First woman to win One Man and Her Dog returns

One woman and her dogs! Former champion of hit sheepdog TV show is returning to the screen 29 years after she became the first woman to lift the title

  • Katy Cropper, 58, became the first woman to win One Man And His Dog in 1990
  • Now, almost 30 years later, she is returning to the competition on Countryfile
  • The show first aired in 1976 and reached a peak of 8m viewers in the 1980s 
  • Ms Cropper will be featured in the show which will be broadcast in September  

It is nearly 30 years since she was the first woman to win One Man And His Dog.

Now shepherdess Katy Cropper is to compete again in the BBC sheepdog trials. In 1990, viewers saw her dog Trim help her lift the title after weeks of competition.

This time, Miss Cropper, 58, will be putting Butch, two, and Abi, three, through their paces. ‘I’ll love competing again on One Man And His Dog,’ she said yesterday.

‘But being realistic, because Abi and Butch are so young and inexperienced I reckon my chances aren’t that great. I’m not holding my breath. But I will enjoy it. If we manage to complete the course, I will be ecstatic.’

Ms Cropper will feature in the show in September

Katy Cropper, pictured on One Man and His Dog in 1990, left, won the competition. Now she is due to return in September on a special edition broadcast during Countryfile

Miss Cropper, who has been married four times, runs a sheepdog training business from the family farm in Shap, Cumbria. Her daughter Henrietta continued the family’s link to One Man And His Dog in 2015, when, aged 12, she was the youngest finalist in the competition’s history, aided by her sheepdog Lad.

One Man And His Dog first aired on BBC2 in 1976. At its peak in the early 1980s, it attracted audiences of 8million. It was axed in 1999 but for the past six years has been an annual special on Countryfile.

This time, Miss Cropper will be part of an England team competing against handlers from Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The event will be screened on BBC1 on September 22.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk