The rescue story of the dog who went crazy at Crufts will make you love him even more
The dog who stole the limelight at this year’s Crufts show may only be remembered for his craziness on camera but there’s much more to him than just an adorable tumble.
Five-year-old Jack Russell terrier Olly became an instant star when his hours of practice went up in smoke after he got a little too excited and decided to just make things up as he went along.
He went flying over an A-frame, skidded across the floor head-first and even took a nose-dive, much to the amusement of the crowd who were watching the rescue dog agility display event.
However, his hilarious antics are a world away from his start to life, when he was abandoned at the Blue Cross rehoming centre in Hertfordshire at just six weeks old.
His owner, Karen Parker, spent a year looking for a pet and when she met Olly at the rescue centre, she knew it was meant to be.
She said: “I saw Olly but another family had already booked to come and meet him that weekend.
On the Monday morning I phoned up, before the centre was even open, and they told me ‘sorry, but he’s down as reserved’.
“They checked the list and he had been reserved to me! The other family had decided not to have him and I was next on the waiting list.”
Olly and Karen’s first meeting was a sign of things to come – the excitable pooch started humping his new human’s foot.
Karen added: “He completely ignored me and I thought ‘this is my naughty dog’! I love him so much.”
Olly has been taking agility classes for four years but when it comes to shows – like Crufts – he tends to forget himself and just have fun.
Karen explained: “At our training club he does everything beautifully, and then I take him to shows and he just loses it. He just switches off.
“He once almost did a whole circuit at a show, and then two obstacles before the end he saw a collie and went to say hi, and that was it.”
Happily, Olly has just as much fun at home as he does during displays.
Karen joked: “Once, right after he’d just had a bath, he managed to open the back door and my daughter, Grace, found him rolling around in the mud in the garden.
“Yes dogs should be trained, but they should be able to have fun too.”
Everyone needs an Olly in their life!
