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Crufts 2018: 10 barking mad facts about the Birmingham event

Dashing dogs and hound lovers alike are set to go barking mad for Crufts this week.

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Crufts 2017

The annual show, held at Birmingham's NEC from Thursday to Sunday, will see masses of perfectly-preened pooches compete in a variety of categories, from agility, to freestyle heelwork, flyball and more.

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Ahead of the four-day event, we take a look at 10 weird and wonderful facts about Crufts:

Crufts 2017

1. Looking at every winner over 127 years, dogs aged three years old have been crowned the most - 19 winners have won Best in Show at this age and 17 have won aged four.

2. Only one dog aged eight and up has ever won Best in Show.

Crufts 2017

3. The long-haired cocker spaniel, greyhound and Irish setter has taken the most titles. Since 1886, the cocker spaniel has won an impressive seven times. The greyhound is the next breed with the most wins currently standing at five, followed by the wired-hair fox terrier, the Welsh terrier, the standard poodle and the Irish Setter all in joint-fourth place. In the last 42 years however, the Irish setter has taken the Crufts crown for Best in Show most in this time with four wins.

Crufts 2017

4. Sable and black dogs more likely to take Best in Show looking at every single canine champion. Sable dogs have won 17 times, while black have won 12. White dogs come in third with 11 wins.

5. Long-haired dogs have been most successful with 25 winners in 127 years.

Crufts 2017

6. English dogs are far more likely to win, according to the odds. From 1905 to 1975, 17 winners have come from England compared with six from Ireland, five from Scotland and three from Wales.

7. A whopping 22 small dogs have been crowned Best in Show since the competition began - the largest number in all of the breed sizes.

Crufts 2017

8. Gun dogs and terriers are doggy leaps ahead when it comes to taking Best in Show. Since Crufts began, 25 gun dogs and 22 terriers have come out top.

9. Dogs with folded ears are more likely to climb to the top of the competition, with 21 wins in the last 127 years.

Crufts 2017

10. According to Betway, the hound category leads the way with 2:1 odds of winning the top prize. This breed is followed by terriers with a 7:2 chance, gundogs with 9:2, and pastoral, toy and utility all coming in with 8:1 odds. New category foreign breeds falls in last place with 16:1 odds of winning Best in Show.