‘We went out and gave it full beans’: Whittlesey woman and ‘rare’ dog take second place at Crufts

A dog agility trainer and her dog dug deep to take second place in their class at this year’s Crufts competition.

Becci Hodson, from Whittlesey, and Jaffa the Kromfohrländer had to work hard to earn their silver medal position in the Medium Anything But Collie (ABC) event on Friday, March 10.

Becci told the Peterborough Telegraph that, despite being completely free of nerves, the two encountered a “little blip” during their first run on the multi-obstacle agility course.

“She fell over in one of the tunnels so it cost us a couple of seconds,” Becci said, “which put us in fourth place on the first run.”

The agility competition is based on a combined score from two separate runs so Becci knew they still had “everything to play for” on their second run.

Because of the timings of the competition, Becci and Jaffa had to wait over four hours before they could return to the main arena for their second run. This gave Jaffa the time to “switch off a little bit”, have a rest, and come back “all guns blazing.”

“In the second run, we went out and gave it full beans,” Becci said.

“We ran as hard as we could and came second, which pulled us up in the placings overall.”

After combining the results, Becci and Jaffa climbed up the places to achieve a well-earned second placing.

“I’m really happy with second overall as I think it was probably the best result we were hoping for.”

Becci noted that their achievement felt “extra-special” due to the fact Jaffa was making Crufts history by being the first ever Kromfohrländer breed to compete in the prestigious dog show.

“It’s a very special moment for the breed,” she said.

Becci and Jaffa were presented with their trophy in the main area shortly after their event finished.

This was followed by a lap of honour around the ring, where Becci could acknowledge the support she received from friends, colleagues and students who had travelled to cheer her on.

“I could hear people screaming for me as I went down that home straight,” she said.

Many of the dynamic duo’s supporters showed their support by wearing orange clothes and waving Jaffa Cake lids.