Crufts Report Thursday March 8 2007
Published on March 9, 2007 by Ryan O'Meara · No CommentsHorrible. What a horrible day.
Crufts was fine. Crufts was full of dogs and the usual hubbub that goes with this, the world’s largest dog show.
Arrived at the NEC within 60 minutes of setting off. Considering it’s quite possible to sit in hour long tailbacks within just 2 miles of Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, arriving within the hour gave the utterly false impression that today was going to be a good day.
First things first, scan the trade stands. Anything new and exciting?
Not really. Not at first glance anyway. Same old same old from what it appeared. Traders selling everything from dog food to fancy collars to dog beds to pillows for human beds. There was a big bus there provided by search engine Yahoo. Not entirely sure of its reason for being so will find out. I did notice that Yahoo answers have a little section on the official Crufts website so maybe there is a partnership in place between Yahoo and the Kennel Club. The little q&a gizmo on the Crufts site is very cool. I think I want one.
So, having scouted the trade stands in at a fairly maniacal speed and spotting very little likely to slow me down, its onto discover dogs where every ‘stand’ is capable of slowing me down. This year, the Black Russian Terrier was the breed that caught my attention the longest. That’s a big old terrier right there!
The Clumber Spaniels looked sad. They looked like they’d like to be doing something else and, before anyone thinks this is turning into a fashionable ‘poke Crufts with a stick’ post, it is not. I like Crufts. Crufts alone is not the reason why a small number of certain breeds have problems, bad breeders and misguided priorities are. Get on top of the fact and accept that we people have absolutely caused the deterioration of certain breeds and put in place a plan to change it and we’ll be heading in a better direction. Banning Crufts is taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut. In this case, the wrong nut.
Anyway, the Clumber’s looked sad, the Labradors looked greedy and the Spaniels, with the exception of the American Cocker which, although utterly adorable and compelling, should be in the toy group not the gundog group (could it retrieve a Goose? No. Ipso facto, should not be in the gundog group), looked ready to do their thing in the ring.
A notable stand worth seeing if you own a breed with a history of cancer in its lines – Pet Screen in hall 5. Go see them and discover what they’re doing. It may just save your dog’s life and that HAS to be worth a visit.
So onto the serious stuff. Some dogs, in this case gundogs, did some running round the ring and some judges picked the ones they thought looked better than the other dogs who all looked exactly the same to me. Here’s what they thought:
CRUFTS 2007 GUNDOG GROUP RESULTS
BEST OF GROUP
SUCH/NUCH/ ALMANZA FAR & FLYG [ATC AD00164SWE]
Flat Coat
Owner: MISS J SANDEN
RESERVE BEST OF GROUP
CH FREDDY VOM KAPELLENHOF AT BAREVE (DEU IMP)
German Wirehaired Pointer
Owner: MRS B & MISS S PINKERTON
THIRD OF GROUP
SH CH/GR N CHESTERHOPE LETS BE SERIOUS AT KANIX
Pointer
Owner: MESDAMES K S, D & J WILBERG, O’NEILL & BLACKBURN-B
FOURTH OF GROUP
LOCH MOR WELLDONE [ATC AF00250ITA]
Labrador R
Owner: MR F BARBERI
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I suppose you want to know why it was such a horrible day then?
Firstly, we had some printed material that needed to be distributed on one of the big stands at Crufts. It didn’t arrive. Next working day they told me when I ordered it. I ordered it on Monday of this week. I call them to find out where it is. ‘Oh, we mean next working day from the day it’s printed’ they explain. So in theory they could print it 6 months on from when I placed my order but so long as they deliver it the next working day all is fine? Trading standards are on standby for this one.
Off to the show with no print. Not good.
On the way back from the show, huge blow out on the M42 at 70mph. Great. Turns out I didn’t have the right tools to actually fix the damn thing myself (my fault for being a non too attentive mechanical type) so had to call the rescue services out to the M42 whilst freezing by the side of the road. An hour a half later they reach us to perform a 3 minute operation and I have to drive all the way back home on a space saving wheel not exceeding 50mph. Get home and need to make another journey. Not wishing to risk the car without a spare I decide to take the dog’s car for my short journey (that’s not a car that my dogs usually drive themselves around it, it’s the car I use for taking them to exciting places with trees – just to clarify) only to soon experience a blown gasket. Two cars down, get home to check emails and write my Crufts report. No Internet. Broken. Not working. Blown a head gasket or whatever it is that Internets do when they break. So off to bed to pretend it never happened and back to Crufts for Friday in hope of a better day (when the car is fixed).
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