Back in May we helped launch Britain’s Next Top Dog – a new competition looking for the country’s most photogenic canines with all proceeds going to Cancer Research UK.
The entries poured in and more than £30,000 was raised as a panel of dog-loving celebrities including Clare Balding, Graham Norton, Stephen Fry, Nigel Havers and Gabby Logan chose six category winners, before the public voted for Britain’s ultimate Next Top Dog.
It’s been a triumph for its instigator Fee Sharples, a retired nurse from Norfolk who was diagnosed with cancer in 2014.
‘Every day something wonderful has happened,’ she says. ‘It’s buoyed me up so much, as well as raising money to fight cancer and celebrating our love of dogs.’
Now meet the six finalists, and the clever canine who took the top prize…
Playful Dog: The dog world’s best-kept secret
Britain’s Next Top Dog was launched in May, a new competition looking for the country’s most photogenic canines. Pictured: Vinnie the pointer leaping for a ball on Beadnell Beach, Northumberland, which won him the Playful Dog category
This extraordinary picture of Vinnie the pointer leaping for a ball on Beadnell Beach, Northumberland won him the Playful Dog category… but it almost didn’t happen.
‘It was cold and my partner Stefan had been throwing the ball relentlessly,’ explains owner Amelia Siddle. ‘But I persuaded him to do it one more time.’
Amelia hopes Vinnie’s triumph will boost the profile of pointers. ‘They’re the dog world’s best kept secret,’ says Amelia, an artist from Devon. ‘They’ll snuggle up beside you on the couch, run for miles, swim, and you can teach them tricks.’
But they can be mischievous too. ‘I once left my handbag out with his play ball inside it, and by the time I came back in everything had been scattered across the living room,’ says Amelia.
Off-Road Dog: Surf’s up for Rosie
Rosie, a five-year-old Lakeland Terrier, won the Off-Road Dog category for this shot of her bounding through the waters of Lake Coniston in the Lake District
Rosie, a five-year-old Lakeland Terrier, is a frequent visitor to the beaches near her home in Durham, although in this winning photograph she is bounding through the waters of Lake Coniston in the Lake District.
‘As you can see from the photo, which was taken by my daughter’s partner James, Rosie’s very active,’ says her owner Jackie Weston, a civil servant. ‘But the need to walk her and play with her took us away from our desks during lockdown. She rescued us.’
Rosie has also helped Jackie’s husband Martin recuperate after a battle with bladder cancer. ‘He had three years of treatment but, touch wood, everything is fine,’ says Jackie.
Pampered Dog: Winnie the Pooch!
Winnie, a seven-month-old Pooton who lives a life of luxury claimed first prize in the Pampered Dog category with this picture in her snazzy robe
The Pampered Dog winner is Winnie, a seven-month-old Pooton who lives a life of luxury. This picture of Winnie in her snazzy robe is just one of thousands her owner Sally Price has taken, but it certainly illustrates the little dog’s lifestyle.
‘She’s loved lots of fuss and attention from the day she arrived,’ says Sally, who lives in north-west England. ‘She’s definitely a pampered pooch, she loves a nice soak in the bath. She even wants to get in with me!’
Winnie arrived just as Covid struck Sally and her partner Bill. ‘She distracted us from the boredom of isolation, now we can’t imagine life without her.
Puppy Dog: Molly’s my little zoom star
Molly the black Labrador who won the Puppy Dog category was taking a break from rampaging through the garden when this picture was taken by her owner Katie Chalk
Don’t be fooled by that butter-wouldn’t-melt look. Molly the black Labrador is a little rascal who was taking a break from rampaging through the garden when this picture was taken by her owner Katie Chalk.
‘It was taken last summer at my fiancé Ed’s family home in Leicestershire a few days after we got Molly,’ explains Katie. ‘She’d run round chewing leaves off the vegetables then spitting them out.’
Molly is still a bundle of energy. ‘She’s been a source of entertainment during Zoom calls,’ says Katie, who works for the Environment Agency. ‘She’ll suddenly pop up on screen so my colleagues know her pretty well. If she’s feeling playful I’ll try and distract her with a toy but they sometimes have squeakers in them and I have to say, “Sorry everybody, it’s not me, it’s the dog!”’
Urban Dog: Four-legged friend on Instagram
One-year-old golden retriever Oakley who lives in Edinburgh is the winner in the Urban Dog category – and looks very happy to pose for treats
Oakley, the winner in the Urban Dog category, is quite frankly a bit of a show-off.
‘She’s a poser,’ laughs Emma Walker, who lives in Edinburgh with the one-year-old golden retriever and her husband Chris. ‘She has an Instagram account and loves the camera. She gets a treat after she’s had her picture taken so was happy to get her paws up here.’
She’s also been a comfort to Chris’s mother Fiona during a recent battle with cancer. ‘Fiona discovered she had stage 2 bowel cancer after a routine screening two years ago, but after an operation and chemotherapy she’s now recovered,’ says Emma.
‘It was touch and go at one point, and without medical advances and the work of organisations such as Cancer Research UK my mum might not have survived,’ adds Chris, who says he’s still smarting over having his three-bird Christmas dinner stolen from under his nose by cheeky Oakley.
Working Dog: and finally… the overall winner
Fenton the Shetland sheepdog poses (right) demonstrating CPR on a dummy with her owner, paramedic Kaylee Garrick, and won in both the Working Dog category and was crowned Britain’s Next Top Dog
Fenton the Shetland sheepdog had already made her name before winning this category and then being crowned Britain’s Next Top Dog by the public. Her owner, paramedic Kaylee Garrick, used Fenton’s favourite snack of raw carrots to encourage her to demonstrate CPR on a dummy for a video.
‘She’d get a treat for looking at the dummy, then she learned she’d get another if she put her paws on its chest as if she were giving it CPR,’ says Kaylee. ‘It took months to get it right but we did it.’
The video, part of a campaign called Don’t PAWS, Start CPR, was an online hit and has taught thousands of people the life-saving skill. ‘An Australian nurse said she’d shown it to her five-year-old son, who she then found giving CPR to his teddy bear,’ laughs Kaylee, who lives in the Shetlands.
Fenton, ten, also helped Kaylee in the pandemic. ‘There were times when I’d come home and cry because of what I’d seen,’ she says. ‘But Fenton was there for me. I couldn’t be happier or prouder of her.’ Fenton’s prizes include a bespoke Trophy Bowl designed by Emma Bridgewater and a dog-friendly weekend break for Kaylee and seven of her pals.