The Kennel Club has announced the five hero dogs who will compete in the public vote for the prestigious Friends for Life award at Crufts 2018.

They are:

• A rescue Border Terrier who has completely changed his owner’s life by helping her deal with complex mental health illnesses
• A hearing dog who has become the ‘ears’ for his young owner and helped her reconnect with everything around her
• A search and rescue dog who has spent his life working in adverse conditions to help find missing persons, from murder enquiries to a helicopter crash
• An assistance dog who has become a lifeline for a lady with Ehlers Danlos syndrome and undertakes over 100 different tasks for his owner, from picking up the phone to loading and unloading the washing machine
• A Shih Tzu who taught himself how to be an assistance dog and has given unending support to his owner through serious illness and given her a new life to look forward to.

The annual Friends for Life competition at Crufts celebrates the unique relationship people have with their dogs, the important role man’s best friend plays throughout our lives and the support they give us in the face of adversity.

Judges from the Kennel Club, the UK’s largest dog welfare organisation, have selected five inspiring finalists to go forward for the public vote, with the winner being announced in the Genting Arena at the Birmingham NEC on the final day of Crufts, the world’s greatest dog show, on Sunday 11th March. These five dog heroes are just some of the dogs celebrated at the show for the ways that they enrich our lives.