Lacey, a rescue dog from Lonan, will be at Crufts this Sunday in Birmingham.

The three-and-a-half year-old Beardie Collie cross will be involved in an agility demonstration with her owners Lorraine and Neil Leckenby.

She will represent Valgray’s Border Collie and Animal Rescue, which is where she was adopted from.

Lacey is one of a pack of six dogs in the Leckenby household and is the only one that currently trains in agility.

She is currently trained by Neil, Lorraine’s husband, who is also a judge for dog shows in the UK and they train at Douglas Dog Club.

Lacey will appear at Crufts in the main ring at 9am on Sunday morning, March 12.

Lorraine said: ‘It’s just amazing what these people are doing, for a little rescue that’s not had a great start to go and do something like this, I just think it’s special.

‘It just shows that rescue dogs can go on to be great family pets, do sports and have good lives if you just work on them.’

This will be the third time that Lacey has gone to the UK to compete, having been in shows in Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Burton-on-trent.

After her showcase in Birmingham on Sunday, Lacey will also compete in Lincolnshire again in April and the Lake District in June.

Lacey and her two owners will travel across on Saturday, Lorraine said: ‘We’re very lucky that we have a sports sponsorship with the Steam Packet Company, it’s been very good to us over the years, which has helped us get to go away and compete.’

Of its six dogs, the family has three rescued collies, Lacey, 13-year-old Beardie Cross Molly and six-year-old Shelty Cross Rosie.

Lorraine said: ‘The boss, I would say, could be Lacey even though she’s the youngest, she has kind of took over control.

‘She’s come in like a whirling dervish and said “Ok, I’ve found my seat now, I’m the boss, I sit here and this is my dinner.”

Rescue dogs can sometimes come from problematic homes or from families who didn’t know how to take proper care of them.

Lorraine said: ‘She came home with us but she initially had a lot of issues.

She was very scared of men, very nervous and would bark at anyone who would approach her and of course, as she was a lockdown puppy, she didn’t socialise as much.’

She added: ‘You have to know that if you take on a rescue dog, from day one you’re going to have to have a lot of patience, take your time to earn their trust and give them time to get used to their surroundings.

‘Once you get past the initial nervousness, because whatever has happened to them in the past they do carry with them a bit, it’s really rewarding and they seem to become really loyal dogs.

‘It’s not for everybody to take on a rescue dog, we’ve had a lot of experience so we know what we’re doing.

‘There is just something special about rescue dogs.’

You can watch Lacey and the rest of the Crufts show on Channel Four on Sunday, March 12.