South Devon College lecturer wins Crufts rosette with dog Nora

A lecturer in dog grooming  from South Devon College came away with a rosette from Crufts this weekend.

Jo Elson, who has been teaching level 2 and level 3 dog grooming in the 'Creations' working salon for 10 years won the accolade with her 19-month-old standard poodle Nora.

The pair came fourth in the postgraduate bitch class at the world-famous dog show.

“This is my second time showing at Crufts,” explained Jo. “The first time was with Nellie, a standard poodle, two years ago and this time with Nora.

“I was slightly nervous as it’s a huge ring with lots of people watching but Nora gave it her all and went around the arena beautifully.”

Jo says Nora loves the attention and they were supported by some of Jo’s students.

“They were all thrilled to see their tutor place in that huge class.”

There were 16 dogs in Jo’s class and Jo and Nora got short listed to the final five dogs.

“The judge then re-moved the dogs, and we got pulled out fourth place (reserve) which I was extremely delighted about, a place card at Crufts is the dream.

 “We have the rosette proudly displayed on the wall in the lounge.”

Jo and Nora have qualified for 2026 so it means another year of showing most weekends. “Hopefully we’ll do even better next year,” said Jo.  “Fingers crossed.”