Top Barks For The Magnificent Seven

By Carl Palmer - Manchester Evening News
Monday 21st Aug 2000.

One is lucky to be alive; another had a vicious reputation for biting anything that moved. Today, the magnificent seven are all prize-winning pooches.

They are all graduates from the Kennel Club’s Good Citizens Dog Scheme Gold Award Test – an obedience challenge where only the highest of canine standards will do.

None of the dogs – Barney, Oliver, Foxy Lady, Chaz, Nico, and Ben – came out with such as an impolite whimper when posing for our photographer.

To reach this level of good behaviour, they first had to pass the bronze and silver stages. The seven, who regularly attend Swinton Dog Training Club with their owners, are the first in Greater Manchester to win gold for being on their best behaviour.

Karen Wood, a member and trainer at the club and whose dog Barney was among the winners, said: "It just shows what ordinary pet owners can achieve with family dogs.

The tests are very strict and include everything from getting your dog to stop on the spot and following clear verbal instructions, to behaving properly at all times when outside".

Lynn Rogers, the senior dog warden for Salford council who put the dogs through the rigorous test, was stunned by the high standards of obedience, especially from those who had a less than perfect start in life.

They include Oliver, a cross Doberman, who was found four years ago close to starvation and Nico, a Weimaraner, who couldn’t get within 50 yards of another dog without wanting to attack.