However, this year's contest is in danger of being overshadowed by debates about how, and why, dogs are bred to look as they do.

Last year's withdrawal from the show by the RSPCA on the grounds that too much inbreeding was cruel for the dogs, has been followed by the BBC pulling its coverage for this year's event.

TV bosses made their decision after the furore that followed a documentary it showed last year called Pedigree Dogs Exposed, which revealed some breeds of dogs were prone to abnormalities because they were being bred from an ever smaller pool of genes.

It wanted the Kennel Club, which oversees Crufts, to ban certain breeds, but when it refused, the BBC went walkies.

Perhaps the most famous example of 'over-breeding' is that of bulldogs, whose large jowls and wrinkled skin have been selectively bred into them over generations.

Though quintessentially British, these features often leave the dogs unable to eat or breathe properly.

So is this selective breeding acceptable?

Kirsty Young, who owns Pawfect Style Dog Grooming Salon, on Wharton Street, South Shields, is someone who knows all too well about the pressures involved in competing in dog shows at the highest levels.

A competitive handler since the age of six, the 23-year-old has taken part in dozens of tournaments, culminating in her winning the best in show for the junior class at Crufts in 2000, and an appearance on kids' TV show Blue Peter.

She said: "I've been involved with showing dogs all my life. My mam bought a miniature poodle about 18 years ago and decided she wanted to show her and learnt how to groom. She started to show dogs and did quite well.

"On one particular show in Peterlee, she talked me into taking the dog in the show ring and I ended up winning four classes on the day.

"I'd never done it before, never handled a dog in my life. Eighteen years down the line, here I am."

Kirsty, who is taking five dogs to this year's event, is saddened the BBC has decided not to cover the show, but thinks it will survive, be it with much stricter guidelines from the Kennel Club.

She said: "Crufts is the best dog show in the world. Everything we all do in the dog world all comes down to Crufts.

"We prepare all year, we go to every show, campaign all the dogs. That's the mad world of showing dogs."

In a bid to quieten its detractors, the Kennel Club has this year introduced standards for 209 types of dog to stop inbreeding, however, this is seen as too little, to late, by many animal lovers.

Kirsty said: "Over the years the Kennel Club has listened to what people wanted rather than what's good for the dog."

Though the RSPCA chief veterinary adviser in Mark Evans, recently said the ban on breeding was "brilliant news", he felt the new rules didn't go far enough.

Kirsty similarly believes more needs to be done to stop such practices, and thinks pedigree dogs should be able to function as working dogs, as they were originally intended.