Good afternoon from the second day of London’s leading dog event. Not only is Discover Dogs bigger and better than ever before in our spacious new surroundings of Earls Court 1, but today has been somewhat brighter too! The rain and winds of yesterday failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of visitors flooding through the doors on day one, so you can guess how much fun the crowds attending today have had.
Discover Dogs gives dogs of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds the chance to shine, and many will enjoy another day in the sun after qualifying today to take part in the world’s biggest dog show, DFS Crufts at the NEC, Birmingham next March.
Among the most keenly contested canine competitions were the semi-finals of the Kennel Gazette Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition. Over 60 of the country’s best young dogs, aged from 6-18 months, were competing for one of just ten places in the Grand Final, which will take place at DFS Crufts.
Several members of the Young Kennel Club also sealed their place at next year’s DFS Crufts in a variety of competitions testing their handling and heelwork to music skills. The Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme also hosted the semi final of its Special Pre-Beginner Obedience Stakes, which encourages new participants to take up competing in Obedience, with the successful competitors progressing to the NEC.
There was a further flavour of DFS Crufts on show in the Main Ring today with a couple of the biggest crowd favourites demonstrating their skills. The Southern Golden Retriever Display Team and Mary Ray both gave two performances of their popular routines during the day to allow as many of the visiting crowds to enjoy them as possible.
One of the most popular events at Discover Dogs each year is the finals of the Companion Dog Club competition. After the bitches competed yesterday, today was the turn of the dogs to take centre stage. After a number of classes for both pedigree and crossbred dogs, behaviourist and journalist Carolyn Menteith had the tricky task of choosing an overall winner. Carolyn chose Harvey, owned by Emma Tripp from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, who had earlier won the title of Most Appealing Eyes.
Discover Dogs also offers the Kennel Club and the large number of attending dog charities the chance to promote a variety of good causes and special campaigns. Andrew Rosindell MP was at the show this afternoon to lend his support to both the Kennel Club’s campaign to put an end to the puppy farming trade and Dog Theft Action’s work to reunite stolen pets with their owners.
Stop press – I just shook Michael Barrymore’s hand. Just as I was about to write about some of the celebrities who have been in attendance today, in walked the big man and proffered his hand. Sadly I didn’t get to meet Anthony Head or Lorraine Chase in person but they were definitely here too. As were some four-legged celebrities, including former EastEnders star Wellard (yes, he’s alive and well in real life folks!) and dogs from several other films, television shows and adverts.
So that’s just about it for Discover Dogs for another year. As ever it’s been an absolute ball for us to put on and hopefully for the many thousands of participants and visitors who were here. The show would be nothing without the efforts of the many hundreds of volunteers who organise and run the breed booths so we’d like to say a special thank you to them in particular. We’ll all be back next year so we very much hope you will be too. Goodnight.
Discover Dogs gives dogs of all shapes, sizes and backgrounds the chance to shine, and many will enjoy another day in the sun after qualifying today to take part in the world’s biggest dog show, DFS Crufts at the NEC, Birmingham next March.
Among the most keenly contested canine competitions were the semi-finals of the Kennel Gazette Junior Warrant Winner of the Year competition. Over 60 of the country’s best young dogs, aged from 6-18 months, were competing for one of just ten places in the Grand Final, which will take place at DFS Crufts.
Several members of the Young Kennel Club also sealed their place at next year’s DFS Crufts in a variety of competitions testing their handling and heelwork to music skills. The Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme also hosted the semi final of its Special Pre-Beginner Obedience Stakes, which encourages new participants to take up competing in Obedience, with the successful competitors progressing to the NEC.
There was a further flavour of DFS Crufts on show in the Main Ring today with a couple of the biggest crowd favourites demonstrating their skills. The Southern Golden Retriever Display Team and Mary Ray both gave two performances of their popular routines during the day to allow as many of the visiting crowds to enjoy them as possible.
One of the most popular events at Discover Dogs each year is the finals of the Companion Dog Club competition. After the bitches competed yesterday, today was the turn of the dogs to take centre stage. After a number of classes for both pedigree and crossbred dogs, behaviourist and journalist Carolyn Menteith had the tricky task of choosing an overall winner. Carolyn chose Harvey, owned by Emma Tripp from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, who had earlier won the title of Most Appealing Eyes.
Discover Dogs also offers the Kennel Club and the large number of attending dog charities the chance to promote a variety of good causes and special campaigns. Andrew Rosindell MP was at the show this afternoon to lend his support to both the Kennel Club’s campaign to put an end to the puppy farming trade and Dog Theft Action’s work to reunite stolen pets with their owners.
Stop press – I just shook Michael Barrymore’s hand. Just as I was about to write about some of the celebrities who have been in attendance today, in walked the big man and proffered his hand. Sadly I didn’t get to meet Anthony Head or Lorraine Chase in person but they were definitely here too. As were some four-legged celebrities, including former EastEnders star Wellard (yes, he’s alive and well in real life folks!) and dogs from several other films, television shows and adverts.
So that’s just about it for Discover Dogs for another year. As ever it’s been an absolute ball for us to put on and hopefully for the many thousands of participants and visitors who were here. The show would be nothing without the efforts of the many hundreds of volunteers who organise and run the breed booths so we’d like to say a special thank you to them in particular. We’ll all be back next year so we very much hope you will be too. Goodnight.
