125 YEARS OF CRUFTS!

As it is now February, we can officially say that the world's largest dog show, Crufts, is next month!

On 10-13th March 2016, tens of thousands of dogs will be taking to The NEC, Birmingham, to compete in a range of competitions, from agility to heelwork to music to Best in Show! As many of you will have now realised, my humans and I are slightly fanatical about the dog show; last year, you may remember, my humans even managed to get me a dog pass into the show to experience the life of a show dog!

Picture from www.crufts.org.uk

This year is a particularly special year for Crufts, as the show turns a whooping 125 years of age. Yup, the dog show began right back in 1891, when Charles Cruft booked out the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington for three days from 11th to 13th February. The first year of Crufts had 2,437 entries across 36 breeds of dog- quite different to the 30,000+ dogs that visit the show each year now!

The show has also moved venue since its first staging: in 1948, Crufts moved to Olympia, London, under Kennel Club auspices after Charles Cruft passed away and, in 1979, the show moved again to Earls Court, as it grew in size. 100 years after the first show and Crufts moved yet again into the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, where it has taken place ever since.

Arguably the biggest title of the weekend is Best in Show, which is awarded to one dog out of every breed entry on the Sunday night of the event. Although Crufts now would not seem the same without this prestigious award, I was very surprised to learn that Best in Show was only first held in 1928, with a Greyhound named Primley Sceptre taking home the prize. Since then, 77 more dogs have won Best in Show, with the most recent winner being little Scottish Terrier Knopa.

With Crufts just a few weeks away, people are now placing their bets on which breed 2016's Best in Show winner will be. As usual, I am very hopeful for a fellow English Springer Spaniel to take home the trophy but we just going to have to wait and see...

Learn more about the history of Crufts since it began in this adorable video, here:

My humans cannot wait to attend this year's anniversary Crufts and hope to see you there!

Talk soon, Jasper x

For more information on Crufts, visit www.crufts.org.uk

To get tickets to the show, click here. 

It's definitely worth booking your tickets in advance as, not only will you be skipping the queues, you will be saving on the door ticket prices too. And, remember, under 12s' entry into the show is FREE!