DOG OWNER Stuart Doughty first became interested in training dogs when he was about six years old. His dad Steven, who was vice chairman of Bromsgrove dog training classes, started taking him off the dog shows around the country.

That was the start of what turned out to be a passion for training dogs and competing in dog agility shows across the country. It also led him to set up a dog agility training school himself.

And now after years of training his own dogs for agility competitions, as well as training other dog owners and their pets, Stuart has this month realised one of his long-held dreams – he and his eight-year-old collie Quinn have qualified for the British Open Final at Crufts 2016.

“It is the first time I have been to Crufts. I am really pleased,” said Stuart, who now takes dog agility classes at a purpose-build dog agility venue at Lenchwick, near Evesham.

Stuart and Quinn qualified by putting in a top performance at the Kennel Club International Festival at Rockingham Castle, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, on the weekend of August 14 to 16.

Stuart said: “We were running pretty well all through the weekend and everything seemed to be going in the right direction.

“At the Kennel Club International Festival there are several finals and the British Open (Crufts) is one I wanted to go for anyway.”

Stuart and Quinn did two opening rounds of jumping and agility and had to get good placings. There were 480 dogs and their owners competing in the competition altogether.

He and Quinn got through to the next stage which involved 37 competitors. “The top 37 dogs go through to the semi final and the top 10 out of those go through to Crufts and we came eighth,” said Stuart.

“Quinn is my best performing dog at the moment. He is a grade seven champion dog. We are performing the best we have ever performed and we have also qualified for the UK Agility Doggy Jumps Masters Grand Final in November.

“Obviously we will finish this summer season off and throughout the winter we will be doing a training programme to prepare for Crufts which is in March next year.

“There is a certain time and place for most dogs and their handlers. Everyone has their pinnacle and I think we are still building up to that. We have done a lot of hard work and training over the years.

“Quinn has been competing for about six years and has a couple of years left. We have a lot of fine tuning to do and we have to make sure he keeps fit and does not have any injuries,” said Stuart.

His younger competitive dog called Skinnt has qualified for his first finals in the UK Agility Doggy Jumps Masters Grand Final in November where he will compete in the Beginners Steeplechase category.