The six-year-old – whose kennel name is Welshspel Thundercrack – and owner/trainer Dominique Ogier will be representing the Channel Islands when they step into the arena in front of some 7,000 people at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday 11 March.
Mrs Ogier said that previously Chris Poindexter from Jersey had represented the islands, but he has now moved to the UK and retired his dog from competition.
Other competitors in the event have qualified by competing in UK competitions, but each year the Kennel Club sends out a number of 'international invitationals' for large dogs which have reached minimum UK Kennel Club grade 5 in agility.
There are three agility competitions aimed at small, medium and large dogs, but the international invitation is only for the large category.
The Channel Islands traditionally receives an invitation, and Digger is currently the only large dog in the islands to make the grade.
Digger and Mrs Ogier will be facing some tough competition from 21 other competitors in the qualifying heats, with 16 going through to the final.
She started training Digger when he was 18 months old, and now has a course in the garden of her home where she can put him through his paces and give him a taste of what he can expect on the big day – jumps see-saws, tunnels and weave poles.
In a similar fashion to equestrian show jumping, the competition is all about speed and accuracy in tackling the obstacles. A knocked down jump or a refusal incurs penalties, but there is also an element where in some obstacles a dog has to make contact with sections painted orange rather than simply jumping over them – for instance, each end of the see-saw obstacle.
Mrs Ogier is one of a handful of islanders who train their dogs in agility, and she has also trained up her Jack Russell, Jinx.
The Island Dog Training Club offers agility training and there is growing interest from owners, she said.
But elaborate obstacles are not needed to get a dog started just a garden. Even taking it to a park would be sufficient, said Mrs Ogier: 'You don't even need jumps to train.'
Crufts will be streamed live on YouTube. To access the stream, go to www.crufts.org.uk/content/whats-on/watch-crufts-live/
A short video of Digger in action can be seen below .
If you are interested in agility training for your dog contact Debbie Bray at the Island Dog Training Club on 725221.
