One Brilliant Day at Crufts 2016!

That's it- the most prestigious competition of them all, Best in Show, has concluded Crufts 2016. Congratulations to little Devon, a West Highland Terrier, and her humum! 

Yesterday, my humans went to experience all the madness of the world's biggest dog show and, man, what a fantastic day they had.

Welcome to Crufts!

Show offers- one of the best things about the dog show. And the main reason why my humans usually come home with many random purchases.

Following the bit of shopping they did pretty much the second they entered the NEC, the humans visited the Dog Activities area to meet the dogs who participate the many dog sports on offer. Look at these gorgeous Gundogs...

Just look at the size of one of the FIVE halls that make up Crufts. Each of the halls are half-full of stands to buy hundreds of doggie things from and half cater for the breed competitions, which gradually whittle down the best of each breed for the Group Judging at the end of the day.

Handler and dog looking very smart as they show the judge what they've got.

My humans are HUGE lovers of heelwork to music so there was not a single chance that they were going to miss the International Freestyle Heelwork to Music competition in the Main Arena. This year's competition was of particularly high standard, with themes ranging from pirates, to golf, to grooving on a hoverboard...!

Whilst England won the competition, my humans thought that the Japanese representatives were equally as deserving of first place. They could not have performed more accurately!

And now for the agility. Always a favourite at Crufts, this year's course proved difficult, with many of the competitors racking up at least five fault points. However, the standard was, again, very high.

The crowd were loving the thrill of agility!

Just when you thought things couldn't get more intense, the flyball semi-finals were held. 

Absolutely crazy.

 It was so unbelievably noisy in the Main Arena- both the humans AND dogs were getting into the full swing of the competition!

The West Midlands Police Dog Team performed an exceptional display of their work.

Special mention to my fellow English Springer Spaniel (below), who also goes by the name of Jasper!

 Believe it or not, the German Shepherd in the picture below is only 11 months old. The puppies are trained from a very young age to become police dogs but they certainly do not hold back in those early stages!

Oh, yes. Following a range of exciting competitions and displays, it was finally time for the magnificent Southern Golden Retriever Display Team. They sure did not disappoint!

 What my humans love the most about this display team is the obvious adoration had by both the handler and dog towards each other. Even if the Goldie starts running laps around the arena (yes, that may have happened...!), the bond between each pair never fades. 

 After a four-hour stint in the Main Arena (my humans are pretty hardcore when it comes to dog shows), the humans went to stretch their legs and came across Clare Balding recording interviews for Crufts' airing on Channel 4. And just look at that Best in Show trophy!

The last photograph the humans took from their day is this one of the final judging of Best in Breed for the Border Collies. Simaro Cold as Ice, shown here, went on to win Best in Breed and then Best in Pastoral Group, earning himself in the Best in Show final. So gorgeous!

My humans had a truly marvellous day at Crufts and we are all devastated that it is nearly over for another year. Feel free to send me any pictures or messages you have from your time at the show- I love looking at them!

Well done to all the competitors from this year- here's to Crufts 2017 and, who knows, maybe an English Springer Spaniel will take home Best in Show...?!

Talk soon, Jasper x

My AMAZING Day at Crufts 2015!

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

For more information on the show, visit www.crufts.org.uk

To watch highlights from the show, click here  to be taken 

to the Official Crufts YouTube Page

Me, licking my lips at the number of the treats we brought home... Yum!