BIRMINGHAM, UK | MARCH 8-11 , 2018 | PHOTOS BY KARL DONVI L 2018
W hat’s in a name? While a couple of years ago the adjective used to describe Crufts was “the biggest dog show in the world” it changed recently to “the greatest dog show in the world”. And I fully agree as the connotation to “big” is more for con- crete things, while “great” is a adjective meant more for abstract things. Why do I start with this? Simply, because Crufts has been dethroned since the Paris World Dog Show and recently since the latest World Dog Show of Leipzig. Leipzig had over 24,000 entries, individ- ual entries, while Crufts had 21,032 and even its record entry of 22.991 dogs is not enough to compete. So Crufts is not the biggest show in size, however it still holds many records, one of the number of trade stands, visitors, competitions etc. And taking its long history into account, it’s being world famous for many decades, it turns Crufts indeed into the “greatest” dog show on earth. And there is still one record that I can- not control exactly but what is most probably the case: it is the biggest show on earth if it comes to the number of national exhibitors. I don’t think there is any country in the world that has a show where 17.409 dogs of one country are competing. Indeed, that is the num- ber of British entries if we subtract the foreign entries of 3.623 from the total number of entries: 21,032. Crufts is one of the most interna- tional canine events since many years and many exhibitors from all over the planet dream of participating one day or just visit. And it can be dangerous as very addictive, once you’ve been there you’ll probably long next year to go back, that’s the magic of Crufts. But it’s not easy for the Kennel Club to keep up with its popularity. They need to reinvent the show year after year and some things work, some fade and others don’t work. Mary Ray, for exam- ple, who invented heelwork to music and became extremely popular and famous all over the world, gave her last performance after 28 years at Crufts.
It became harder and harder for her to be original and good, not to forget that you have to keep and train new dogs regularly. Those highly trained animals are used to plenty of attention and they can become pretty old. Mary herself is getting older and gym is no longer in her diary. No longer rolling over the ground, jumping, bending, kneeling, etc. But she has been one of the high- lights of Crufts until her very last per- formance. So, the focus is slowly taken over by the International Heelwork to Music competition. I remember the first times of Friends for Life when half of the arena was sob- bing while the other half was having difficulties not showing their emotion. It was so nice to see all those examples of how dogs can make a difference when coming into the lives of people in need. But the magic seems to have fad- ed away. The stories of the laureates are rather common, nothing special or out- standing. Or maybe they are not prop- erly told. They are no longer reaching the belly. I don’t know what is wrong but there are numerous cases like in the first years. What forces are behind it that they aren’t picked up? Of course, all respect for the candidates of this year, but compared to the start of this item, it’s no longer a highlight. The win- ner of this year was Vanessa Holbrow’s Border Terrier. A dog that was re-homed for the fourth time and is now together with Vanessa, being a team, doing lots of things together now and meaning a lot to her. But take any assistance dog and you’ll have this kind of stories (and certainly with all respect as I admire all those dogs), but where are those out- standing stories that move and touch deep inside? Anyway, Vanessa and her Border will appear in many magazines, as Spice Girl Geri Hallywell was given the honor to offer the trophy. Just before Best In Show the there was the yearly presentation of the “Police Dog Team Operational and Humanitarian Action of the Year Award” offered to Police constable Phil Healey and his dog Majo who worked for more
than 11 hours, searching for devices and clear the area for the rescue teams after the terrorist attack in Manchester, leaving many injured and 22 victims. It was clear that this was an outstand- ing performance very much appreciate by the audience. Nobody in the arena stayed seated and was applauding for 80 seconds long (test it how long it is!) out of respect for the bravery of this man and his dog who risked their lives securing the way and checking for non- detonated devices in order to let the fire workers and ambulance teams do their jobs in maximum safety. This year it was the celebration of 100 years Royal Air Force at Crufts. Instead of the police force demonstra- tion the we are treated with, there was a demonstration of the Royal Air Force Dog team. It was a much more milita- ristic display than the Police Dog team used to give, less action. The police demonstration was scheduled in the early afternoon. And what we all missed was the Royal Fanfare to announce the start of the Best In Show judging. It was replaced with the same three ladies of last year singing, this time without tech- nical sound problems. It is nice what they do but it has not the same appear- ance as the Royal Band. In general I have the impression that the main ring program is over- stuffed with too many new competi- tions, finals and presentations. Two new things were on this year only and repeated probably the years to come. One is the Eukanuba Champions Stakes and the Eukanuba Pup of the Year com- petition. Let’s not forget that the audi- ence is fond of action, while these two competitions are once more judging of dogs and people can accept this for a while but not too much and certainly if other more active things need to move or are shortened in time. The Fly-ball finals for example are moved out of the main program. Fortunately the Agility competitions were still kept in the main program. Everybody likes it, everybody is excited and is supporting. People want action and entertainment as a
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