Cruft's Dog show

[carrie]

Cruft's has been cancelled. The show was due to begin next week in Birmingham but due to Foot and Mouth in Britain it, along with horse racing and many other large events like the Six Nations Rugby matches, has been cancelled.

[lisa patterson]

Originally posted by carrie:
Cruft's has been cancelled. The show was due to begin next week in Birmingham but due to Foot and Mouth in Britain it, along with horse racing and many other large events like the Six Nations Rugby matches, has been cancelled.


It's a real shame for the dog world who participate at cruft's and also for dog lovers who just like to watch and appreciate all breeds of dogs. This disease is devasting to now the whole of Britain(it has crossed to Ireland) and everyone must support the countrieside restrictions if we have any hope of containing the foot and mouth virus.I live in the north east where apparently the foot and mouth outbreak started, our country side in the surrounding areas where I live is slowly becoming bare of all farm animal life. I do feel sorry for everyone who would have been taking part in crufts, it takes a lot of hard work and time to get a dog up to the standard to qualify for crufts. Let's hope the virus is contained sooner rather than later for all animals sake.
Lisa

[carrie]

Amen to that Lisa - it's a terrible time. The most horrific scenes are becoming a daily trial and the farming community is living in fear.
Salisbury Plain has been closed to the army and to the public, the Forestry Commision has closed all it's land and the National Trust has closed most of it's properties. All racing has now been suspended in Northern Ireland and one man has been arrested suspected of transporting sheep into the Republic of Ireland.
Many sheep are running low on their grazing and are about to lamb in fields far from home as they cannot be moved.
Everything must be done to help stop the spread of this disease and I'm sure that the majority of the owners of the twenty thousand dogs due to take part at Cruft's will understand and support the action.

[Rottie]

Wow! That's for letting us know.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Carrie, I am so sorry for the people of England and Ireland, it has to be horrible losing your animals like that. The poor animals. What a sad, sad time for you all! I was hoping we could get the Cruft's dog show here, but of course that is impossible now. I wanted to ask you a question, someone told me that the dogs in that show don't have the fancy grooming that they have in Westminister. I couldn't recognize some of the dogs with the long hair down to the ground etc. Personally I think they go overboard with the cuts and trims. What do you think?

[carrie]

Oh dear, you have touched rather a raw nerve with me - ten times worse as I'm trying twenty four hours a day to keep in touch with all my friends in the farming community here and am rather sleep deprived. (Ask Logan - she knows!) So if I seem a little shorter or more cutting than usual ( can that be possible???) or if there are more spelling mistakes, please excuse me.

Crufts is the biggest and most prestigious dog show in Europe. This year was to be the first that dogs from outside of the British Isles, from rabies free countries, with the proper paperwork, would be allowed to come to England and compete without a six month stay in quarintine kennels. This, as you can imagine, has caused immense excitement for the past couple of years in the doggy world.

Trying to put my own views on the whole Kennel Club and the way the breeding of pedigree dogs has been in the past and the lip service paid to the future aside the grooming issue is no less a minefield.

We have no dogs with clipped ears - they are not accepted in a show ring and the procedure is illegal in this country.
Docked tails for some breeds are now listed as desirable but most pet owners that are given the choice - and not many are - opt for a full tail. It is yet to be seen at Crufts for a traditionally docked breed that has a full tail to even get a second look. In fact I don't know of such a dog making it TO Crufts!
Apart from that, I never have been and never will be a show breeder, owner or handler. I do know that many years go into breeding the dogs that are deemed good enough. I also know that if your dog has qualified for Crufts then excersise, nutrition and grooming are your life.
Many products are banned at the top shows here, there are only a few tricks of the trade that are not breaking the rules when it comes to grooming.
What breeds did you mean that are groomed differently? This could be a really interesting and fun topic.
Are your Poodles expected to show in a certain clip for example?

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Hi Carrie, I am really sorry for people with farm animals going through this awful situation. I can imagine how worried you are for friends.
I agree with you on the cropping of the ears. When we got Perry his ears were already cropped. We got Daisy as a puppie and had the choice and chose not to have her ears cropped. She has lovely big ears and we love her all the more for it. I could not put her through that just because someone else thought it was cute.
Remember I have only had dogs as pets so I'm not much of a professional on how they should look. When I was young I had a cocker spaniel and she didn't look anything like the one in Westminister who had long flowing hair down to the ground. I think some of the
poodles look ridiculous the way they are clipped. I don't want to make anyone angry, but it seems a Dog should look like a dog.
They should be showing dogs that look natural and not live in crates their whole life. Perry was bred to be a show dog and now we just about cannot get a leash on him, he hates them. I'm doing better making him sit while I put it on. We got him from the breeder who couldn't believe we didn't intend to breed him for money. I said no way, he is our babie now and he went to the Vet to get neutered as soon as we could get an appointment. Anyway I will get off my soapbox now! Thanks Carrie.

[imasmartie]

it is a shame that crufts thas been postponed but, it is not just that show a lot of the opens shows have called off and 1 of the championship show west of england ladies kennel assoication and 1 is one hold the birmingham national. so it is having an affect all the way round the country. i just feel so up set for the farmers. i know quite a few farmers and at the moment they are under investigation. just up the road from me there has been an out brake. because of that i and not allowed to go back to college. because of the out brake and me working around the animals.
http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by imasmartie (edited March 23, 2001).]

[wolflady]

Such a devastating thing to happen to our friends over in England and beyond!! I wish there was an end to this epidemic in site. A good friend of my family lives in Darlington and loves to fish, but hasn't been able to go to his regular fishing locations because of the outbreaks. Carrie mentioned Cumbria, the lake district(that's where he likes to go). It's so sad!! Cumbria is very Beautiful!!! I truely feel for everyone over in England and Ireland and everywhere else this terrible plague is attacking. Especially the poor farming community!! You are all still in my thoughts and prayers every day.
It's a disappointment for the people involved in Crufts for sure, but definitely better to postpone or cancel the show due to this awful outbreak. Imasmartie, so sorry to hear that you are not allowed to go back to college??!!
Jackie and Carrie did bring up an idea for an interesting topic. Since I'm really not too familiar with the show dog world, it is interesting to see the differences in the dogs seen in Crufts and those shown here in America, like at the Westminster. Although, I do think England has it better with the show dogs in that it doesn't allow for animal mutilation, ie Earcropping and tail docking. I do agree that a dog should look like a dog. It was interesting because Jackie mentioned the cockers that looked differently. I noticed that too. Last year's runner up was a blue (?) cocker? The traditional american cocker spaniel looks a lot different that the one shown in Crufts. The cocker shown in crufts was taller in the leg and longer in the snout as opposed to the one's we're used to. It's interesting to see the differences.