Round of a-paws for Lola who has joined Team GB. Proud owner, Peter Schofield, is chuffed to bits with his pet qualifying for the team in the world agility championships in Belgium. The 69-year-old from Lostock will be leading Lola in the champions at Sentower Park from July 18 to 21 – hoping to beat teams from America, Brazil and more.
And he wants to inspire other people his age to also take part in things they enjoy – not letting their age define their ability. The retired dad bought Lola eight years ago for his daughter and after training it to do tricks, Peter decided to enter the pooch into competition. And now after years of winning, the duo will take part in the world championships which has left Peter feeling ‘phenomenal’.
He said: “I bought my very first dog when I was 60 and it was bought as a family pet for my daughter, and this was after watching Pudsey on Britain’s Got Talent. “Around that time, I was retiring, and I knew there would be someone at home to look after the dog, and so we got the dog, Lola, and I bonded with her really well, quite quickly. “I had never had a dog before, even as a child I didn’t, so it was a completely new experience.
“Lola was very intelligent, and started picking up tricks and I decided to start doing some training things in the back garden with her and then we started doing some training in a local farmer's field with some home-made equipment and that went well too. Lola with her awards (Image: Peter Schofield).
