Young Sutton girl and her dog celebrate record-breaking victory at Crufts

Violet Burrows, aged 7, is the youngest flyball handler in YKC Flyball.

She and her whippet/collie cross were as fast as lightning during their participation in the world-famous dog show over the weekend.

Flyball is an exciting and energetic activity that your dog will enjoy. In flyball competitions, two teams of handlers and their dogs compete against each other. Each dog takes turns jumping over four hurdles in succession.

After clearing the hurdles, the dogs then activate the flyball box.

They not only became champions but also broke the Kennel Club flyball record twice over the weekend.

The previous record stood at 16.11 seconds until this weekend, when Groove Armada significantly improved it on two occasions.

They started with a time of 15.81 seconds and then broke it again with a new record of 15.64 seconds.

Violet is the only member of her flyball team, Groove Armada, from Ashfield.

The team consists of eight young people and their dogs from all over the UK.

Despite rarely being able to practice together, the team achieved the top position and were named the Young Kennel Club (YKC) Flyball Crufts champions in 2025.

Violet, a pupil at Woodland View Primary School, trains with the Focus Flyball Team every week and competes at Crufts regularly.

The team won the championship in 2020 and reached the semi-finals on several occasions.

Violet’s mother, Sarah who is on the management team of Crufts Flyball, said: “We go all over the place competing, each weekend Violet has two dogs of her own.

“One of our next competitions will be held at Sutton Academy in Sutton.”