Flashback to 2004: Pedigree pooches aim to land top dog titles at Crufts
There was excitement in the air as dog owners from across the region headed to Crufts to bid for a host of top prizes at the world’s biggest dog show.
Pooches of all breeds and sizes were getting ready to meet the judges and visitors to the show at the NEC in Birmingham.
The owner of a golden retriever who had already won two cups at Crufts was hoping to make it a hat-trick at the event.
Tosh’s retrieving skills had already won him two British Association for Showing and Conservation trophies.
They were awarded for the variety pick-up section of Crufts in 2001 and 2003, and he had show champion titles from other top dog shows.
To qualify from the competition Tosh, who was nearly eight, had to have a letter from a gamekeeper certifying that he was working gun dog who regularly attended shoots.
His owner Angela Cooper, from Shatterford, who had six adult dogs and one puppy, was hoping he would win his third Crufts trophy in the gun dog section of the competition.
She said: “He knows when a competition is coming up because he is trimmed and bathed, and he really seems to enjoy it.
“I don’t get nervous but Crufts is a bit of an ordeal because it’s so packed there. It’s a long day.”
