Crufts 2007

Spent the day at Crufts. I'm not really a doggy person but my foster mother Maureen has been breeding/ judging Boxers for about 50 years. Her Harmaur Boxers are renown in the Boxer dog world.

There's always dogs in her house, strangers can find it a bit off putting at times seeing up to 10 dogs at a time exercising in the garden.

When I was younger I used to go with her to the dog shows, other country fairs and charity events. This year's Crufts, the Creme de la Creme of the dog world, she was eligible to enter two of her dogs.

As she's now retired to Wales, I don't get to see her a great deal. The venue at the NEC Birmingham seemed an easy opportunity to meet up. Was actually in two minds about going. Felt a bit lazy about travelling but Maureen being the blunt soul she is, made me feel so very guilty when she said that one never knows what's going to happen and in her advancing years I would be sorry if daisies were growing over her. It gave me a mental jerk so I set off.

The journey from London was easy. The Virgin fast-train was on time and at Birmingham International station their staff were on hand in their bright red coats to give directions. Was quite impressed with the organisation.

Crufts was extremely well organised with 5 show halls. It was actually quite magical with dogs of all breeds everywhere. Each entrant had a cubicle for each dog so there were rows and rows of different breeds all waiting to strut their stuff. Brought back so many memories. Despite crowds of people and the noise it wasn't difficult to locate Maureen and her friend Sarah in hall 5. The dogs Fred and Daisy (photo above) two softies didn't bat an eyelid and took me in their stride.

Dog judging is serious business. It's a bit of a mystery how they select the Cruft's judges. Many of them are on their last legs. Maureen is a well known judge in the world of Boxers but she hasn't been invited to judge at Crufts yet. People travel from all over the world with their dogs seeking the champ rosettes. They follow the form of the judges, monitoring their likes and dislikes.

Took a walk along the marked breed pens to take some pics for Naim. Don't know why but he loves dogs and is not afraid of them in the slightest. It was wonderful to see the faces of the small children looking at them all. Some of the owners really went to town in the spirit of a child's world.

The special skill demonstrations were interesting. It's marvelous how they train different breeds for different tasks.

Later went to browse the many commercial stalls. It never fails to amaze me, the amount of money people spend on doggy goodies at these shows. Keeping up with the times there's a good range of dog clothes. Couldn't stop giggling to see the racks of dog vests, coats, hats and shoes along with the new dog prams for small dogs. Then there is the flashy dog colours. Some of the gimmicks are just mind boggling. They've even got organic food stuff and health food stores for dogs.

Just before leaving had a walk along the cubicles. There are so many strange looking breeds with more coming in from overseas these days. I've always been in awe of the Great Danes some of which are as big as a pony. Many owners have two or three of them and it looks so funny as they are walking them on a lead. Often wonder who is leading who. (Photo is a youngster)

Of all the dogs it was the Rottweilers all sitting in rows that freaked me out the most. It's those teeth.