Fluffy Pekinese snaps up prize
A three-year-old Pekinese dog reached the peak of his show career after winning the top prize at Crufts.
Danny, part-owned and handled by Albert Easdon, from Glasgow, beat thousands of other canine competitors to take the Best in Show at the climax of the Centennial Crufts event at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday.
The small dog was applauded by hundreds who had gathered in the main ring at the end of the four-day show.
Mr Easdon, 49, who runs a hotel with Danny's co-owner Philip Martin, 50, said their award-winning pet would now be retiring after competing in dozens of shows since he was a three-month old pup.
Mr Easdon said: "This is a lifetime ambition, you can't do any more. It is the highest accolade in the dog world. Danny will be taking a well-earned rest now, he cannot go any higher."
Mr Martin added: "We have been breeding Pekinese for 30 years and this is the culmination of our breeding with Danny. It is a tremendous honour, we are so pleased."
The two owners had won Reserve Best in Show at Crufts on two previous occasions, while Danny had won nine Best in Show prizes at other events, but never Crufts.
Danny, whose show name is Dangerous Liaisons, was also named best dog in the Toy category.
He was one of six Pekinese from the Yakee kennels
displayed at Crufts.
Mr Martin said he and Mr Easdon, who have been breeding Pekinese for 30 years as hobbyists, would be returning next year to see if they could repeat their triumph.
"Danny has lots of brothers and sisters in kennels, so we will definitely be coming back next year," Mr Martin added.
The Reserve Best In Show prize went to Torums Tunde Bayou, a four-year-old Kerry Blue terrier dog known as Tunde from Birkenhead, Wirral, who is owned by Ron Ramsay and handled by Jeff Corrish.
Crufts has been held since 1891, but this year's show was the centenary because events such as the two world wars, an electrician's strike and the foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001 have forced its cancellation periodically.
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