FIVE-year-old Mack has something to bark about after achieving trick dog champion status in England and America.

The Bouvier des Flandres from Haydon Wick put in a p-awesome effort to win the award, demonstrating his sniffing skills, using his paws to push a shopping trolley and fetching a drink from a cupboard, closing the door after him.

His owner, dog trainer Janet Garrett, said: “We absolutely loved it.”

She decided to enter him for the challenge, which is part of the Do More With Your Dog training programme and takes dogs through from novice to champion.

“I started to look at all the various things that he could do compared to the list that you had to do for the English title,” she said.

Then during her holiday she and Mack – registered name Mon Cher Maestro - worked their way through the list until he reached champion level.

After he’d completed his test the instructor told Janet he was good enough to go for the American title, which is recognised by the American Kennel Club.

So she repeated the exercise. A video was sent to the States where a panel of judges appraised his performance and awarded him the title, making him only the third Bouvier Des Flandres to make the grade.

Many of the tricks came almost as second nature to the dog, who starred in a stage production of Annie a couple of years ago and would do a twirl for the audience at the end of the show.

When Janet, who runs Janet’s Puppy Skool, broke her foot she trained him to bring her crutch over. “It was fun to see how he got hold of it and negotiated the furniture.”

He has also learned to copy her. “If I have two gloves on the floor, pick one up and put it on the table he does the same.”

Some of the skills are also very useful for assistance dogs and are useful in training them more quickly, she explained. “They are behaviours that all owners would find useful.”

The two weeks of intensive training also brought Mack and Janet closer. “Afterwards I felt an even closer bond that we had before. It is real partnership building when you are teaching these things.”

For more information on the training programme visit domorewithyourdog.com