Brighton terrier wins award at Crufts

Two-year-old Spike, who is owned by Richard Forsythe and Clive Milkins from Brighton, took home the Junior Warrant Winner of the Year award on the first day of contest.

The category is for dogs which have gained the title of Junior Warrant in the previous year – an award for pedigree dogs aged from six to 18 months which have won a series of first prizes at open and championship shows.

Richard handled Spike in the final at the National Exhibition Centre, in Birmingham last Thursday (March 7).

He said: “We had so many supporters there cheering us on.

“When we got the result I was very emotional as we want to help make more people aware of the breed, which is on the Kennel Club’s official vulnerable list.

“I was trying to hold back tears in the arena because it’s such a big stage – the biggest dog show in the world – so having the English toy terrier centre stage will hopefully help it.

“We are certainly going to be celebrating.”

Crufts is organised by dog welfare organisation The Kennel Club and is in its 128th year.

Spike, whose Kennel Club name is Champion Witchtone Tommy Hawk at Richpin JW, was up against nine others in the final. Runner-up was Australian shepherd Allmark The Sequel JW, owned by Angie Allan and Andrew Winfrow from Oakham.

Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko said: “Congratulations to Spike and Richard for this fantastic achievement.

“The Junior Warrant is one of the highest levels of success for young dogs and a great indicator of an exciting career to come for these dogs.

“We will no doubt see a lot more of Spike in the future.

“Competing in the Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition final is a great achievement for any young dog, so we want to say a huge well done to all the finalists who competed.”