FATHER AND SON CROWNED WORLD CHAMPIONS AT THE SHEEP DOG WORLD TRIAL 2026
After four days of intensive competition a father and son from Wales have both been crowned world champions at the Sheep Dog World Trial 2026, held at Huntington Farm, Lauder. It is the first time that a parent and child have won both titles at the same World Trial.
David Howells, from West Glamorgan, took the world title with Wyverne Pip, while his son Jack Howells, aged 19, picked up the Young Handler world title with Cydros Boss.
David and Pip came through a field of 300 competitors from 34 nations to win the final, contested by the 16 highest-pointed dogs of the week. The reserve world champion was Dean McAuley, from Ireland, with Joe. Dean was the only handler to take two dogs into the final. Third place went to Angie Driscoll with Kinloch Carlos, representing Wales.
There was success for the host nation with Team Scotland finishing third in the team competition behind Germany, who took the team title, and France. Scotland's team score came from runs by Hamish Mitchell with Dan, Chris Toner with Grace and Mace, Wullie Welsh with Heyshaw Fletch and Neil Campbell with Kinross Moss.
Skye crofter Seumas Campbell took third place in the first ever Brace competition to be held at a World Trial, in which one handler works two dogs at the same time. Scotland was represented in the final by Duncan Robertson, from Inverkip, with Derwen Roy, who finished joint 14th.
Thousands of spectators travelled to the Scottish Borders for the event, which was held in the Borders for the first time and in Scotland for only the second time. Grandstand tickets sold out before the gates opened.
The World Trial also drew some of the best-known farming voices on social media. Borders-born shepherdess Emma Gray, Ben Best of Dalscone Farm, Hannah Jackson, the Red Shepherdess, and Tom Carlisle, known as the Dales Farmer, were at the event on Finals Day for a Q&A and meet-and-greet.
In her closing speech at the awards presentation, Fiona McMillan, World Trial Chair and Scottish President of the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) said:
"It's been the biggest World Trial ever, and I'm so proud that we've been able to do that in Scotland. We've seen more competitors than at any World Trial before, and that's down to the handlers who have travelled thousands of miles to be here. I know how big an undertaking it is to travel with a dog, and my thanks go to every single competitor who took part.
"I've been proud to bring this homecoming of the border collie to the Scottish Borders, because it's such an important place in the history of our dogs. What a fantastic sight it has been to see these amazing dogs compete in this beautiful landscape."
The trial was hosted by the Runciman family at Huntington Farm, where fields normally sown with barley were given over to the trial course. Dougie Runciman said: "We've been working towards this for two years, and the last two or three months have been a lot of work to get the site ready. We'd normally plough both fields and put them in barley, but we've made the farm fit what the World Trial needs. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to host something like this.”
