Enniskillen dog handler Jonathan Lappin (31) has been showing dogs since he was 12. By the age of 30, he had won top honours at Crufts twice.

“In 2006 at my first ever Crufts I won top male in breed in Wire Fox terriers with Harvey, a British and Irish Champion Cassarnon Eros who was top Wire in Ireland and UK for 2006. I was 17 at the time and still at school,” shared Jonathan.

“I am now showing a descendent of Harvey called Hector who was bred by the same man, Damian Cassidy in County Antrim - a true mentor to me from a young age,” he said, adding that a Wire Fox terrier’s coat takes a lot of daily maintenance of brushing, bathing and hand stripping to keep them in top show condition which takes many years to learn correctly.

Jonathan has recently been having great success showing a Basenji called Daya, also known as Meisterhaus Dazzle’N Dream who is an American and Irish Champion.

“So Daya did the double, best female in Basenjis at Crufts and Westminster dog show in New York City, America’s number one show. The first in her breed in history to achieve these two world class awards. Crufts had the largest entry of Basenjis in Europe for the year and Westminster only allowed the top champions to enter this year. She was the only dog to fly from the UK to compete at Westminster and the highest placing British dog there,” said Jonathan.

Daya was also top Basenji in Ireland during 2019.

“She was a group winner and Best in Show three out of 1,200 dogs at Portadown Championship show. She was also a finalist for hound of the year in NI. She is now showing in the USA this year and will have a litter to a top male in USA,” he added.

Over the years, Jonathan has shown dogs in the UK, USA, Ireland, Sweden and Italy.

“I typically show every weekend across Ireland and the UK from March to October so it’s very time consuming and expensive in entry fees, ferries and fuel,” said Jonathan, who added: “Sadly you don’t win money at shows, it’s more a hobby with prestige and dedication to preserve your breed and ensure they are healthy and maintain breed type. I’m also an aspiring judge focusing on hound and terrier breeds.”

Jonathan commented that now he is a bit more seasoned in showing dogs, he likes to pass on his experience by mentoring junior handlers. “I also groom other people’s dogs for the show ring but also pet dogs too. It’s always a constant learning experience and I love to handle other breeds on occasion to learn more about them. Each breed has a fascinating history once you start looking,” said Jonathan.

Jonathan’s next show will be the World Dog show which is in Madrid this year.

“It’s expected to have an entry of over 20,000 show dogs so competition will be fierce, if it goes ahead with the coronavirus,” Jonathan told this newspaper.