Young Olympic hopeful now leads way... as a doghandler

Benjamin Tucker of Sheffield won the title with his dog Sam, a labrador, along with the Best Overall Dog, Best Retriever in Water and Best Marking Retriever titles. The 12-year-old was also recently been awarded both a silver medal at the British taekwondo championships and a bronze medal at the Dutch championships, and is currently undergoing training for the 2016 Olympics.

He said: “I did not realise that Sam had done so well, not just winning but winning all of the other awards too.”

Benjamin added he already has his sights set on next year when he hopes to defend his title with Sam as well as running Denzil, a dog that he is currently training.

His father Simon Tucker said: “We are very proud of what he has achieved at Chatsworth. Benjamin started handling dogs at the age of eight and, as well as his interest in taekwondo, he enjoys shooting and helping out with the keeping on our local shoot.”

Kennel Club spokesman Caroline Kisko, said: “Benjamin’s achievement is something that he should be very proud of. He is a great example of a young person getting out there and having fun with his dog.”