Sheep farmers get the 'colliewobbles'

The new business will offer organised dog displays

A County Durham farming couple's dogged determination to survive the foot-and-mouth outbreak has given them a case of the colliewobbles.

Mandy and Marcus Bainbridge, of Barnard Castle, launched their dog-based business called Colliewobbles in an effort to boost the income of their sheep farm.

The company offers a range of gifts for Border Collie and dog lovers via mail order and a website. They also take part in agricultural shows around the UK.

Now the couple have won support from the government to launch a range of sheepdog shows at their farm, which lies in an Area of Outstanding National Beauty within the North Pennine Dales.

The area was devastated during the foot-and-mouth outbreak, with thousands of sheep having to be culled.

The Ewe and your Collie workshops aim to answer common questions asked by owners of Border Collies - which are amongst the cleverest canine breeds - as well as other working sheepdogs.

'No money'

The couple received help from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mandy Bainbridge said: "We set up Colliewobbles because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, as we simply had no money coming in.

"Having worked with sheepdogs for many years we know just how clever and truly remarkable a champion sheepdog is.

"We wanted to give others the chance to learn about how their instincts have been fine-tuned over generations to produce the faithful Border Collies and working sheepdogs which excel in so many disciplines.

"The support we have received from Defra has been invaluable in allowing us to branch out into this new area of the business."

Adrian Sherwood, an adviser with Defra's Rural Development Service North East, said: "Mandy and Marcus have already proved that diversification cannot only help farmers through difficult times, but also produces real and lasting benefits for their business, and we're delighted to have been able to support them in this venture."