A north-east dog owner and his sprightly border collie have won the acclaimed Crufts Championship prize – by a millisecond.
Euan Paterson and Crazee impressed judges during the dog agility contest, whizzing around the jumping and agility course in style.
The pair were the last to go, but were well worth waiting for – beating the fastest time by one thousandth of a second to take home the Crufts Championship 2022 title.
It was the latest in a series of wins over the weekend for the duo.
‘A dog in a million’
Mr Paterson, who runs a dog agility business with his wife Sarah, described Crazee as a “dog in a million.”
She also came first in the international jumping event at Crufts on Saturday, and second in agility with what judges described as a “faultless first 30 seconds”, winning Crufts Invitational.
The six-year-old has previously won the same title.
One Crufts presenter described Mr Paterson, from Stonehaven, and his dog as a “handler and animal in perfect unison” on their final run.
Mr Paterson told the P&J he has been training Crazee since she was a young pup.
He said: “She really is a dog in a million, you don’t get dogs like Crazee too often. She’s got fantastic physical ability but she’s also got the mental ability to be able to cope with the speed of all the thinking that she has to do as well.”
Mr Paterson first became interested in agility training 11 years ago when he got rescue collie Sweep from a farm to go hill walking with him.
But Sweep was very anxious, so Mr Paterson took him to local agility training to build his confidence, and from there he was hooked.
Mr Paterson has competed domestically and internationally, and even met his wife while he was on the Scotland team. Mrs Paterson was on the management team.
They now run SO Agility together from Finavon and Stonehaven.
Next stop: Team GB qualifiers
Next week, Mr Paterson and Crazee will head back down to England for the second round of qualifiers to join Agility Team GB.
The 42-year-old said: “That’s the main goal – to make sure I get on the Great Britain team again and get to the European open and the world championships. That’s my big goal for this year.”
Last time they were in Team GB was 2019 and this year Mr Paterson hopes to win the overall championship at the world championships with Crazee.
And it would appear it is not only Mr Paterson who loves the buzz of competing – with Crazee also seemingly enjoying the atmosphere.
“I think she really feeds off the noise and atmosphere,” he said. “She definitely steps up a little gear when we’re in those big finals with the crowds. I think she really relishes that.”
Fans flood social media with congratulations
During Crufts there was plenty of support for the pair, with lots of Scottish flags being waved around Birmingham NEC, and already hundreds of fans flocked online to congratulate them for their win.
Tracey Lander wrote: “You were outstanding, well done. An inspiration to watch.”
Agility trainers Carol Waitman posted: “Best I have ever seen. Perfect contacts, amazing turns with great understanding, skill and talent.”
Professional dog instructor Stacy Richards wrote: “You two are just amazing to watch, such skills, speed, understanding and teamwork. Congratulations, loved watching every run you guys did.”