A grand day out

The Lady Of The House and the Girl Of The House seem to have had a great day out at Crufts.

They told me all about it when they got home and this afternoon we've watched the highlights they recorded on TV last night.

Tonight is the BIG night when Crufts ends with the choosing of the Best In Show. The LOTH tells me she's rooting for a Flat-coated Retriever called Jet who won the Gundog class on Thursday. He's nine-and-a-half years old (striking a blow for we more mature canines) and his family had brought him all the way from his home in Edinburgh to compete. Today they've got to bring him ALL the way back again. Hope he's not too tired.

The LOTH's friend Mandy was in the Discover Dogs section of Crufts with her four Flat-Coats, Scout, Jenson, Liffey and Forrest. Mandy's going back to Crufts tonight to support Jet and his family. The LOTH can't make it sadly, but she'll be catching up on the results when she gets in later tonight.

I don't mind my lack of show awards - especially now because the GOTH kindly brought me back my own little rosette. She said I was the best dog in our house not at Crufts. That's good enough for me. As you can see I took the honour in my usual laid-back way.

The LOTH made a point of saying hello to some lovely examples of many of the breeds of dogs who follow this blog - including GSDs, Scotties, French Bulldogs, Airedales and of course Greyhounds to name but a few.

The nice things about Crufts though is that it's not really all about the breeds. You get to meet lots of cross-breeds too who compete in agility, obedience, Flyball, heelwork to music and freestyle in the arena. Then there are the medical assistance dogs and Pets as Therapy dogs who also show what they can do in the ring and meet show-goers on some of the charity stands.

There are also lots of dogs there who take part in The Kennel Club's Good Citizen Dog Scheme. The LOTH says she might enroll me for that. I think I'm pretty good already but I wouldn't mind winning a certificate with Gromit on it. I love Wallace and Gromit.

It was a LOT of walking, the LOTH said. Crufts covers about 25 acres indoors. That's big. The LOTH says she might go for two days next year as there's just too much to see in one day.

She met some lovely people including Ivor from the Retired Greyhound Trust, Debbie Connolly, an animal behaviourist and TV vet Marc Abraham. He signed a copy of his book to the LOTH AND me. I was very pleased about that.

The LOTH has started reading the book already and says it's really interesting, and funny and informative - a bit like Marc the vet himself.

I also got brought back some presents specially for me, but I'll tell you about them another time.