The island’s representatives for next year’s Crufts have been decided.

The annual Dog Agility Crufts Qualifier final was held at the Ballavartyn Equestrian Centre.

The final determined the dog and handler who will represent the Isle of Man at Crufts 2022, the international agility competition which sees dogs and handlers from around the world gather to compete.

It is organised by the Kennel Club and ’celebrates every aspect of the role that dogs play in our lives’.

Next year’s show will take place on March 10 to 13 and will be held in Birmingham.

The winners from the qualifying competition held last month will represent the island in the International Dog Agility class.

culmination

The qualifier was the culmination of eight dog agility classes held over two events, and the dog and handler with the most overall points could go forward to complete for the Isle of Man.

In the final class, four dogs and handlers (Steven Goldsmith with Teddy, Sarah Elliott with Indie, Mary Sims with Danny and Neil Young with Rigby) had enough points to be able to win and it all came down to this final run.

The dogs ran in reverse order, the person with the most points running last.

Steven Goldsmith and Teddy were in the lead going into the final round and were running last.

He and Teddy only needed a clear round to secure their place.

There were two clear rounds before his run so the pressure was on for Steven.

He and Teddy rose to the occasion, producing an impeccable clear round and securing their place as the Isle of Man representative for Crufts 2022 with Sarah Elliott and Indie coming in as first reserve.

Teddy is a seven-year-old Border collie, while Indie is a four-year-old Border collie locally bred by Jean Young.

Both Steven and Teddy are no strangers to Crufts, as they represented the Isle of Man in 2019 and 2020.

Steven and Sarah are both trainers for a Douglas dog training club who train weekly in St Mark’s.