ExSepptional result for Padraig

Ballyjamesduff-native Padraig Flanagan and his dog Sepp have come third in the world at the WUSV IPO Championships in Philadelphia.
The IPO (Internationale Prüfungs-Ordnung!) sport for German Shepherd dogs combines tracking to find articles, obedience in which a dog must do heelwork and retrieve over obstacles, and protection, in which the dog must find, stop and detain a 'suspect’ and help his handler disarm him. WUSV stands for 'die Weltunion der Schaferundvereine’, which is the World Union of German Shepherd Dogs. IPO is an amateur sport and Padraig and all those competing at a top level from Ireland pay their own expenses for no monetary reward.
Essex-based Padraig and Sepp have also won the British and Irish National Championships and many other competitions in Ireland, the UK and Holland. Padraig has lived and worked in England for a number of years and is eligible to compete for England but chooses to represent Ireland.
“For me, it takes about three years to train a dog to the standard required to enter at that level. In terms of training, we work on his tracking everyday - completing a 600-metre trek where he has to follow where somebody has walked and left articles in the grass I perform obedience training with him every other day,” says Padraig/
For Padraig, competing in these competitions is a labour of love as he has kept dogs since he was 14 and has previously worked as a police dog handler. “He [Sepp] loves getting his photo taken and he’s very social dog, which is important. If your dog shows any kind of temperament issue at any point in any competition you could be dismissed from the competition. He’s a great dog and loves competing... as you can see from his smile in the photographs.”