A WEE COUNTY teenager will be travelling to Birmingham to participate in the biggest dog show in the world.

Chloe Powling, from Dollar, is taking part in Crufts alongside her border collie Cassie as part of the Scottish Rally Team.

The duo will be heading to the West Midlands to compete in the competition on Thursday, March 9, held over the weekend at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.

This isn’t the dog trainer’s first foray into Crufts, but this will be the first year she has competed in the Rally event, usually focusing on dog agility.

Speaking to the Advertiser, Chloe is looking forward to competing in a number of events over the weekend next month.

She said: “Yeah, I’m excited for it. This will be Cassie’s first Crufts which will be quite exciting.

“Going to Birmingham will be cool as well. Crufts is always very busy but it will be good fun.”

Chloe will be competing at level one, which is entry level for the Rally team, and has previously seen success at Crufts in under 18s competitions.

This will be the first time she will be accompanied by her two-and-a-half year old dog Cassie as she has previously competed with her sister’s dog Pippen.

Her mother, Harriet Powling, explained her daughter came first in the large U18 jumping event and was awarded overall first in the U18 jumping at Crufts last year.

Chloe and Cassie will be participating in the Inter-regional Rally Competition, held each year between seven teams – Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and four teams from regions across England.

During the rally show, each dog and handler work as a team to navigate a course of 10-15 exercises.

Each course is completely different, with over 100 exercises that could be included, such as stationary tasks, recalls, jumps, retrieves and cone weaves.

“I’ve mostly competed in dog agility rather than the rally,” Chloe added. “It will be good to try something different.”

Alongside her Crufts preparations, Chloe and her family are currently fundraising for a trip to the Netherlands to take part in another competition.

They will be looking to launch various fundraising events over the coming months.