Chelsey and Fyre show their skills

CHELSEY McGovern aged 14 and her Australian shepherd, Fyre, have been competing in conformation dog shows for the last four years.

When Chelsey turned 12 she started to compete in junior handlers, open to youngsters between 11 and 18. She went on to win first place in 15 of the 20 shows she competed in and was awarded KwaZulu-Natal top junior handler earlier this year.

Last month she and Fyre travelled to Durbanville in the Cape for the Kusa nationals and although the first two places went to young handlers from Gauteng, Chelsey McGovern was placed third in what was an extremely testing event.