Six lucky crossbreeds to head to Crufts for Scruffts final

This year’s Scruffts competition attracted over 1,200 crossbreeds and their owners, but just six have made it all the way, winning a place in the final at Crufts for the Scruffts Family Crossbreed Dog of the Year final next year.

The semi-finals took place at London’s biggest dog event, Discover Dogs, at ExCeL London over the weekend of October 20th and 21st, with talented dogs and passionate owners coming together to compete for a place at the world’s greatest dog show.

Dog judge Sue Garner had the tough decision of choosing just one winner for each of the six classes over the two days, with a helping hand from Steve Reed, MP for Croydon North, in the Most Handsome Dog category on Sunday.

The winners were:

  • Most Handsome Crossbreed Dog: two year-old Teddy the Shih Tzu/Chihuahua cross, owned by Tara Ellison from Dagenham, East London
  • Good Citizen Dog Scheme: four year-old Maple the Golden Retriever/Poodle cross, owned by Nikki Davis from Hayle, Cornwall
  • Golden Oldie Crossbreed: 17 year-old Zak the Border Collie/Spaniel cross, owned by Jazmine Green from Farnham, Surrey
  • Prettiest Crossbreed Bitch: four year-old Primrose the Lurcher, owned by Susan Herbert from Cirenchester, East Gloucestershire
  • Child’s Best Friend: two year-old Ernie the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel/Bichon Frise cross, owned by 11 year-old Elodie Baker from Thornbury, Gloucestershire
  • Best Crossbreed Rescue: four year-old Percy the Pointer cross, handled by Michael Bell and owned by Amanda Bell from Sheffield, South Yorkshire

The six dogs are now getting ready to compete at Crufts 2019, which will be held at the NEC Birmingham next March, where the judges will be making the difficult decision of choosing the Scruffts Family Crossbreed Dog of the Year.

Throughout the year, heats of the popular Scruffts contest, which is exclusively supported by pet food makers James Wellbeloved, have taken place at events around the country in search of crossbreeds with that extra special something.

More than 1,200 dogs have taken part in the Scruffts heats this year, raising nearly £4,000 for the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and each event’s chosen charity. The winners of each heat received delicious James Wellbeloved goodies for their dog.

Alison Sudbury, Marketing Director for James Wellbeloved said: “Very well done to our six incredible finalists who have made it through to the main arena at Crufts next year. It was a fantastic couple of days and we’re really proud of all the semi-finalists who took part in the semi-final at Discover Dogs – the bond between owner and dog is an amazing thing to witness and it shows how much dogs are a part of our families.”

Scruffts is run in support of the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which has donated over £11m worth of grants to benefit the canine world since its inception in 1987. Its mission is to ‘make a difference for dogs’ through charitable grants and helping to fund research into canine health problems.

To find out more about Scruffts, please visit www.crufts.org.uk/content/whats-on/scruffts/

For tickets to Crufts, please visit www.crufts.org.uk.