Countryfile The Supreme Sheepdog Trials: Dowie Jenkins And Clued Bob Crowned 2026 Champions

BBC One’s Countryfile turned its attention to one of the most demanding events in British and Irish sheepdog trialling on Sunday night, as The Supreme Sheepdog Trials brought viewers into the heart of the 2026 International Sheep Dog Society championship.

Presented by Matt Baker and Emily McGowan, the 55-minute programme followed the elite handlers and working dogs who had survived months of national qualifying to reach the Supreme.

The episode aired on BBC One at 5.40pm on Sunday, 4 October, with the BBC describing the competition as a showcase of instinct, skill and control.

The result at the centre of the programme was a major one for Wales. Welsh hill farmer Dowie Jenkins and his Border Collie Clued Bob were crowned the 2026 International Sheep Dog Society Supreme Champions, giving Jenkins the prestigious title for the second year running.

The championship itself took place from 11 to 13 September at Daylesford Organic Farm in the Cotswolds, near Kingham and Stow-on-the-Wold.

The Countryfile special therefore gave television viewers a closer look at the competition several weeks after the result had been decided.

Dowie Jenkins and Clued Bob Take the Supreme Title

Jenkins, who farms Welsh Mountain sheep and Welsh Black cattle near Aberystwyth, emerged on top following a demanding final in which the partnership between handler, dog and sheep can be tested by the smallest mistake.

BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today, which reported from the event after the championship, confirmed that Jenkins and Clued Bob were selected by a unanimous decision from the judges.

Jenkins described it simply as:

“The best run I’ve ever done on a trial field.”

He said Clued Bob possessed the combination required at the highest level: stamina, speed and power. The victory also meant the Supreme Shield returned to Wales for another year.

The achievement becomes even more significant when the qualification process is considered.

Daylesford says around 600 sheepdogs began the journey through National Championship-level competition, while only 15 dogs from each of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland qualified for the International Championship.

From that field, the top competitors progressed towards the final Supreme contest.

That narrowing of hundreds of combinations down to the very best is why the Supreme carries such weight within working sheepdog circles.

Richard Smith, Farms Director at Daylesford Organic Farms and himself closely involved with working sheepdogs, summed up its status during BBC coverage:

“This is the Olympics of sheepdog trialling.”

It is an apt description. Success is not simply about producing a fast dog or completing an obstacle course.

Judges are looking at how effectively the dog reads the livestock, responds to its handler, maintains the correct lines and moves the sheep calmly rather than simply forcing them around the field.

ISDS trustee Myrion Owen, from Carmarthen in West Wales, acknowledged just how demanding the 2026 test had been, describing it as:

“It’s been a challenging course.”

He explained that such difficulty is necessary when the objective is to identify the very best dog-and-handler partnership.

That element of unpredictability is one of the reasons Countryfile The Supreme Sheepdog Trials can appeal beyond the agricultural community.

The handler may issue the commands, but the sheep, landscape, weather and temperament of the individual dog can all influence a run.

For viewers unfamiliar with competitive sheepdog work, the spectacle can look deceptively simple. A Border Collie may appear to be moving a group of sheep quietly across open ground, but the dog is constantly adjusting its position, speed and pressure.

Experienced dogs learn how close they can get before livestock react, when to push forward and when to back away. At long distances, the handler may have little more than whistle commands and the dog’s own judgement to rely upon.

That relationship between farmer and working animal is central to the International Sheep Dog Society, which marked its 120th anniversary in 2026.

Founded in 1906, the organisation says its purpose remains centred on promoting the working sheepdog, improving working ability and supporting effective livestock management through breeding, training and trialling.

The scale of sheepdog trialling has changed considerably during those 120 years, but ISDS chief executive Isabel Branch told the BBC that while competitions have become bigger, the fundamental test of the dog has remained broadly similar.

That continuity matters at a time when livestock farming has access to quad bikes, drones and other modern equipment.

Sheepdogs are not simply retained for tradition. On difficult ground, a highly trained dog can respond rapidly to livestock movement and reach areas where machinery may be impractical.

The Supreme also tests something technology cannot easily reproduce: the almost instinctive communication built between an experienced handler and a dog that understands both commands and livestock behaviour.

That was particularly visible in the Jenkins and Clued Bob partnership.

Winning one Supreme title places a handler among the strongest competitors in the sport; returning to take the championship again in consecutive years demonstrates a level of consistency that is much harder to achieve.

Where Was Countryfile The Supreme Sheepdog Trials Filmed?

The 2026 competition was hosted at Daylesford Organic Farm in the Cotswolds, with competitors arriving from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

The International Championship ran across three days, from Friday 11 September until Sunday 13 September.

The final day brought the leading singles competitors back for the Supreme, alongside other championship events and the awards presentation.

It was also the first time Daylesford hosted the International Supreme Championship, providing a Cotswolds Outing setting for an event traditionally moved between different locations across Britain and Ireland.

For Countryfile, the event fitted naturally with the programme’s wider focus on farming, rural skills and countryside traditions.

Matt Baker also brought considerable familiarity with sheepdog trialling to the programme, having previously been involved with Countryfile’s coverage of One Man and His Dog.

The programme focused not just on deciding a winner but on the months of preparation behind the final runs.

Reaching the Supreme means progressing through a highly competitive structure in which hundreds of dogs are eliminated before the International field is assembled.

For Jenkins, everything eventually came together at exactly the right moment. Clued Bob delivered when the pressure was greatest, the judges reached a unanimous verdict, and Wales retained the Supreme title.

For viewers who missed the first broadcast, the BBC currently lists The Supreme Sheepdog Trials for another showing on BBC Two on Sunday, 11 October, at 6.40 am, followed by a further late-night repeat at 12.55 am on Tuesday, 13 October.

The result, however, is already settled: Dowie Jenkins and Clued Bob are the 2026 Supreme Champions, completing one of the standout performances of this year’s British and Irish sheepdog trialling season.