Bye Crufts 2013!

That's it everyone, Crufts 2013 is over. I don't know about you but my family and I are very sad about this. This year, all of them went (I didn't...) and all of them had an incredible time. 2 of my humans were even fortunate enough to get tickets to Best in Show! More about that, later...
After an extremely relaxing night (without me) in a hotel near Birmingham, my humans set off for their second day at Crufts. Before the big finale in the evening, my humans went shopping to, obviously, get me lots and lots of treats and toys! As you can see from the photo below, the dog show is HUGE; shown below is just ONE of FIVE halls to explore!

On the humans' way round, they made sure that they took loads and loads of photos of the main attraction- dogs!

 

At 2:30pm, it was time for Samsung to hand over a check to Blue Cross after running the Help-A-Dog-A-Thon app which aimed to help 2,000 rescue dogs. My humans visited Samsung's amazing stand again and took a seat on the awesome paw sofas- we still want one at home! Visitors from all around the world captured this monumental event on every gadget possible and there was also time to give the gorgeous Blue Cross rescue dog a snuggle.

 After some more shopping, it was finally time for the humans to take their seats in the Main Arena for the prestigious Best in Show judging! However, before the event itself, there were displays and other awards to be held. Firstly, the West Midlands Police showed the stages dogs go through to become fully-trained police dogs which was followed by the Presentation of the Police Dog Team Operational and Humanitarian Action of the Year.

 

 

 

After Young Kennel Club Stakes, the group winners were chosen for the Working and Pastoral groups. My humans were delighted when this beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog won their group!

In the Pastoral judging, my humans wanted either of these two adorable breeds to get through; look at those coats!

The second group winner, however,  was a lovely Australian Shepherd dog who was very popular with the crowd.
My humans were then treated to a very special performance by the one and only Mary Ray, accompanied by Richard Curtis and both of their dogs!

 

 It was amazing! Man, I wish I were as good as those dogs at HTM...

Following this was the Friends For Life presentation of which 7-year-old Owen and Haatchi, an Anatolian Shepherd Dog, won- congratulations!

 

 And then it was time for the event everyone had been waiting for... The judging for Best in Show had arrived. As the 6 group winners entered, the arena fell silent. Everyone was very excited!

 

 

Individually, the doggies were examined by the judge and were applauded as they completed a circle round the arena. My humans especially cheered for their favourite, the Bernese Mountain Dog!

 

 Once they had all finished, the judge decided who he wanted to win.

 

The winner's table had been set and the winner's prizes (including a magnificent Samsung gadget!) were waiting to be given to their new owner. Who was going to win?

The winner was... Jilly, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen!

Ok, so my humans favourite hadn't won but Jilly was indeed VERY cute and VERY smiley- well done Jilly! The Labrador, Romeo, was awarded 2nd place and a snuggle from his human.

 

Well done to everyone who competed at Crufts 2013 and a special congratulation to all those who won a competition at the show. I'm so pleased for you all!

In total, nearly 149,500 people took to the NEC, Birmingham to attend Crufts, a 3% increase on last year.

An average of 1.7 million tuned in on TV to watch Jilly crowned Best in Show- that's a LOT of people! My humans are so grateful for getting tickets and still can't believe that they were there.

Bring on Crufts 2014!

Talk soon, Jasper x