A HUNGARIAN Vizsla took the coveted title of Best In Show at the world famous Crufts dog show.
The seven-year-old, whose pet name is Yogi, beat off competition from six other prize dogs in the culmination of the four-day show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre.
Taking second place was a Scottish Terrier from Russia, whose pet name is Rico.
As wild applause from thousands of spectators greeted the dog, who is from Carlisle, Cumbria, his handler John Thirlwell said: “He is just such a wonderful dog, I am just pleased that he stood up to it.”
Yogi, who won the Gundog group earlier in the evening, is the first Hungarian Vizsla to win Best In Show at Crufts and Mr Thirlwell said he is likely to retire now.
Judge Valerie Foss said: “He is such a lovely mover, so powerful, so free. He is just a very, very good dog.”
The Kennel Club said almost 22,000 dogs across 187 breeds were entered into this year’s Best In Show competition.
The Best In Show prize has been awarded for the past 79 years, with 40 breeds winning the coveted title over the years.
Thousands of dog-lovers who packed the arena to cheer on the finalists refused to be distracted by a protester, who was escorted from the crowd as she held up a banner and started shouting during the tense moment of judging.
At the start of this year’s event protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) claimed breeders were “creating a Frankenstein’s monster of a dog”.