Airdrie has a new champion after a local resident won the World Stock Dog Championship at the Calgary Stampede on Sunday, July 10. 

Having attended the World Stock Dog Championship 14 times, Milton Scott was finally able to nail down the win with his dog, Finn.

"I've been to the finals, I think, 14 or 15 times and close but no cigar. Finally, finally I was able to do it. It's a feeling that's hard to describe but obviously a great rush that finally, after all these years, I was finally able to do it," said Scott.

Although he has been persevering for over a decade, Scott said it takes years of training and learning in order to make it to the top. 

"It takes a lot of years of training and learning how to get the most out of the dog. Not all the dogs are going to be good enough for competition. There's a big difference between the average farm dog and a competition dog."

Scott received Finn as a gift when the pup was only 6-months-old.

"This particular dog is quite a gift. I had him given to me when he was just 6 months old. He's just been a real buddy but his thing is he's been hard to train because he gets really nervous in front of the crowd but  for some reason, the whole Stampede, he didn't put a foot wrong in all three runs for both days."

Although Scott won the championship, he isn't holding himself above anyone else.

"Whether you keep it back to back or not is immaterial. There's a lot of other things that go with it; there's socializing with friends, knowing the excitement of the possibility of winning the ten thousand. But it's also the chance to watch great handlers and good dogs. You know, me winning it is any one of those people in the finals could beat me tomorrow and it's just how it goes. I sure don't think of myself as a cut above, that's for sure," he said.

Scott and Finn will be heading to Medicine Hat for the Cypress Hills Trails on July 23 for their next competition.

Scott said he plans on attending the World Stock Dog Championship next year.