A TWO-YEAR-OLD Jack Russell Terrier from Nantwich scooped the Kennel Club Novice Cup for small dogs prize at Crufts.

Milo and his owner Sarah McLean, who is a biomedical scientist, won in the small category after competing in an exciting agility final at the world’s greatest dog show.

The top ten large, eight medium and eight small dogs from the Novice Cup competition (grades 3, 4 or 5) held at the Kennel Club International Agility Festival last August took part in the finals on Thursday, March 9 at Crufts.

Sarah, who has never competed at Crufts before, trained with Milo at Dig It Dogs, All Sorts Agility Club in Sandbach, Cheshire.

Sarah said: “I feel absolutely fantastic because when I first got Milo he had absolutely no interest in agility.

“I’ve had to spend a lot of time training him and giving him that drive and motivation and making him want to do it.

“He has still got more speed in him - at training he’s amazing but in front of a crowd he can become scared so I know he can do even better than he did today.

“It was amazing being out on the course. The carpet was so lovely and it was a really nice course to take Milo round on. We hope to come back next year and retain our title.”

Crufts took place from March 9 to 12 at the NEC, Birmingham.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary said: “Congratulations to Milo and Sarah for an excellent performance at Crufts.

“The Novice Cup is a wonderful competition and they wowed the crowd with their fantastic team work. We wish them all the best for the future.”