IT WAS a partnership that was formed by accident.

But now an Andover man has described his dog as a “once in a lifetime” canine after the pair took top honours in a prestigious national competition.

Trainer Howard Kirby and threeyear- old German Longhaired Pointer, Tashi, scooped first prize in the Kennel Club’s Hunt, Point and Retrieve (HPR) Championship.

Tashi, whose full name is Wamilanghaar Tash, wowed the judges with his work rate and flair, eventually beating 28 of the UK’s most talented dogs to win the competition at the Swinton Estate in North Yorkshire.

But their success is a far cry from how the duo first met merely 18 months ago – when Tashi’s previous owner felt that the energetic dog would be more suited to work than companionship.

Despite a very basic level of training, Howard immediately saw potential in the young pup and after more than a year of hard work, he has now been proven right.

He said: “Tashi is one of those once in a lifetime dogs.

“When I collected him he was 14 months old and had done some basic training but it was obvious from the outset that this fella seemed to have what it takes.

“He learned new things really quickly and although he’s a real power house he’s very trainable.

“It’s just fantastic to think that less than two years later he’s competing against the top HPRs in the country and won the Kennel Club HPR Championship.

I am quite simply delighted.

“This is the top competition that trainers can win in the country. Effectively this is the equivalent of the World Cup to me!”

The prestigious competition takes place over three days with the dogs put through their paces on various types of terrain.

On the first day Howard and Tashi took to the moors to be tested on all three areas of hunt, point and retrieve with dogs required to sniff out birds before “pointing” with their nose or front leg. The dogs are then asked to flush out the birds who are shot by a team of shooters, before being carefully collected by the waiting canine.

The final three pairs then took on a gruelling water challenge where dogs are asked to sniff out a dead bird before swimming it back to their trainer.

Tashi came through all three tests and stormed to a fantastic victory on the final day, despite being one of the youngest and most inexperienced dogs in the competition.