Stubbylee Blog

Sunday was a big day for us as Andrew & Diva went back to compete in the final of the YKC stakes in the main ring but before that we had Zorro in the International Junior Handling final. One of the competitors from Serbia had asked for a borzoi to handle so Zorro got to follow in his father’s footsteps. When we met him Nickola was a very pleasant young man who quickly developed a rapport with Zorro, and Zorro with him. In the competition Nockola handled him very sympathetically and was a real credit. After the initial judging we had to wait until the evening as they all got the opportunity to go back into the main ring in th eevening when the shortlist is announced and the winner chosen.

So we had a long wait, wandering round Crufts with DIva & Zorro winning lots of fans, we were stunned when on ewoman, who we’d never seen before, came up to us and asked if this was Jazz Diva, apparently she’d seen her photo on the Eukanuba stand!

Finally it got round to time for the Junior handling final but unfortunately this was just before the YKC final so I had to watch it on TV as I stayed with Andrew in the collecting ring. From there you could just see into parts of the arena and get a sense of the occassion & drama. Many years ago Liz & I were fortunate to stand on the edge of the pitch at Old Trafford just before kick off on a big European night. It was awesome looking at the crowds in the stadium. Although the scale of the Crufts main ring is somewhat smaller you still got the same tingle, the same anticipationthat tells you that this is the dog world’s ultimate.

Diva was just delighted to get in after waiting for so long and with the applause and cheers as she entered the ring she became over exuberant. Andrew got her under control and she then showed well moving superbly but it wasn’t to be. The final was won by a very nice Akita with a Rottwieller runner up. I didn’t think the Rottie went anywhere near as well as Diva but it’s the judges decision on the day that counts and there’s always next year.

We did have complimentary tickets for BIS but decided to head home as it had been a long day & the dogs at home would like some attention. We arrived home just in time to see the end of the BIS judging, I thought the flatcoat looked superb but it would have been nice for either Michael Coad with the Bichon or Julie & Tim with the Boxer to win

Our 2nd day at Crufts was Hound day and as we weren’t entered in the breed classes it wasn’t such an early start. Amazingly we got the best parking space we’ve ever had in the West Car Park as they just started a new row right at the front.

It was interesting watching the judging with a significant proportion of the Borzoi entry being overseas entries or imported dogs, which wasn’t really a surprise and they proved pretty successful. For us the focus of the day was the YKC stakes where Andrew had qualified both Diva & Rush. He only took Diva in so he could focus on just one dog. It turned out to be a sensible decision as Diva went superbly and won the class , qualifying for the final on Sunday in the main ring and getting a nice crystal trophy. So it was lots of photos & being interviewed before we could leave.

We also picked up Luca’s rosette for Top Brood bitch so Liz & Andrew were both able to walk back to the car wearing fancy rosettes.

Now I’ve had time to recover from 3 days at Crufts it’s time to reflect on the show. Although we weren’t entered in the breed classes there was plenty of other activities to keep us all occupied for the 3 days and as usual you come away having missed out on things you had earmarked to do and stands to visit. I’ll look at each day in turn starting with our first day there, the Working & pastoral day.

Andrw had entered Tia in the border collie breed classes whilst we were doing Discover Dogs with Borzoi in the afternoon making it a pretty full day. For a Friday the halls were fairly busy but not overcrowded and we spent the morning sat around the Collie ring with Zorro & Star getting lots of attention as they laid around.

It was an unsuccessful time in the breed ring altough Tia went well, we were slightly worried how she might react to all the people & noise but she took it in her stride.

In the afternoon it was up to Discover dogs where Zorro & star could be ambassadors for the breed, we also had Tia in the pen with them which caused a lot of interest & amusement from people visiting the stand.  At times there were people 2 or 3 deep waiting to meet the dogs and take their photos; it was strange seeing all the Japanese there when the eartquake had wreaked such havoc on their country that morning - you wondered if some of them might not have a home to go back to.

After a busy afternoon on Discover Dogs, spoilt only by the racket from the tannoy in the nearby activities ring we went off to the YKC ring for the Stakes class with Tia but again she was unsuccessful, I suppose not suprising seeing as she is still so young.

So fiinally we staggered out about 5;30 for the drive home & 2 dogs to bathe for the next day

Last week was the February show, normally a Limit show but this year changed to and Open show. Unfortunately it didn’t seem to benefit the entries with only 21 entered. This is our 3rd successive show with entries around or under the 20 mark and I know the Borzoi Club also have similar entry levels. At least one saving grace was that there were few absentees. Is this the number of entries we can now expect for breed shows? if so it raises all sorts of concerns if they don’t enter we can’t sell them raffle tickets or sell them food so the other major elements of income are also hit.

We need to do something about this but at the moment I’m not sure what the answer is, there’s been a number of options suggested

• Run back to back shows with 2 shows in a day
• Combine with another association, like the Borzoi Club do wih the Hound Association
• Can we run alongside a Champ show either with or without tickets.

Whichever route we take we cannot cantinue simply as we are, we’ve tried breed specialist judges, all rounders, reducing entry fees all to no avail. Another aspect is that if we can’t attract entries to breed shows it seriously hits the experience a judge can develop making it more difficult to achieve the level to move to the A3 list.

Let me know if ou have any ideas