{"id":284125,"date":"2026-02-06T16:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/284125\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T16:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T16:02:08","slug":"puppy-dumped-in-tesco-bag-makes-it-to-crufts-as-irelands-star-agility-dog-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/284125\/","title":{"rendered":"Puppy dumped in Tesco bag makes it to Crufts as Ireland\u2019s star agility dog \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rescue collie who was dumped in a Tesco<\/a> bag as a puppy is set to represent the country at Crufts next month after being named Ireland\u2019s best agility dog for the fourth year in a row.<\/p>\n

Indiana Bones, also known as Indy, was handed into an animal shelter in Mayo<\/a> inside a Tesco Bag for Life when she was eight weeks old \u2013 and the woman who brought her there asked for the bag back, her owner said.<\/p>\n

Now aged 10, Indy is poised to become the first dog to represent Ireland at the world\u2019s biggest agility show for four years in a row, and has also carved out a career as a star of the silver screen. <\/p>\n

The sprightly collie acted alongside Barry Keoghan<\/a> and Colm Meaney<\/a> in the thriller Bring Them Down in 2024; and also starred as Sergeant Scraps in the US sitcom Going Dutch. <\/p>\n

\"RescueRescue collie Indiana Bones with her owner Laura Murphy. Photograph: Laura Murphy <\/p>\n

Owner Laura Murphy said the dog has taken success in her stride, and is looking forward to heading to Birmingham for Crufts next month. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a really good girl and always has been from day one,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIndy just excelled at everything she did, like trick training and agility, and then, on the side, she\u2019s a famous actress as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cAgility is her main job, of course, but we\u2019re kind of winding down there. She\u2019s 10 and a half years old and we don\u2019t want to keep her going too long and risk an injury. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0I\u2019m a late convert to the charms of the self-important little dogOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, she\u2019s going to be retiring from big competitions. She\u2019ll still do a little bit for fun as she gets older \u2013 lots of conditioning and fitness work \u2013 but we\u2019ll probably be focusing on her acting career going forward,\u201d added Murphy. <\/p>\n

She credits Indiana Bones with encouraging her own career as a professional dog trainer \u2013 she runs WaggyMamas agility and training in Wicklow \u2013 explaining that \u201cIndy had a huge part to play in that\u201d. <\/p>\n

The trip to Crufts is undaunting for the pair. \u201cWe like our little road trips, so it\u2019ll be easy enough,\u201d Murphy said, having previously competed in Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. <\/p>\n

\u201cIndy\u2019s a perfect girl at home and then she just takes really well to training, and she\u2019s just not scared of anything. She just has a super temperament, she can withstand anything that\u2019s going on. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves the crowds when they\u2019re cheering her on, she loves the round of applause. She loves the attention, I guess,\u201d said Murphy. <\/p>\n

Crufts, the world\u2019s largest dog show, takes place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham from March 5th to March 8th. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rescue collie who was dumped in a Tesco bag as a puppy is set to represent the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284126,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49654,135057,61,60,8764,43,4013],"class_list":{"0":"post-284125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-barry-keoghan","9":"tag-colm-meaney","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-mayo","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-tesco"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}