Third time lucky for Philippe

He was in his third final at the competition when Best in Show judge, and former Crufts champion, Clare Coxall said he had "sold himself" to her.

After the result was announced at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre, owner Kevin Cullen, from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, said his dog never let him down,

The runner-up was Hermioni, a Samoyed, who had won the pastoral group category. She is owned by Lisa Bobrowski, from Woking, Surrey.

It was the third time that Mr Cullen had won the group category with his dog, making it to the final seven times. This year Philippe won the Working category.

Mr Cullen said: "I cannot believe it. What a fantastic feeling being here for the third time. It's an absolute dream. He (Philippe) actually loves doing it. He never lets me down. It means the world to me, it really does."

Asked why she chose the Giant Schnauzer, Best in Show judge Mrs Coxall said: "He came out from that arch and he came in and he just looked as if he owned it. So did the Sami (Samoyed) but when I had my hands on him (Philippe) he had muscle on top of muscle.

"He has the pair of jettest black eyes. I looked into his eyes and he sold himself to me and he knew he was doing it."