Daffyd, a Bullmastiff owned and bred by Peter Myers and Deborah Morgan, from Porth, Mid Glamorgan, won the Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition final at Crufts 2018 yesterday (Thursday 8th March), handled by Peter.
Daffyd (whose official Kennel Club name is Champion Optimus Daffyd JW) is two years of age and has had a great start to his dog show career, winning the Junior Warrant, an award for pedigree dogs from the ages of 6 to 18 months which have won a series of first prizes at both open and championship dog shows, and has now followed this up with a major win at Crufts at the NEC, Birmingham.
Daffyd and Peter were up against nine other finalists for the coveted title but Daffyd and Peter wowed judge Robin Newhouse in the exciting final.
Peter said: “It's always fantastic to win at Crufts and it's still the main dog show of the year and everybody in the world wants to compete at Crufts. He's not this well behaved at home, though! He's a naughty boy and a bit boisterous – he just doesn't have an off button. He has been at Crufts since 7 o'clock this morning so that's why he's relaxed now but he's been a good boy to compete at the end and put on that performance – we're proud of him.”
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary said: “Congratulations to Daffyd and Peter for winning Junior Warrant Winner of the Year – the pair clearly have a fantastic relationship and they are obviously going places, as Daffyd is a Champion already.
“Competing in the Junior Warrant Winner of the Year final is a great achievement for any young dog, so we wanted to say a huge well done to all the finalists.”
The Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition is held annually and is for dogs which have gained the title of Junior Warrant during the previous year. Achieving a Junior Warrant is one of the highest levels of success for young pedigree show dogs.
There were heats held throughout the UK in 2017, with five dogs and a reserve selected by the judge at each of the heats. 60 top young dogs and their handlers were then invited to the semi-finals at the Kennel Club’s Eukanuba Discover Dogs event at ExCeL London, where ten finalists were selected to compete at Crufts.
Runner-up in the Junior Warrant final yesterday was the Chinese Crested, Twice As Nice Seven Monkey Fury JW, owned by Donna Crow of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire in partnership with breeder Sanna Wrising of Sweden.
The eight other finalists competing in yesterday’s final were as follows:
Siberian Husky
Red Hot Lover Legend Of The Spirit JW
Owned by David & Roxanne Simms.
Bearded Collie
Potterdale Platinum Star JW
Owned by Maureen Sale & Janet Lewis.
Border Collie
Fayken I Am Love JW
Owned by Ross Green.
Briard
Fostebrie Spartan JW
Owned by Carol Foster.
German Shepherd Dog
Astradine Kornishman JW
Owned by Anne Shaw.
Rhodesian Ridgeback
Colkeririn Face To The Sun JW ShCM
Owned by Kim Hodge.
Poodle (Standard)
Champion Vicmars American Idol JW
Owned by Lakhi Thindal.
Pointer
Desfrisa Flirtini JW
Owned by Tamsin Baker & Isabelle Baker-Rouillier.
Find out more about the Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition.
For more information, visit www.crufts.org.uk. The results for Crufts 2018 can be found online at www.press.fossedata.co.uk For free downloadable images from Crufts 2018, please go to www.Flick.media/crufts_2018/