As I have previously mentioned, my mother-in-law breeds Norwich Terriers and shows them at various dog shows including the rather famous Crufts. Since James & I got together, we have been attending Crufts for one day a year and doing a stint on the Discover Dogs stand, which is somewhere people come to look at different types of dogs, and find out more information about the various breeds. Last year we were excused from our yearly task as I was nearly 8 months pregnant, but we were back on the job this year, complete with our 10 month old monster!
Rather excitingly a Norwich Terrier got Best in Group for the Terrier Group, and it was bred by one of Ruth’s friends – this is great news for the breed, which is a vulnerable one & needs more recognition. Unfortunately little Paris didn’t get Best in Show, but he would have won the “people’s choice” if there was one, if the general raving over on twitter is anything to go by!
Georgie (surprisingly) seemed to really enjoy the morning we spent on the Discover Dogs stand – she played with the dogs, waved at the people visiting the stand (waving is one of her new Things She Does, and James, Homily & I all get waved at all day long at the moment), and played really nicely with her toys on the floor of the pen too. There was a slight snacking incident where Ruth’s Norwich Terrier ‘Treacle’ got fed about a third of the organix oaty bar Georgie was supposed to be eating herself, but nevermind that! We managed a breastfeed or two sitting on the floor at the back of the pen inside the stand, which was interesting – I got one or two odd looks and quite a few indulgent smiles!
Our little girl was so well behaved all day, we actually couldn’t believe our luck! There were very few tears, hardly any impatience, and lots of loving cuddles throughout the morning. After we were done with our responsibilities on the Discover Dogs stand we headed to the Norwich Terrier benches to catch up with Ruth (she got 3rd place in two classes!) and to return Treacle to her. By the time we were done chatting Georgie was fast asleep in the pushchair and remained that way for over three hours while we browsed the various stalls and display rings – she even missed out on lunch! Waving to her adoring public all morning combined with the early start must have really tired her out.
Of course things never go perfectly for long, so she ended the day with the BIGGEST nappy explosion in the world. In the car seat. On the way to pick up Homily from the kind friend who dogsat for us. So, inevitably, one of the first things we said upon arrival was not “thank you so much for looking after our dog” but “do you mind if we borrow your changing mat, we’ve had a bit of an incident”. And that, my lovely readers, turned out to be a bit of an understatement. An ENTIRE new outfit was required, right down to the dress which was clean until we took the tights off and containment got a bit out of hand. Warm water and a cloth were brought to the scene, as wipes just weren’t up to the job. I can safely say that this was the worst nappy we’ve dealt with in ten months, and we had to deal with it on the conservatory floor of a very nice couple of people who live in a gorgeous house. Thank goodness they recently adopted a pair of two year olds so have had recent nappy experience, otherwise I think I would have died of shame about it all!
This year wasn’t just the first Crufts for Georgie, but for our fantastic friend Becca too, who joined us for the weekend and had a great time indulging her obsession of all things canine (and greyhounds in particular!). You can read Becca’s blogpost about the weekend here. It was great to see her again and we had a fab time catching up with each other and watching the Crufts tv coverage in the evening as well.
As is always the case with Crufts, we didn’t come away empty handed! I got a new fridge magnet for my collection, Georgie got two puppy soft toys (thanks for one of these Becca!) and Homily got a whole lot of food samples/treats to try out. Including Porky Oinks… EW. Needless to say, she loves them.
If you love dogs you really should think about going to Crufts one year. It is expensive, but it is a great experience, especially if you can get some time in the main arena to witness some flyball, agility, or heelwork to music. The talent and enjoyment of the dogs is simply exhilarating! I would recommend it to any dog lover.
I had *such* a lovely time with you all! I still cannot get over how good Georgie was, such a pleasure, she deserved that dog soft toy bless her!