A teenager from Cumbria travelled to Belgium last week when he represented Great Britain.
Josh Tyson and his dog, Maddy, joined the Junior Open Agility World Championships team.
They showcased their skills at Sentower Park Equestrian centre in Oudsbergen, Belgium.
The competition was held over several days, from Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 July.
The Year Nine student from Millom School was a member of Great Britain’s Pink Team and ranked number 12 in his class.
Josh first began his journey to the championships about five years ago when he joined a local agility club with the family dog for a bit of fun.
The family have had Maddy since she was an eight-week-old puppy, she is a fox red Labrador retriever, now five years old.
When the Covid-19 pandemic arrived and the UK entered Lockdown, Josh kept busy by practicing with Maddy in the garden every day.
Once Lockdown was lifted and competitions were able to start again, Josh and Maddy signed up for their first event.
Josh’s mum, Carol Tyson said: “Maddy the dog was not used to competition environments and would run out of the ring.
“Eventually with patience Maddy's confidence got better and josh and Maddy's partnership bonded stronger, and their career has exploded from there.”
Josh has now been competing for three years, acting as a handler for Maddy who competes under the Kennel Club Pedigree name ‘Kenyenten Honorarium’.
The fourteen-year-old said: “It was an honour to represent Team GB. The experience was fantastic. One I will never forget, and I really hope to get on the team again next year.”
Millom School issued a message of support on their social media platform, which said: “Many congratulations to Year 9 Josh and his dog Maddy who, as part of Team GB, have placed fourth out of 24 countries in the Junior Open Agility World Championships! What a truly amazing achievement!”
Carol said the school has always been very supportive of Josh and his agility career: “Josh thrives at Millom School, he enjoys every minute and is grateful for all the support they give him.”
After school, Josh has ‘plenty of options’ for the future and currently wants to go on to complete an engineering apprenticeship, though he would also like to train dogs.
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