History was made at the Calgary Stampede on Wednesday as Wales' Tim Thewissen and his four-year-old border collie, Kate, became the first team from outside North America to capture the World Stock Dog Championship title. The pair navigated three sheep through the challenging course in a lightning-fast time of 1:28, earning the championship and $12,000 in prize money before an enthusiastic crowd in the Nutrien Western Event Centre.
Celebrating its 29th year, the Calgary Stampede World Stock Dog Championship, presented by Airbnb, showcases the remarkable intelligence, athleticism and teamwork between handler and dog. Sixty teams competed over two days, with the top 12 advancing to yesterday's championship final.
For Thewissen, the victory marked the culmination of a journey that began two years ago when he travelled to the Calgary Stampede to serve as a judge. "I wanted to come back and compete, so I made it happen," he said. "To come out here and win is a dream. This is the cherry on top."
Thewissen arrived in Calgary early to prepare his dogs, Kate and Turk, for the unique challenge of competing in an indoor arena. "This was only the second time in an arena with my dogs. We normally compete in the field," he said. "We have to trust each other — we have each other's back."
Despite competing before one of the largest crowds of his career, Thewissen said his focus never wavered. "We never have crowds this big back home. But once you start, you forget about all that. It's just you and the dog,” he said.
He also praised both the competition and those who made the event possible. "The sheep were really good, and there were some really fast times," he said, adding a thank you to everyone who welcomed him. “I appreciate all the work that goes into a competition like this.”
The World Stock Dog Championship is sanctioned by the Alberta Stock Dog Association and presented by the Calgary Stampede Livestock Competitions Committee.
All results for the Calgary Stampede World Stock Dog Championships can be found on this page.
Also taking place yesterday, the Robot Rodeo returned to the BMO Centre for its third year, challenging young innovators to combine engineering, programming and agriculture in a fast-paced robotics competition.
This year's event introduced Bale Buster, a new agriculture-focused game in which 13 teams of Calgary youth, ages 12 to 18, designed and built robots capable of gathering and loading hay bales onto trailers.
"This year's game was more challenging than last year, but the youth found some good solutions," said Justin Zhou, Youth Initiatives Committee Robotics Sub-lead. "There are some smart kids here."
Presented by the Calgary Stampede Youth Initiatives Committee in partnership with Western Mechatronics, the Robot Rodeo highlights the growing connection between agriculture and technology while encouraging urban and rural youth to explore STEM through hands-on competition.
The Robot Rodeo championship was claimed by Team Triple T — Dhruv Chaturvedi, Nathan Chung, Tyler Li, Maxwell Li and Lyla Boychuk — all of Calgary and members of the Western Mechatronics Robotics Club.
All results for the Calgary Stampede Robot Rodeo can be found on this page.
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