Meet the cast of Me and My Dog: The Ultimate Contest

Sian Ryan is a professional dog trainer, working alongside Chris Packham to give her expert opinion on our competitors. She runs a dog training centre in Cambridgeshire and has previously worked alongside Chris on the TV show Inside the Animal Mind.

Twitter: @sianryan

Human: Ellie | Dog: Benny

Breed: Mixed breed rescue dog

Benny's age: Unknown

Ellie's age: 21

Ellie: "He's a rescue dog, so with something like this it will emphasise how well we have done together."

Ellie and Benny are from Ashton in Lancashire, and they've had to work extra hard to forge a bond as rescue dog Benny was neglected and abandoned on the street.

Human: Colin | Dog: Mitch

Breed: Lurcher Beddlington Collie cross

Mitch's age: 3

Colin's age: 61

Colin: "We're going to be a great team because we have a great working relationship. Technically we should be unbeatable."

This duo come from Dartmoor in Devon, where Colin works as a gamekeeper and Mitch tags along. Colin lost a leg during a motorbike accident and wears a prosthetic limb. He says he has taken an old-fashioned attitude to training his canine: "Just remember who's the master."

Human: Toni | Dog: Flapjack

Breed: Labrador

Flapjack's age: 3

Toni: "Flapjack's beauty and my brains. We should make quite a winning combination."

Flapjack (or Jacky) helps out at Toni's shop in London, but though his owner thinks he's a good looking hound, she's not convinced he's the next member of Mensa. "He's very handsome and slightly thick," she says. "It would be delightful if I could find out that I'm completely wrong and he's not as thick as we think."

Twitter: @APT659

Human: Andrew | Dog: Betty

Breed: Border Terrier

"Betty, she loves competition. I think as a team we're crazy," says Andrew.

The little Border Terrier loves to accompany Andrew on his walks, and spends the day with him at work at a manufacturing and software company in Cheltenham. Andrew reckons Betty is stoic and hardy.

Twitter: @andypaterson71

Four-part series Me and My Dog airs on Wednesday 5th April at 8pm on BBC2