Forget walkies, these dogs train for Crufts by whizzing around on their skateboards.

  While other pooches are content to roll over or fetch sticks, Abbey, Jazz, Cleo, Anna and Luke prefer to have the wind in their muzzles and four wheels beneath their paws.

And their sporty lifestyle seems to have paid off, because four of them have just triumphed at Crufts, the show for top dogs.

Proud owners David Ward and his partner Carol Winwood, of Taunton, have been breeding retrievers for 13 years and have trained a long line of  prize winning dogs.

Abbey’s grandson Luke, six, also joined the family outing to the National Exhibition Centre, in Birmingham, but he failed to gain a prize.

Mr Ward said: “we chose to breed Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers because of their temperament, their size and trainability.”

The skateboarding stars were among 24,000 dogs taking part in Crufts 2007.

“We had a really good competition day,” said Mr Ward, recalling his pets’ victory last Thursday. “We would have been happy if they had all sat still and not shown us up. But we’re really proud.”

Ms Winwood , said; “Skateboarding is something we do with the dogs because it’s different and if we did the same thing all the time they’d get bored. But they also like playing with cardboard boxes and bells on strings.”

So how do you teach a dog to ride a skateboard?

“We used the click and treat technique to train them,” explained Mr Ward. “Every time they give me a behaviour that I want they get a treat.”

Whoever said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks hasn’t met 12-year-old Abbey, or Foxdown Angel of Melanitta, as she is known at Crufts.

The pensioner pooch bagged first place in the Veteran Category at the world-famous dog show and she has no plans to retire to her dog basket.

  Following in Abbey’s pawsteps were 14-month-old nieces Jazz, aka Foxdown Chiquitta of Melanitta and Cleo, or Foxdown Cecilia, who came first and second in the Special Junior Category.

Proud mum, three-year-old Anna, aka Foxdown Summer Sunshine, was crowned Crufts Post Graduate Bitch.

Pictures and story used with permission from the Western Daily Press.

David Ward and Carol Winwood's Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers.

Abbey in action.