Chichester dog owner takes home top prize at agility competition

The Starters Cup is the Club’s premier agility competition for dogs new to agility, and was created for dogs in Grades 1 and 2 of the discipline. On December 16, the top six large, intermediate medium and small dogs came together at the London International Horse Show for the final round of the competition, having qualified at the semi-finals in the Rutland Showground in August.

Stephanie Hubbard, 35, from Chichester, and her Labrador Retriever Spud were among the four doggie duos to take home the gold earlier this month, winning gold in the large dog category/

Other winners included: Ian Law, 38, from Bristol, whose Cocker Spaniel Zennor won the small dog category, Rosie Rushin, 28, from Loughborough, whose Springer/ Cocker Spaniel Cross May won the medium category, and Chloe Powling, 17, from Muckhart, whose Border Collie Cassie won the intermediate category.

“Congratulations to all four winners for their impressive performances across this competitive final! All the dogs and their owners demonstrated excellence in agility and should feel very proud of their win.

“The Kennel Club Starters Cup is a wonderful opportunity for handlers and dogs who are relatively new to agility to compete in a large arena and I am sure we will be seeing more of these competitors in future competitions!”

The Kennel Club is the largest organisation in the UK devoted to dog health, welfare and training, and runs the UK’s biggest registration database for both pedigree and crossbreed dogs.