Rescue dog from Sulgrave becomes winner at Crufts 2020

Elizabeth Lang from Sulgrave was in a state of disbelief after her rescue dog Yogi, who was found dumped in a bin-bag at a garage in Romania five years ago, became a winner a Crufts 2020 on Thursday.

The 36-year-old said she felt 'absolutely brilliant' after her crossbreed, who is now around five years old, won the Level 3 Inter-Regional Rally Obedience competition at the UK’s top dog show.

Elizabeth said: “To be honest I can’t really believe it, it hasn’t sunk in yet.”

Yogi was discovered by Cerian Edwards, who runs dog rescue charity Happily Ever After, when she stopped at the garage where Yogi had been abandoned whilst on a mission to bring dogs back to the UK.

After finding him in a bin-bag, Cerian took the puppy back to her hotel room overnight before transporting him back to the UK where he was re-homed with Elizabeth.

After the win at Crufts, Elizabeth called Cerian at Happily Ever After to inform her of their surprise win.

She said: “She was so excited to hear the news, I really hadn’t expected it.”

Crufts 2020, one-year shy of its 130th anniversary, and indisputably the greatest dog event in the world, takes place across more than 25 acres of the NEC in Birmingham between Thursday March 5th and Sunday March 8th.

This year will see up to 20,000 dogs competing, including more than 3,000 from overseas. The latter features entries from 42 different countries, with Italy leading the way with 366 dogs, followed by 317 from France, 289 from Germany, and 286 from the Netherlands.

Channel 4 and More 4 have the broadcast rights to televise the event in the UK, and are showing a record 15 hours, with Clare Balding again at the helm.

Thousands of dogs will enter, drawn from more than 200 breeds, but only one can be crowned Best In Show (to be announced on Sunday).