Jonothan Coleman visited Crufts, the biggest dog show in the world. This year’s event was held at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham.
History
Crufts was named after Charles Cruft, a travelling salesman, who ran dog shows for personal profit. The first Crufts show was held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington in 1891. When Cruft died in 1938, his widow took over the running of the show for a few years but she found it very demanding. She asked the Kennel Club to take it over and it was sold to them.
The first show under Kennel Club auspices was held at Olympia in 1948. Crufts has grown bigger and better over the years, moving to larger venues and running over 4 days instead of 3 to accommodate increasing numbers of dogs and spectators. In 1991 Crufts moved from London to the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre.
Canine spectacular
Crufts 2004 attracted over 21,000 dogs and 120,000 visitors.
There were 36 rings where breed judging took place and nearly 400 trade stands launching new products. Apart from breed competitions, there were many other competitions including obedience, agility and flyball. Demonstrations and displays were held by police dogs, hearing dogs for deaf people, rescue dogs and drug sniffer dogs. Some of the more unusual events included heelwork to music and duck herding.
A three-year-old Whippet, Dee Dee, won the ultimate prize in the canine world – Best in Show. Dee Dee is owned by Mrs Lynn Yacoby-Wright of Mellor, Stockport.
Further information
Visit Crufts website at:
www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/index.asp?section=/shop/shopframe.asp