Dougie Vipond visits Lairg in special doggy edition of BBC's popular Landward show

Landward is celebrating the role dogs play in Scotland’s countryside by dedicating a whole episode to some very special canine companions.

The special edition of Landward will go out on the BBC Scotland channel on Thursday, October 12 at 8.30pm.

From dogs who work with livestock to dogs who adventure on some of the highest hilltops, man’s best friend has a very special place in Scotland’s countryside story.

And the episode would not be complete without an appearance from presenter Dougie Vipond’s very own dog – three year old Gordon Setter Jessie.

“There’s thought to be around 600,000 dogs registered in Scotland, we are a nation who is crazy about them, including me,” said Dougie.

“This programme is all about celebrating the incredible ways in which dogs are by our side on crofts, farms and hillsides across our nation.”

On Rothiemurchus near Aviemore, Cammy Wilson is finding out about the dogs being trained to protect sheep and lambs from predation by white-tailed eagle.

‘Luigi’ and ‘Peaches’ are Italian Maremma sheepdogs, and are being trained to be ‘guardian dogs’.

Further north in Lairg, Dougie is finding out about the lesser-known breed of Scottish collies who have ended up on the Kennel Club’s list of vulnerable breeds.

Bearded Collies are the shaggier, hairier cousin of the Border Collie, and have been used traditionally to work with livestock.

Dougie meets crofter Catherine MacDonald and her eight year old Bearded Collie ‘Glen’ and finds out that registration numbers of these traditional sheepdogs is dangerously low.

In Caithness on the Braemore Estate, Rosie Morton meets two legends of the gundog world – retired gamekeeper and dog trainer Richard MacNicol and his six year old English Pointer ‘Pinot’.

Together the pair have won multiple British Pointer field trial championships. Richard shows Rosie how pointers like Pinot can use their incredible scent sensors to find and ‘point’ to gamebirds on a moor.

And in the Trossachs, Arlene Stuart is meeting two dogs who have made a huge name for themselves on social media.

Working Cocker Spaniels ‘Hugo’ and ‘Spencer’ and their human Hollie Jenkins have amassed a following of around 175,000 on Instagram, and share their adventures in some of Scotland’s most wild places with the world.

Arlene joins Hollie and her dogs to climb to the summit of Ben A’an.

And photographer Shahbaz Majeed is revealing some of his tips about how to get the best pictures of dogs while sharing some of his favourite dog photos submitted by Landward viewers.

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