A PROUD pooch from South Cheshire is on his way to Crufts following a turnaround in fortunes straight out of the storybooks.
June Hartstone, from Brereton Close, Sandbach, entered her dog Paddy into aLady and the Tramp look-a-like competition run by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust.
June, 70, who has been deaf for the last 35 years, was united with Paddy three years ago after he completed training as a hearing dog.
Paddy has now made it through to the finals at the flagship dog show where he will compete with one other dog in the same category.
June says she entered the terrier crossbreed into the competition not only because he looks like the loveable rouge Tramp from the Disney films but also because his life story is so similar.
Paddy was found as a stray on the streets of Cardiff as a timid one year old puppy and was taken to a kennel in Gloucestershire.
His training as a hearing dog has given him a new life and found him a loving home with June and husband John.
It has not only been Paddy who has benefited either, The couple say that they have been given a new lease of life since taking in the dog.
June, a former bookkeeper and treasurer of the Crewe Deaf Club, said: 'We are over the moon that we are going to Crufts. I would just like to thank everybody that has voted for Paddy.
'He has made such a big difference to my life. It doesn't matter if Paddy doesn't win, we have given some publicity to Hearing Dogs.'
Paddy will appear at the grand final at Crufts 2006 at the NEC Birmingham on Sunday, March 12.
