ALAN Dormann, of Whitecroft, and his golden retriever Gunny competed at Crufts in the Large Novice ABC agility final.

Seven-year-old Gunny last appeared at the show in Birmingham NEC in 2013.

Alan said: “In order to qualify for Crufts you have to compete in various heats which are held up and down the country throughout the year and try and accumulate points. If you have sufficient points the top 20 dogs from around the country are then invited to a semi-final at the Excel Arena in London. The top ten dogs from the semi-final then go through to Crufts the following March.

“The final (large novice anything but collies) comprises jumping around in the morning and an agility round in the afternoon in the main arena. They then take the aggregate score of your two runs to work out the overall winner and runner-up.

“Gunny won the jumping round but was faulted in the agility, but it was still good enough to secure the runners-up spot.

“Words can’t even begin to describe how I felt but, needless to say, I was so proud of Gunny and how he ran, I couldn’t have asked anymore of him.

“He received two trophies, one for the jumping win and the other for overall runner-up.”