Crufts set to get a bumper entry

Right: last year's winner Australian shepherd dog Chance.

The largest dog show in the world, staged at the NEC, attracted 143,000 visitors, its biggest audience, over the four days of last year's event.

This year it has been extended and will take over the Arena stadium at the NEC site with seating for 6,000 people to showcase a new dog display programme, from March 8-11.

Nearly 1,000 overseas exhibitors from a record 32 different countries have entered their dogs into next month's competition, organised by the Kennel Club, compared to 26 countries in 2006.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club secretary, said: "The expansion of Crufts is the biggest growth the show has seen since it moved from Earls Court to the NEC in 1991."

An Australian shepherd dog named Chance won last year's prestigious Best in Show title.

Locally, a puppy born weighing less than half a pound beat the odds to win first place in the special yearling class. Heidi, an 18-month-old rough collie, owned by 74-year-old Irene Cozens from Merry Hill, weighed just six ounces at birth and was not expected to survive.

Another pup, Honey, was victorious in the Newfoundland breed's special puppy bitch class. Her success meant that the 10-month-old, owned by Martin Carter from Rising Brook, Stafford, automatically qualified for a place in this year's show.