HELEN Lister and her Italian greyhound, Spencer, of Windermere, are celebrating an "amazing" Crufts 2019.

The four-year-old won best of breed and came third in the Toy group, competing against the 23 other Toy breed winners. They included Dylan, the Belgian papillon, who went on to win Best in Show.

Helen, a bespoke dog-coat maker, said Spencer was judged best of breed from 105 other Italian greyhounds.

He then competed against all the other best of breed winners from the 23 other Toy breeds - a total of more than 3,000 dogs - to be placed third in the Toy group.

Spencer - whose full name is Ch Florita Tallento - was the only British-bred dog to win in the Toy group. The overall winner, Dylan, a papillon from Belgium, went on to win Best in Show.

Helen told the Gazette: "Spencer has amazingly repeated the win of his sister in 2016 when she was also placed third in the Toy group - very rare for two dogs from the same litter to have won such high accolades and for the same breeder to have been best of breed at Crufts four years in a row."

She added: "It was amazing. There were a lot of top-class dogs and it turned out he was the only British dog that got a place in the Toy group so he kept the side up for the Brits!"

Meanwhile, part-time dog groomer Rachel Abba, of Kendal, was "over the moon" with third place in the Gordon setter limit class for three-and-a-half-year-old Archie.

Her "pride and joy" also won best puppy in breed at Crufts when he was just six months old.

Rachel described the world's largest dog show, at Birmingham, as "a fantastic experience" and said it was amazing to get a placing.

Gordon setters, bred in Scotland, are the heaviest of the gundogs, with long-haired black coats and tan markings, said Rachel, who travelled to Crufts with husband Derek. Archie weighs 30kg and is fed a diet of dried kibble.

Meanwhile, dog agility team Dark Destroyer Dragonhearts, of Tewitfield, came second in the medium relay final.

Team captain Nigel Staines has competed at Crufts on numerous occasions, but for the other three team members it was their very first appearance.

The team comprised Nigel with Zico, Anastasia Morphet with Ellie, Caroline Smith with Bat, and Cath Wandzel with Sky.

Cath said everyone was "overjoyed" to get second place on the podium. She told the Gazette: "Dog agility involves directing your dog through a course of obstacles including jumps, tunnels, a see-saw, a dog-walk beam, an A-frame, and weave poles. It is a race for both time and accuracy.

"In the team event there are four handlers and dogs. Each handler takes it in turn to complete the course with their dog, taking the baton from the other handler once over the finish line, so they can complete their run. The fastest team time with least faults will win."