Paralympian helps launch Crufts dog show

Pampered pooches and canine capers will be the order of the day later this week in Birmingham as Crufts returns to the NEC.

Paralympian Ellie Simmonds, from Aldridge, has joined the presenting line-up for Channel 4 and More 4 for Crufts and was at the NEC on Tuesday to officially launch this year’s event.

More than 24,000 dogs and 150,000 visitors are expected at the four-day event, which begins on Thursday and climaxes on Sunday when one competitor is named Best in Show.

An Australian shepherd called Viking, from Solihull, won the crown in 2024.

The dogs will take part in breed, agility and obedience contests while there will also be displays including by the West Midlands Police dog team.

This year there will be more entries from overseas than ever before, according to organisers, with the most – 475 dogs – from France, followed by Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.

Polish hunting dogs will make their first appearance as a breed at Crufts this year while golden retrievers are the most-entered breed, with 509 dogs, followed by labrador retrievers with 485.

The winner will also be revealed on Sunday of the Kennel Club’s Hero Dog award, set up to recognise the huge positive difference the contenders have had.

The five-canine shortlist, revealed in February, includes a blood donor dog who gave more than 40 times to other pets and a police dog who was seriously injured in the line of duty.

The show began in its current from in 1891, and was originally just for terriers before expanding to its current size over more than a century.