A FROME dog and his trainer recently competed at Crufts, the world’s greatest dog show, at the NEC in Birmingham.
Handled by Charlotte O’Neill, Jackson – an 8-year old working cocker spaniel who is owned by Ellen and Mike Moore – competed in three classes at the international dog show.
“Jackson is a Grade 7 agility dog, the highest grade you can be in agility running under the Kennel Club, regularly competing around the country in standard classes as well as qualifiers and championships,” explained Charlotte, who has around 10 years’ experience of training in agility.
“Throughout 2021, Jackson and I won enough points to qualify in three classes at Crufts – YKC 18-24 Agility, YKC 18-24 Jumping and YKC ABC Agility.
“It was a great honour to qualify and compete Jackson at Crufts as he has not been an easy dog to train. It has taken a lot of time, patience and training to get him to the standard he is, but his drive and enthusiasm for the sport is unmatched and he always has the best time.
“We were unsure how he would react in such a big environment, but he was a pleasure to take round the stands and compete. My thanks goes to the Kennel Club UK and the Young Kennel Club for organising Crufts, but most importantly, I would like to thank Ellen and Mike for allowing me to train and compete Jackson. I hope we did you proud and we definitely took the best dog home!
“My next goals with Jackson include getting through to a Championship Final and to try and qualify for Olympia.”
As well as competing, Charlotte is also a Kennel Club-approved agility judge and teaches at a local dog training school in Wanstrow, called Moore Than Just Agility. “We offer classes for agility for beginners, through to those who just want to have fun with their dog, and competition level training,” explains Charlotte. “We also offer Hoopers classes [a fun dog sport], which is perfect for both young and older dogs.”
