Rare breed dog from Skegness has his day at Crufts 2022

Naomi Evans, of Lincs Dog Training, will be competing at the Heelwork To Music (HTM) finals on Friday with her collie, Rogue.

A dog from Skegness has had his day in the spotlight at Crufts 2022 - coming away with Very Highly Commended award in his category.

The world’s most famous dog show has returned on Friday for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 20,000 four-legged friends, including more than 222 different breeds headed to the NEC in Birmingham for the start of the four-day show on Friday.

Malcolm Playle, showing one of his Eurasier dogs called Perseus Janytario de Legendes de Retz. They came away with a Very Highly Commended fifth place award.

The event welcomed exhibitors from across the country – and among the Skegness area exhibitors was Malcolm Playle, showing one of his Eurasier dogs called Perseus Janytario de Legendes de Retz.

Malcolm has been showing his breed for seven years and was delighted to be back at the show - especially when his dog called Zeus was placed a very credible fifth.

"Crufts is a huge experience for any dog and there are thousands of people milling round and everything doggy is for sale," said Malcolm.

"Zeus qualified for Crufts at a much quieter show in Scotland so he found Crufts pretty overwhelming.

"I was pleased that I had an excellent judge who treated him kindly and he showed very well."

The breed was created in Germany by crossing a Wolf Spitz and a Chow, then crossing the breed with the Samoyed to improve the temperament.

"Zeus is two-and- a- half years old and enjoys playing with his best friend Neo when he is not showing," said Malcolm.

"Eurasiers love their owners and follow them around everywhere and want to be involved in everything.

"They do not like being on their own for any length of time.

"They are quite a rare breed so we are often stopped in the street and asked about them and we are pleased to answer questions.

"On Saturday and Sunday we manned the Eurasier stand and spoke to thousands of people about our dogs."

Other exhibitors included Naomi Evans, of Lincs Dog Training, who competed at the Heelwork To Music (HTM) finals on Friday with her collie, Rogue.

Naomi, and her other dogs, Pheobe, Trixie and Riot also demonstrated HTM with the Kennel Club team, throughout the week.