CRUFTS 2004 (Birmingham NEC - March 4-7th)
The question I am asked more often than anything else, these days, is "How did that Whippet win Crufts". It's a fair question, not because the Whippet didn't deserve to win Crufts, but because, unless you understand the mechanism for choosing a winner, it is all rather confusing. I will explain.
Every dog entered at Crufts Dog Show belongs to one of 177 different registered breeds. There were more than 21,000 dogs entered this year, making it the third largest Crufts entry ever. To get to enter, each dog has had to win it's' best of breed at one of a number of qualifying shows round the country in the previous year.
So once entered at Crufts what happens?
In the UK (and it is different on the continent and in the USA) each breed is placed in one of SEVEN different Groups. These are:
The Toy Group - 22 breeds, essentially the smaller breeds, the companion dogs such as Pekingese, Bichon Frise, and Yorkshire Terrier (yes it is a toy and not a terrier)

The Terrier Group - 26 breeds - as you'd expect, with dogs such as the Airedale, and the Border Terrier

The Gundog Group - 27 breeds - These are the working Gundogs and include those great favourites the Labrador Retriever, The Golden retriever and the Spaniels

The Working Group - 21 breeds - These comprise many of the Giant Breeds, that do particular jobs, draught dogs and Guards - including The Newfoundland, the Rottweiler and the Giant Schnauzer

The Pastoral Group - 29 breeds - These are the herding dogs and comprise popular breeds such as The Border Collie, the German Shepherd and the welsh Corgis

The Hound Group - 27 breeds - A most varied group but all are real Hounds from the tallest of all the breeds, the Irish Wolfhound, down to the short legged Bassetts

And finally

The Utility Group - 23 breeds - this again is a most diverse group with dogs that don't easily fit into any of the other groups, and range from the Japanese Akita and the Standard Poodle to the Boston Terrier
To make it more manageable, currently Crufts takes place over four days and one or two Groups are judges on each day. That means that upwards of 5000 dogs are judged each day of the show.
Each dog or bitch is judged in its own breed ring(s) by the breed judge (in the case of some of the larger entries - Golden retrievers, Cocker Spaniels, Labs etc.- the bitches and dogs will each have a separate judge) in classes against all the others of its breed. This judging eventually produces a best dog and a best bitch. These two go head to head to produce the BEST OF BREED (BOB).
All of the BOB's from the same Group go at the end of each day into the Main ring for another judge to look at them in the GROUP JUDGING to determine the BEST IN GROUP (BIG).
By the end of the final day of the show the SEVEN BIG's go into the main ring to face yet another judge to decide the BEST IN SHOW (BIS).
So having faced all of these trials, this year, the winner of the Hound Group, the Whippet bitch Champion Cobyco Call The Tune, owned by Mrs Lynne Yacoby-Wright was judged BEST IN SHOW by the judge, Mrs Margaret Everton. This was the first Whippet BIS winner since 1992. And after all that , who can say that it wasn't a deserved win. My own personal preference would have been for the Giant Schnauzer, but all seven did great credit to the show.
For the record the other Group winners were:
Toy: Bicon Frise. American Champion Parays I Told You So
Utility: Tibetan Terrier. Champion Araki Fabulous Willy (yes really!!)
Gundog: Labrador Retriever. Show Champion Tullochmohr
Final Edition Working: Giant Shnauzer. Champion JafraK Phillippe Olivier
Pastoral: Old English Sheepdog. Barkshire born in the USA with Brinkley
Terrier: Scottish Terrier. Champion Raglan Rose Maiden at Brio
The rest of the show was, as usual wonderful, with the exception of the parking and the Getting away from the NEC. For the first time since the show has been held at the NEC, the roads were a real problem. Normally, access from the M42 has been difficult, but mostly manageable. This year, many felt the show was spoiled for them because of the difficulties many drivers experienced at the end of each day.
That is a shame, because the events in the show were as splendid as ever. The Special Events Ring kept huge crowds entertained over the four days and The myriad trade stands did a roaring trade. The Animal charities, as always gave a good account of themselves, and the 130000 people who paid at the turnstiles will have felt they got good value for their money.
It has to be my favourite working week of the year - with my colleagues on the BBC team, Jessica Holm, Frank Kane, and Wayne Cavanaugh, together with Phillippa Forrester and our new reporter from Top Gear, Richard Hammond and the whole BBC technical team, the show is always a pleasure.
One amusing moment for me, was when I was awaiting the arrival of my camera crew to go to film a piece for one of our BBC 2 shows. A little old lady, came up to me, her husband trailing along two or three yards behind, and asked in a heavy Lancashire Accent "Where do they keep the dogs?"
What do you say when you are standing in one of five halls, packed to Overflowing with dogs? I began to point to one of the demonstration rings beside which I was standing, and she said "I don't want sideshows, I want to see the dogs".
"What dogs in particular?" I asked her.
"Terriers", she replied.
It was Gundog Day!
Luckily I could send her off to the Discover Dogs area where on any day you can see at least one of every registered breed, plus one or two other exotic and new breeds to this country. Off she went without a word, husband trailing again, muttering "sorry" very quietly under his breath as they went.
I love Crufts. Roll on 2005
I would appreciate any comments you may have via my email: peter@peterpurves.com
To read Peter's account of Crufts 2003 please Click Here
Crufts is organised by The Kennel Club.