14 years old, he was in search of a decoy or ‘helper’ as we refer to them to take bites.

“I started doing this and immediately was infatuated with the sport and all things dog training. Brody is a 5-and-a-half-year-old working line German Shepherd and is my first competition dog. This was my first major competition and was a great success.”

Chard & Ilminster News:

Aidan qualified through the 2022 FCI All Breeds World Championship Qualifier.

He is also hoping to compete in the WUSV German Shepherd World Championships in Denmark in September.

The qualifier for this tournament will take place on July 9 and 10.

Aidan and his dad have a dog training business, a dog grooming business (Danies K9 beauty), and a boarding kennel and cattery all based at Hartshill, near Wambrook, Chard.

They offer 1-2-1 training and residential courses and are soon to be setting up group and puppy training.

For more information visit hartshillkennels.co.uk

In the early 1900s in Germany the sport was created originally as a fit for breeding test for the German Shepherd Dog, to enable breeders to make better decisions about the temperament and character of dogs used in breeding programs.

The German Shepherd Club of Germany (S.V. or Schaeferhund Verein) mandated that only dogs who had achieved a Schutzhund test would be suitable for breeding and to have their progeny registered as German Shepherd Dogs.

This rule remains to this day.

The Schutzhund breeding test included tracking, obedience, and protection, as the IGP sport does today.

For more information visit www.libertyk9.ie