So, that's it. Crufts 2015 is over. And what a weekend it was!
Saturday 7th March. The day I stepped inside the halls of The NEC as a guest to Crufts 2015.
When I woke up, I noticed that something was up. Usually, I'm the first one to wake up but yesterday all my humans were hustling and bustling about. What on earth was going on?! Well, after our two hour journey, it finally occurred to me that this trip was no normal trip.
Barks? Check.
Lots of things to sniff? Check.
Thousands of dog-mad humans? Check.
This could only mean one thing. I was at CRUFTS 2015!
The first exciting event of the day was trying to find the right entrance to go through. When your visiting as a canine, you have to enter through a special dog door- I felt like a V.I.D (Very Important Dog, that is)!
Obviously, it was then time to have photos with the Crufts logo...
Bench picture! Every competitor and display dog is given one of these benches so I had to pose with one like a proper show dog.
They may be far away but there are Great Danes in this picture. Yes, GREAT DANES.
Crufts Crufts Crufts Crufts
At the sides of the show rings, my humans had to try and hide me from the competitors so that I didn't distract them. I mean, as if I would ever distract the gorgeous Wheaten Terriers...!
The first event we watched in the Main Arena was one that my humans watch every year: the International Freestyle Heelwork to Music competition! Every routine was original and there were some seriously impressive moves from these dogs. Definitely know which tricks I'm going to be working on now...!
My human was a silly sausage and forgot her zoom lens... But here is a picture of a hilarious routine based on magic. At one point, the dog pushed the lid down over their human who was laying down inside the box and then pushed a (pretend) sword back and and forth. So clever!
The effort that had gone into some of the costumes was unbelievable. Just look at that!
And the winner is... Slovakia! This poignant routine has the most adorable (and heartbreaking) ending. Watch the full routine
here!
The Main Arena is seriously impressive. What a place to do doggie sports!
Me, posing with one of the many rings where the top dogs in each breed battle it out for their chance to win Best in Show.
The judging of the lovely Airedale Terrier.
My favourite photo of the day goes to... This gorgeous Standard Poodle, poking his head out of his crate! What a dude.
Fun fact: Crufts stretches across over 25 acres of the The NEC's halls. That's a lot of shopping to be done!
The tens of thousands of visitors that visit Crufts every year...
Woooo! A picture of me having a GREAT time!
In the Dog Activities area of Crufts, you can learn about all the different things dogs can get up to, with typical breeds from each option available to meet and greet. My humans were particularly taken by this stunning Bloodhound. Just look at that sit!
A group of happy Retrievers!
One of my humans' favourite sections at Crufts is the Discover Dogs area, where visitors are able to learn about more than 200 breeds. Obviously, we had to take a trip to the Gundogs section, where I met some more of my breed- the English Springer Spaniels! Check out this stunning Spaniel.
I was probably the cheeriest dog in the world on Saturday!
So much to see and dog- come on, humans!
The irresistible Hungarian Puli. Man, I have serious hair-envy over their coats... So impressive!
Later, we visited the Young Kennel Club ring, which demonstrates the work of the next generation of dog handlers. The ring involves many of the same competitions that are held in the Main Arena, but for people that are from six years of age up to twenty-five. The work this organisation does to help young dog lovers is fantastic.
After a look round all the stalls and rings, it was time to head back to the Main Arena to see everyone's favourite Goldies: the Southern Golden Retriever Display Team. Following their amazing display, every single Retriever in the team headed back into the arena to film something very special... Saturday Night Takeaway came to Crufts! The winner of Take Home the Ads was selected on the screen in the arena, whilst the Goldies ran, jumped and climbed around the ring. An extremely entertaining sight!
It was then time for the Large International Agility Finals! As an Agility dog myself, this event is adored by my humans, and it did not fail to impress.
The course proved particularly difficult, with only TWO out of the fourteen competitors completing it with no faults.
The judge of this competition was an ex-YKC member, just proving what you can do within the organisation. The most challenging part of this course seemed to be where the tunnel and the dog walk are lined up beside each other, with quite a few of the dogs taking the tunnel instead of the climb!
All the competitors did a fantastic job- well done to all!
Our final viewing of the day: the Flyball Team Finals! Every year, this sport excites the audience beyond belief and this year was no different. Spot the Springer in the bottom right-hand corner of this picture...
After an excruciatingly-close final, the Dream Team South-East took home the trophy for the flyball, thanks to their incredibly rapid Pointer, who ran last. Go team!
On the way out, my humans had time to check out the filming set for the Crufts coverage on Channel 4, which had a very special feature...
The Crufts 2015 Best in Show trophy!
On the final day of Crufts 2015, the seven finalists from each of the groups came together for the prestigious final of Best in Show. There was no clear guess as to who the winner was going to be as all the dogs were just THAT good so the judge had a very difficult to decision to make. After some deliberation, he awarded the title of Best in Show to Knopa, the first Scottish Terrier to take home the title since 1929! Owned by Rebecca Cross, Knopa was bred in the U.S and won Best of Breed two years ago at Crufts. Reserve Best in Show was awarded to the Dublin, the Flat-coated Retriever with an extremely waggy tail, from Sweden.
Congratulations go to all the winners from across the weekend- you all did a fantastic job!
This year's Crufts was, for me, the most special as I was able to attend myself and I truly did have an incredible day.
Talk soon,
Jasper x
To watch highlights from the show,
click here to be taken
to the Official Crufts YouTube Page
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| Me, licking my lips at the number of the treats we brought home... Yum! |
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!
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.
