A NORTH Cornwall youngster and his dog have qualified for two agility finals at the world’s largest dog show.

Will Bacchus, 10, from Week St Mary, and his cocker spaniel, Aston, have reached the Young Kennel Club (YKC) Agility Dog of the Year event, an under 12 competition, and the YKC ABC (Anything But Collies) final, an under 18 event at Crufts.

This is a particularly notable achievement as most of the handlers Will is competing against, to reach the finals, are several years older.

Will and Aston regularly compete together, usually in open competitions against adult handlers and their dogs and have won and been placed on many occasions in the last two years, achieving a grade 4 partnership.

Will, a pupil at St Teath Primary School, trains with Aston a couple of times a week with trainer Kim Clelland in Marhamchurch.

The Crufts event is in early March and will take place at The NEC, Birmingham.

Will, who qualified for Crufts last year with another dog in grooming after attending a Young Kennel Club camp, said of Aston: “We got him when he was three months old, and he’s four now.”

Will started agility training with Aston a couple of months after he got the cocker spaniel, adding: “It was both new for me and the dog. It took quite some time to get him to where he is now.”

Describing the show as ‘massive’, he said of his last Crufts experience: “It wasn’t with the same dog or doing agility but I did a bit of grooming. I didn’t win, but I hadn’t done grooming before.”

Ahead of competing this year with Aston, he added: “I’m feeling pretty nervous but once I get started I’m probably going to be okay!”

Crufts will take place from March 10 to 13 at The NEC, Birmingham.