@Spudlet
I’ve only been once and it was so hot, bothering and busy. How well do your dogs cope? I know they’ll have been shown plenty of times in other places before, but surely Crufts must be unusual in its scale?
Do you have a view on the welfare of certain breeds, where form appears to have taken precedence over function?
Crufts is a very different experience because of it being such a long day. You have to, realistically, arrive before the general public as you have a lot of kit to cart in and to get your dogs settled. You also aren’t allowed to leave before 4pm, however if you leave dead on that time you just end up sat in the car park waiting to leave. I’m there tomorrow, and am aiming to be in at 6:30am which is the earliest you can get in.
I currently have two show dogs who are both bomb proof, the acoustics in the NEC are a strange one. There’s another championship show in December at the same venue and a lot of people use it as a Crufts run through or to see if their puppy/junior will cope. I love this show as it’s one of the last of the season and does remind you that Crufts is around the corner. Personally I’d never show a shy dog, but a lot of breeders have struggled with “lockdown puppies” who haven’t had the socialisation they’d usually have. I’m amazed more of the general public don’t have snacks stolen by the dogs though, they often sit ringside eating crisps!!!
My breed is a “utility” breed which was always said to be a breed which original purpose/job no longer exists. It’s a bit of a mishmash of breeds if I’m honest, and some in there really do need an overhaul of breed standard. I do like the category 2 and category 3 breeds lists, which are requiring breeders to do more for health issues, but I think it could go further. I’m lucky in that I have a relatively healthy breed, but some do need taking back to what they used to look like
