Freddie and Smooth Fox Terrier Penny are vying to be top dogs (Image: Tom Maddick / SWNS)
And they call it puppy love…
These pedigree chums really are the pick of the pack as the annual Crufts canine carnival gets underway.
The preening pooches – all in with a sniff of being crowned best in class – were paraded at the start of the four-day festival.
And hoping to be top dog is Freddie Osborne, 6, the show’s youngest entrant alongside Penny, the smooth fox terrier.
More than 20,000 will battle it out for the coveted Best in Show title in the Oscars for man’s best friend with their hopeful owners, Freddie included, all believing every dog has its day.
The jamboree, often chaotic but always heartwarming and entertaining, was once a staple of the schedules.
But it is now broadcast on Channel 4 who wheeled out their own top dogs for a show that draws a global audience measured in tens of millions.
Clare Balding, 54, is fronting live coverage of the world’s greatest gathering of hounds from the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
She is being assisted by veteran commentators Jim Rosenthal, 77, and Crufts legend Graham Partridge, while reporters Radzi Chinyanganya, former rugby player Ed Jackson and Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds roam the halls in search of hot dog gossip and canine chatter.
Crufts youngest dog handler Freddie Osborne, 6, walks with Penny on the first day of the show (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Today’s action got off to a breathless start with flyball heats, a relay race where two teams of four dogs race against each other.
And later it was time for the judging of terriers and hounds, the latter which ranged in size from miniature dachshunds to giant Irish wolfhounds.
Channel 4, which first broadcast Crufts in 2010, has signed a new deal extending its right until 2029. The show this year celebrates its 75th year of being aired on TV.
More than 200 pedigree breeds from 51 counties are slugging it out for first prize.
Last year, an Australian shepherd named Viking from Solihull, Birmingham, came out on top.
Tomorrow features the much-loved agility heats where even unlikeliest mutts can triumph.
The hectic canine convention climaxes on Sunday night…by which time competitors and owners will probably all be dog tired.