Crufts winner bows out

730AM GMT sixteen March 2010

Yogi saw off foe from 6 alternative extraction dogs to take his 18th Best in Show endowment Photo PA

Yogi, a Hungarian Vizsla hailed by handler John Thirlwell as a ""once-in-a-lifetime dog,"" set a new jot down for Best in Show wins at UK competitions with his 18th award.

Mr Thirlwell right afar plans to retire the seven-year-old, who was bred in New South Wales, Australia, and has been hailed as Britain"s biggest show dog of all time.

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Yogi"s handler pronounced Crufts was the ""pinnacle of any dog"s career" and explained his preference by observant ""It"s a box of where else can you go?""

Yogi saw off foe from 6 alternative extraction dogs to take the pretension at the perfection of the four-day showcase at Birmingham"s National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

The Kennel Club pronounced roughly 22,000 dogs opposite 187 breeds were entered in to this year"s Best in Show competition, whittled down to 7 finalists judged last night.

Yogi is co-owned by Naomi Cragg, his breeder in Australia, and Kathryn and Moray Armstrong, from Carlisle, Cumbria.

Today Mr Thirlwell pronounced everyone concerned in ""Team Yogi"" was still in shock at the triumph.

""It still hadn"t sunk in most this morning, we"re only elated,"" he said.

""It"s been a corner bid from the start. We call it "Team Yogi". It starts right from the simple stuff oneself and exercising, and whoever is doing him to his most appropriate advantage."

""He is easy, a really peaceful dog, really outgoing, loves everyone and loves showing,"" he said. ""He"s a once-in-a-lifetime dog. You don"t get most similar to Yogi.""

Mr Thirlwell, who has shown dogs for 40 years, pronounced Yogi is intensely laid back, detached from removing shaken around cameras.

Last year the hold up done it to the last of the Best in Show at Crufts but was ""spooked"" by a TV camera, finale his hopes of winning the competition.

During last night"s judging, thousands of fans refused to be dreaming by a protester, who was escorted afar after she hold up a ensign and proposed shouting. The throng masked the critique with a turn of applause.

At the begin of the eventuality protesters from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) claimed breeders were ""creating a Frankenstein"s beast of a dog"".

Crufts has formerly been injured by debate after a BBC documentary claimed it authorised deleterious tact practices that caused disease and deformities. This stirred the broadcaster to dump the coverage in Dec 2008.

The RSPCA additionally withdrew the await since of gratification concerns.

In response, the Kennel Club and the Dogs Trust mutually saved an eccentric exploration to plunge into inbreeding in pedigrees, puppy tillage and alternative gratification issues.

This year the show returned to television, being promote on More4, and Mr Thirlwell currently discharged critique over tact concerns.