The Crufts Experience

Once again, Crufts has come and gone leaving its legacy of tired dogs and humans, happy owners, disappointed owners, empty wallets, businesses desperately trying to supply all the orders and the eternal question of why do we do it?  Because we love it!

My one day visit to Crufts was a five day affair.  Leaving home on Friday afternoon to spend a night at my parents' so that I was in easy reach of the friend I was travelling down with.  Saturday was spent on the motorway, Sunday in Crufts, Monday on the motorway and back to my parents and finally Tuesday morning to get back home.

My own dogs were being looked after at home - I keep saying I am going to start showing them, but that's another tale.  The friend I travelled with was Min Inches who was the first importer of the hovawart to Britain.  She fell in love with the breed whilst living in The Netherlands in 1979 and has had them ever since.  Tussock was one of her pups and is still remembered fondly in the household!  Due to bouts of ill health, and then injury, Min is currently unable to run with her dogs, so my job was to be the legs in the show ring.  Last year we got a first with young Silkie; in fact we came home with several placings, so I was hopeful for this year!

We were meeting up with another friend, Anne Stewart, who was coming from Ireland - Anne is also Silkie's breeder.  Anne got Best of Breed at Crufts a few years ago with her home bred boy, Fasskoleys Sallins Solo, and Min has had BoB several times over the years, the last one being with Houwaerts Jiska, sadly now passed away.

That first night we slept in the vans - the good old British weather had reverted back to winter just in time for Crufts, and it was something of a cold night.  That and the bright lights around the service station car park, and the birds that sing all night because of the lights, the endless traffic on the motorway close by all contribute to a rubbish sleep, and with the inevitable early start as your body dictates it is time to get up NOW! you arrive in the NEC already tired!

On a personal level, it was a very successful trip - I wanted to meet up with some Facebook friends - in particular, the admin team from our raw feeding group on Facebook.  We have shared many words, but never met.  That was rectified by an all-too-brief meeting at the Natural Instinct stand who very kindly supplied some bubbly and nibbles for all us raw feeders.  Also at their stand were Haatchi and Owen who you may very well have seen as the winners of the Friends for Life competition.  They were also on my list of people to meet, and so thank you to Natural Instinct for their part in bringing us all together.

 

Crufts is a fantastic shopping opportunity with everything you want and need and everything you don't want or need for your dog - leads, collars, coats, books, food, treats, toys, pictures, training aids - you name it, you will get it at Crufts.  I didn't get much time to shop, but did come home with three new toys, my new Mary Ray treat bag, a couple of clickers and a book on dog anatomy.  Oh, and my usual stock of Fish4Dogs dried salmon skin treats. 

As you wander round, your eyes goggle at everything - from the colourful toys, to the diamante collars and leads and from the grooming brushes to the paw washers.  There are so many dogs wandering round with their owners, too - from large dogs that look like walking rag rugs, to the tiniest of toy breeds.  Some of the smaller ones are pushed around in pushchairs, some are held in arms, and some just walk on their own - I constantly worry that I might stand on one, such is the melee of people, dogs, electric buggies, pushchairs, children, dogs etc.

On the doggy side of things, it didn't quite go according to plan, and it was certainly a learning experience.

It is always a long walk into Crufts from the car parks, and this year we had the added complication of Min using an electric buggy to enable her to do distances.  She has been working with each of the dogs to get them to walk alongside this buggy.  I took young Silkie with me and the pull along trolley which had all the crates, food, water and other paraphernalia, and Min took the other two.  In hindsight, we wondered if I should have taken Larney instead.  Poor Silkie was so stressed by the time we got in to the benches, and got ourselves set up, that we were a little concerned about her. 

Hovawarts are very loyal to their owners, and in many cases won't work well for anyone else, and I was well aware that I wouldn't get the best out of Chief as he really is a mummy's boy, and this certainly proved to be the case.  He spent his whole time in the ring looking over to where Min was, to the extent that she moved out of sight - but he could still hear her voice. 

Compare this year with me to.......

...........last year with Min.

However, I did expect to do a better job with the two girls, Larney and Silkie.  But they were as distracted and unhappy as Chief had been.  I had to work very hard to keep their concentration, and Silkie was a shadow of the girl I had run round the ring last year!  Larney was the last one to show, and whilst she certainly gave a great run round for me, she was also looking for Min.

So what had changed?  We talked at length about this on the way home, and concluded that there was no one answer, but more a collection of them.  Dog shows are no longer an opportunity for them to work with Min, getting one to one time with her - they have been handed over to whoever has been available and willing to handle them in the ring, and so some of the fun has gone for them.  Add to that the fact they have seen their mum go from walking to hobbling somewhat, and then resorting to the buggy - we wondered if Silkie was stressed because she had been taught to walk beside the buggy, and I was not allowing her to do so on the way into the NEC.  And we missed a very important clue first thing in the morning - Silkie didn't clean up her food as she normally does - indicating stress before we even set off on the walk in.

I felt very disappointed not to bring any ribbons home, but Min had not expected any, and besides, the competition was tough!  Some beautiful dogs, and a very worthy winner of Best of Breed.  This handsome dog spent as much time on his back getting tummy rubs as he did standing!

Darcius - known as Darcy.

It has made me think about the whole concept of showing dogs.  Min's dogs are all old hands at it - they know more of what they are doing than I do!  But I wonder how many of the dogs in the show were genuinely happy?  Some dogs certainly seem to enjoy the attention and the occasion, but I do wonder if my own dogs will be suited to such an occasion.  I think perhaps it might be unfair to ask Tussock to do it now, but, like Chief, she would probably be fine providing she was with me. 

We finally left the NEC at about 6.15 and made our weary way back to the vans - we only travelled for an hour or so before stopping and taking a motel room for the night for the three of us, and resumed our journey on Monday.  The journey home seemed to take forever - and we went from blue skies to snow several times over.

When we finally got home, Chief, Larney and Silkie were so pleased to be back!  And even better was the greeting I got from my own girls when I eventually got home.

 

So, that's it until next year.  And we will do it all again.