Top of the pups

SCOTS RESCUE DOG TAKES CRUFTS LEAD ROLE

- BY GEMMA RYDER

A SCOTS dog walker is in lead position to win a prize with her four-legged friend at Crufts.

When Maggie McNamara, 36, took in rescue dog Skittles, a six-year-old Jack Russell cross breed, she was very timid, having been mistreated as a pup.

Skittles has gone on to make a huge impact in her community as a therapy dog through her visits to schools, nurseries and care homes and to adult survivors of domestic violence.

And she is now in the hunt for the Royal Kennel Club's Hero Dog Award. Maggie teaches pupils who have been through trauma how to be safe around dogs in general, and helps build literacy and numeracy skills through dog training.

Maggie was taken aback when she learned Skittles, who is her assistance dog, was going to Crufts: "To start off, I thought the email was a scam," she said.

"Then the Royal Kennel Club phoned me and for the first couple of days I was shell-shocked and thinking, 'Is this actually happening?'