Crufts...the day itself...

We arrived at the NEC at 7.30am as planned and got set up in the benching area for around 8.00. I had deliberately left myself with not a lot to do, everyone was brushed out and trimmed before we got there so it was just last minute preparations and brushing for each of them before they went in and a few runs up and down the edge of the hall to settle them. I was really pleased with Dazzle who can be a bit overawed by loud busy places but she was very relaxed and happy and was moving out well after a few runs up and down. Kitten was being remarkably quiet and well behaved too and Spark well...he is just perfect in every way and seems to know how to just switch from goofy playful 'pup' into serious show mode, he's so easy to handle. Dylan...ahem...to be fair to Dylan he's been crate rested for the last 6 weeks due to a cruciate tear and this was his first outing but he and Faith are the same at every show...nosey, curious and very easily distracted; he was just tail up 'who's that over there?' 'What's this on the floor?'...arghhh!!! lol (at least no-one can say he's anything but a very happy boy)

Judging started and we had lots of friends arriving to say 'hi' and wish us luck which was really nice. Tania, Francine and Wendy were over from Belgium for the day and came ringside to watch Spark who was in the ring first, we also found Helen and Carol there too. I was a little bit worried about Spark's bald patch where he'd been bitten by something (god knows what at this time of year!) on his back and pulled all the hair out and I'd had to do a sort of 'comb over' to cover it! lol It's amazing what you can get away with with a 'patchy marked' dog that you wouldn't with a solid colour. He has also been dropping coat for about 2 weeks which made it very hard to get his coat to lie really flat, every time I ran a brush over him more undercoat came out! It was a big class, we were in the middle of the line up and everyone was packed in really tight which made handling tricky...I don't know why people don't spread out more in such a huge ring!! I like to walk Spark into a free stand because he will position himself nicely and I don't need to fiddle with his foot position etc and then I stand directly in front of him and he watches me which enables me to get him to use his ears and show his lovely soft but attentive expression. I also don't like standing too close to him because then he has to crane his neck to make eye contact with me and this has the effect of shortening his neck (if you know what I mean). All in, I do need quite a bit of room to do this and I really didn't have enough, I was also concerned about obscuring the dog in front of me so it was hard work! That said he did show well so I was pleased with him. Having any coloured dog in the ring always draws a lot of attention from ringside spectators, particularly those from overseas so I think Spark was pretty well photographed as we made our way round to be judged.

Here's a pic from Vicki (Giruff)

and one from Judit (Bordermania)

...thanks girls! :)

The judge (Mrs S Clark) was keen to have the dogs standing freely for her to go over with no tight leads and handlers at a distance which was no problem for Spark because of course this is how I stand him anyway. She opened his mouth and looked at his teeth and then ran her hands over his head and he dropped his ears and gazed at her adoringly which he continued to do as she went over the rest of him (he's such a charmer!), the whole time she was chattering away to him. It was nice to have a judge so relaxed and keen to put the dogs at ease. He moved out nicely, not fazed by anything and then walked into a nice free stand to finish. I was pleased with how he went.

Spark moving out...

and his free stand to finish (pics by Judit)


We returned to the line and the judge finished assesing the rest of the class and then came to make her shortcut. I was so pleased when she pulled Spark out into the final 8, she then moved them all together. Now...the person 2 dogs behind me was whooshing and Shhhhsshhing loudly at her dog, to encourage it to move out I guess but I was pretty p*ssed off to be perfectly honest because this was making Spark want to keep looking behind him as he was wondering where the hell this weird noise was coming from!! She kept doing it when we came to a halt and were lined up too, to get the dog to animate ears I guess? I'm all for getting the best out of your dog but you also need to be considerate to other dogs and handlers in doing so. I always keep one piece of liver in my hand at a time to avoid dropping any and I always talk quietly to my dog so as not to disturb anyone else. It's a pity not everyone is so thoughtful. Crufts definitely seems to bring the worst out in people though and there were several incidents of bad sportsmanship throughout the day not least of which was during the challenge for best of breed where I personally felt a group of spectators were deliberately cheering and clapping at inappropriate times trying to unsettle the dog, who won BOB in the end so it didn't work did it!! Anyway (rant over! lol) I was over the moon when Spark was pulled out for 3rd place; this is the largest class he's ever been in and this judge is not noted for her love of colours. This of course automatically qualifies him for Crufts 2010.

I was still in the ring with Spark when Yearling bitch went in so Julia took Kitten in for me, Alison kindly took Spark back to his bench after a small detour where he climbed on Sue Large's lap for a cuddle (and chance at her sandwhich too I shouldn't wonder! lol)...he is such a soft lump! I took Kitten off Julia and I have to say...she did look a little waif-like in her post-litter state of (un)dress. It was a HUGE class and she moved out beautifully but didn't get placed. There were some lovely young bitches in that class and Heather got 2nd with Tipsy.

Dylan was in next in Graduate dog amd he was rather giddy and distracted. It's a good job he's so placid when the dog in front of him took a lunge and snap at him (Dyl was nowhere near him!), needless to say we kept a safe distance from then on! I do find handling Dyl quite hard work because he won't walk into a good free stand (always one foot or the other just in the worng place) but he also doesn't like you picking his feet up to place them so you have to just keep moving him round and hope for the best! lol He kept his tail down when we started moving off but a change of direction brought it up (this is quite natural really as the dog balances) and it stayed up (grrrrr)...the 3rd leg of the triangle brought the dogs heading straight back towards the judge and also the giant screen on the corner of the hall which was showing agility at this point...Dyl (who likes watching TV at home) spotted the TV screen half way across the ring and jumped out of his skin! There were quite a few dogs spooked by this during the day. He didn't get placed but he also had lots of photos taken by spectators round the ring. He does have the most gorgeous head and expression and always seems to draw a lot attention.

Dazzle was the last of my lot in the ring in Post Graduate bitch, the last class before the lunch break. This was a big class and she was the only coloured bitch from the 19 in the ring but this judge is not at all colour biased. Daz was nice and relaxed and very happy which I was really pleased with. Now...I don't know if I've ever been so embarrased in all my life when the judge (Jean Entwistle) put her hands on Daz to go over her, paused and looked up at me and said... 'Is this bitch in whelp?' to which I just replied, totally startled 'god...do you think so??' to which she nodded and said 'yeh, she's massive!' to which I then explained that I had mated her (to Sea) in January the weekend he left but it had been very early in her season and she'd still been standing a week later and since she wasn't really THAT big I'd just presumed she'd missed and was just a bit on the 'porky' side since she likes her food. (And yes, I know you're really not supposed to engage in conversation with the judge but I was just so startled and didn't think!!), Jean just rolled her eyes at me...oh my god...what an idiot I am!! Anyway, we returned to our spot and I told Angela (Gillespie) who was next to us what had happened, Anglea felt her and agreed with Jean so I felt like a total moron and have to bow to their combined experience which is considerably more than mine. So the consensus is that Daz is either in whelp with just a few pups or having a very convincing phantom...I guess we'll know in a week or two! I suppose it's kinda funny when you think about it (or it may be when I get over the embarrasment!), I just hope Jean thinks the same!

Anyway, Trish and Alison had stayed around the ring most of the morning, helping with the dogs so we went and did some shopping after lunch, taking Viggo for a walk round the halls. He's such a funny laid back kind of a dog. He did just try and avoid meeting any big dogs which he wasn't too sure about (Anatolians and the sort) and was very quiet and just looked at me when anyone stroked him in a 'mum, someone's talking to me, what should I do?' kind of a way (bless him) and he did insist on climbing on any pile of bedding he could find! Anyone would think he'd never seen bedding before it seemed such a novelty to him...he does have a bed at home...honest!! lol We bought a pile of new vetbed (which I'm sure pleased Vi!) and a couple of metal non spill bowls that I've had before and some shampoo and grooming products and I bought a new hoody (yeh, like I need another one!), it's lovely a sort of pale grey with salmon pink lining and such a nice fit, I couldn't resist! That was it, pretty restrained I thought! The halls were definitley much quieter than they have been on previous years especially for a Sunday. I think the lack of TV advertising following the BBC's pull out was probably the main reason, a lot of people simply didn't know it was on. I much preferred it!

We popped Spark and Dylan up to the Purina stand for Nick Ridley photos. For some strange reason Nick zoomed in and took head shots of Spark which I wasn't that keen on to be honest, I have better ones of him I've taken myself in the local park! (sulk) The pics of Dylan came out much nicer, especially considering what a pillock he was doing a 'stay'!!

I brought the van round from the back of Hall 3 to the side of the arena and we took the dogs out then came back in and packed up all our stuff (considerably more than we'd arrived with!) and sat and watched the group judging on the big screen. So pleased to see Shane, the border collie Best of Breed, take fourth in the group!! Shane (Tonkory Move over to Huntly) is a Cruise son as were 2 more of the dog class winners so fingers crossed this will put Cruise on track for Top Sire again this year!