Crufts 2009 – Day 1
Originally uploaded by thekennelclub
It’s the first time in 40 years that Crufts hasn’t been on the telly. From when I was little, sitting down to watch Crufts was always a Big Thing. I would argue with my family about getting to watch all of it, which was part of the whole Not Being Allowed A Dog thing. I’d sit glued to the screen and watch the various breeds trot round the green carpet, with Peter Purves doing his commentary, honing my dog-spotting skills (I’m still pretty good at identifying unusual breeds). There would be a few highlights from the obedience ring and in due course, the flyball and the agility competitions. As I got older, and with my own dog, I realised I was less interested in the conformation classes – which took up the lion’s share of the BBC coverage – and once I started doing agility myself, I got quite cross about how agility was one of the big crowd draws (in the main arena) and yet it got practically no coverage from the BBC. Maybe an hour if you were lucky.
So from my selfish point of view, the BBC pulling coverage of Crufts and the replacement live-streaming / video on demand has given me much more of what I want. I’ve seen all the agility and flyball and I’ve been following various tweets as well. I’ve occasionally dipped into the conformation classes, but have found then quite dull when there’s so much agility to watch. So whatever happens in the future with the BBC, I really hope that the sports will continue to be streamed in their entirety.
I had an interesting conversation about Crufts with some of my new colleagues, one of whom understands the science of the in-breeding shown up in Pedigree Dogs Exposed. And I found myself saying aloud that even though it’s clearly – scientifically, in health terms – WRONG to in-breed as has been the case in some breeds, the Kennel Club has a good track record in terms of agility. In other parts of the world, only pedigree dogs can compete in agility, and the KC hasn’t gone down that route. For whatever reason.
Yet – as I type this I see on the live streaming a German Shepherd with a very tilted back. None of the GSDs I see doing obedience or agility have that sloping rear end. The police dogs I see don’t have that shape. Sheesh.
So totaly agree, this year was the 1st in ages I was actually getting excited about crufts – all that agility!! but unfort my computer crashed every time I tried to watchGlad I missed the GSD, I really hate to see them with that roach back thing – and I have been in so many online conversations with GSD breeders who cannot see anything wrong with the poor dogs wabbling across the arena!!- also soooo glad that my lovely mutts can do agility in this country – its sad that other countries are so snobby about a bit of paper!!As for the homemade agility stuffI am rubbish at DIY but this was fairly easyI just found an offcut of wood about the size I wanted, cut up some thin wood battons and glued them on roughly evenly, painted in outdoor gloss paint (even in 2 colours – although of course the height of the contact is wrong) and then shook some sand ontop so it isnt slippyReally has worked well for Ben – espech the seesaw as he was totaly scared of them just a few weeks before the Glennifer show – but we practised every day for a week and then he loves them
I admit I absolutely loved watching all the agility on the live stream. And I always love hearing Peter’s commentary. I do hope that changes in the standards over there do continue, You in the UK, lead the way for us over here in the US. If you make changes for the better, they will make there way here as well, eventually. You are always ahead of the pack over there
Now I’m off to catch up on the rest of your blog, we’ve been MIA recently, bad doggies 
@Ben – thanks for the info, I will definitely have to work myself up into some sort of DIY activity. @Johann – I think the Scandinavians are the ones to watch. The Swedish kennel club in particular has been monitoring which dogs are bred to which and I understand they have a 20 years of data available on the internet for those who want to know – and who can read Swedish …
As far as I know, Crufts hasn’t been televised in the past in Australia – though I’m not sure, because I thought it was all about conformation so I wouldn’t have taken any notice of it – but if it’s on the computer in future it would be great. Now that this in-breeding discussion has hit the headlines, there’s been the extra publicity that lets people like me know there is more to Crufts than dogs standing around on tables.