Crufts 2010 – A Confederacy of Dogs

178 – April, 2010

By Sarah Montague

Photos By Lisa Croft-Elliott

I last came to Crufts (or DFS Crufts, to give its major corporate sponsor, the furniture retailer DFS, its due) 30 years ago, when it was still a (relatively) modest show at Olympia, though already showing signs that it would outgrow that home soon.

In the interval—facilitated by the move to the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in 1991—it has grown into something that is part contest, part trade show, and all branding campaign.  Crufts isn’t just the manifestation of a venerable sporting tradition, it is the U.K. Kennel Club’s battle cry. After two years of baleful scrutiny of the pure-bred dog community prompted by a 2008 BBC documentary on disorders resulting from some irresponsible breeding practices, the Club’s counter-attack is evident on every poster, every piece of collateral, and in the carefully scripted commentaries of presenters: Crufts and, by extension, the breeding and showing community celebrates “healthy, happy dogs” who are “fit for function, fit for life.”

This mission/manifesto was evident, too, in the various Kennel Club initiatives being displayed in the enormous NEC Halls (five are used in the competition) which house hundreds of booths in addition to show rings and arenas. The Club showcased its Accredited Breeders Scheme, with 5,000 members (and counting) committed to a range of health and public information protocols. There was also a Health Centre set up to educate the professional community and the general public about health issues relating to various breeds and how these are being researched and combated.

To bring its principles to life, this year the Club introduced its first annual Breeders Competition, in which teams of four dogs from a single kennel are judged in a cross between a breed competition and a drill team exhibition, handled by team members in colorful costumes symbolic of either their region or their dogs’ origins. 54 teams made it to Crufts after a series of competitions held around the country, and the palm was awarded to a stylish quartet of Border Collies bred by Janet Gregory from her Tonkory kennels.  Judge Jeff Horswell very much had the Kennel Club’s vision in mind, praising the collies’ “evenness, high quality, and conformation to the breed standard.” Tonkory team member Jason Higgins said he credited their win to “good breeding, good practice, and good nutrition.” “It’s no one thing—it’s doing a lot of things right.”

Coincidentally, I was primed for this focus on breeding, bloodlines, and evolution by a documentary I watched on my plane ride over from New York. The Secret Life of the Dog, (a BBC2/Horizon production) profiled a number of scientific studies in several countries that are trying to determine everything from how dogs read our body language to where they actually came from. The astonishing answer to the latter is that DNA sequencing has now firmly established the once-anecdotal assumption that 95% of all breeds descend from the Grey Wolf.  So today’s extraordinary diversity is a combination of biology conforming to environment, and our own careful nurture and selection. (A slightly hilarious aspect of this documentary was its grave discussion of one study that is painstakingly trying to determine whether dogs have actual “personalities”, as opposed to merely “traits”—it could have saved itself a great deal of time and money by talking to any breeder/owner/handler!)

Citizens of the World

Despite the lingering shadows of the recession and new legislation affecting some entries (Gamekeeper’s classes were down 17% because even dogs with legally docked tails, such as working dogs, are no longer allowed in any event the public pays money to see), Crufts still had a robust entry of approximately 28,000—22, 000 representing pedigreed dogs.

And nothing speaks to the scope and durability of the sport as much as the show’s international flavor. This is evident in everything from the bloodlines of individual dogs—three of the group winners were foreign born and one had an American sire—to the transatlantic and transcontinental careers of a number of the leading “exhibits,” as they are called at Crufts, to the alliances and partnerships among breeders, owners, and handlers that enable this. (Four of the last five Crufts Best in Show winners including last year’s victor Sealyham Terrier, Am., Can. & Sw. Ch. Efbe’s Hidalgo at Goodspice “Charmin” have had successful U.S. careers.)

In the 19th century, the novelist Henry James wrote about the alliances made by American heiresses with European gentry and nobility, and the advantages of these canine unions seem very similar—a pooling of resources both biological and material; elevated social status; financial rewards; cross-cultural exploration.

Virginia-based breeder and owner J. Frank Baylis and U.K.-based Robert Harlow have enjoyed an association for years—two of their “joint ventures” are Australian Shepherd Ch. Heatherhill Shock N’ Awe “Shocka” who has just concluded a successful U.K. career with co-owner/handler Angela Allan and is now being shown in the U.S. by Jeff Margeson, and Crufts 2010 Best of Breed Border Collie Bayshore’s Avatar British Connection “Britt”. In addition, Baylis took Best of Breed in Aussies this year with a dog who has spent six months in Italy with Gabriella Lovati, Am./Italian Ch. Bayshore’s Triple Ex “Diesel”. For Baylis, a global perspective on breeding and showing is key—he cites the importance of expanding the gene pool— “Line breeding is great, but you must outcross”—and the advantages of bringing a dog with some continental polish onto the U.K. scene. Most of all, he cherishes the many friendships, in a half dozen countries, that have resulted. James’s Daisy Miller couldn’t have put it better.

Henry James’s hopeful debutantes got to travel luxuriously by ocean liner, but the most stressful aspect of transatlantic showing is the Draconian health and shipping requirements—and high fees—involved in transporting dogs directly into the U.K., even with the advent of “pet passports”.   Baylis meets up with his dogs’ handlers in Amsterdam, while Floridian Virginia Dorris, who is currently campaigning Standard Poodle Ch. Kaylen’s By Invitation Only “Tux” and Powder Puff Chinese Crested Ch. Vanitonia Devil Wears Prada “Lizabeth” generally goes through France to save time at customs, and money. Dorris works with handlers Kay Palade-Peiser (U.S.) and Philip Langdon (U.K.). She finds the larger competitive field at Crufts, and abroad, as well as the more informal atmosphere, challenging but invigorating:

“I love showing in Europe—against, usually, 10 times the number of dogs than we show against in the U.S. It is an experience to watch the difference in how the classes are held. The U.S. is very orderly with everyone entering and leaving through a specific place versus in Europe where they come in from any area open and disburse the same way. That took getting used to. I love the fact that they critique the top three in the class so you get an idea of what the judge likes and does not like about your dog. It is much harder to win a Breed or become a Champion in the U.K. Winning 100 Breed wins in the U.S. against 10 to 20 dogs is not nearly as thrilling as winning Breed in one show against 155 to 195 dogs. Also 400 vendors in one spot – what can I say!”

The most genial solution to the travel problem may be that of Bitte Ahrens, co-owner with Salvatore Tripoli and handler of 2010 Crufts Best of Breed Bracco Italiano of Ch. Axel del Monte Alago “Axel”. She and her husband and two children bundle their dogs (they also have greyhounds) into their motor home and treat travelling to shows as a family holiday. She says this is much less stressful for her, and much nicer for the dogs.

However dogs come to shows, and in whatever new configurations they leave, it is clear that the international expansion of competition is here to stay. As Hamiltonstovare breeder Michelle Longman, who has just sent a champion puppy to a young handler in the U.S., observes, “At the end of the day, we’ve all got the same passion, the same enthusiasm, the same commitment.” The dogs of Crufts are like the myriad lines in a map of the canine world, converging briefly on this greatest of global villages.

The Seven Samurai

As Virginia Dorris has observed, an extraordinary winnowing process occurs to deliver each evening, to expectant audiences seated in the NEC arena, the Best of Breed selections and subsequent Group winners. Many breed classes had upwards of 100 entries, and several had over 400, requiring two judges (dog and bitch).

If a common thread could be found in Group placements, it was ease of movement, in keeping with the fitness/function focus of the Kennel Club. Otherwise, the judges’ choices reflected the rich range of types and tasks represented by the dogs in each group.

Even with the international contingent pressing hotly, Day One saw two home-bred champions: the Working Group was won by the Rottweiler Ch. Olearia Blaze of Gold, shown by breeder/co-owner Marie Monk. Monk relished her win with “Joe”, and confided in a cheerful Yorkshire brogue that she’d trod on him during the run into the ring. “I thought—‘that’s it, he’s going to be lame; that’s ruined me chances for the Group,’ but he’s just tough, so he carried on, bless him.”

The Pastoral Group win by Welsh Cardigan Corgi Ch. Bymil Picture (the placing was a first for a “Cardy”), was a push for Kennel Club’s Accredited Breeder Scheme, as well as for British Heritage Breeds, a program spotlighting endangered (as measured by declining registrations) British and Irish dogs. Owner/handler Sarah Taylor mentioned both affiliations in her post-win comments as well as noting that “Ina” is a lovely dog and family pet. Judge Robin Searle said that as a specimen of the breed, Ina was “one of the best I’ve ever seen”, praising her “ground-covering movement” and “sensible temperament.”

On Friday, European dogs and handlers dominated the action. The Terrier Group showed that Scotty power—evidenced by this year’s Westminster Kennel Club BIS win by Ch. Roundtown Mercedes of MaryScot “Sadie”—was in full force, as Russian-born Scottish Terrier (now there’s a canine oxymoron if ever there was one) Rus/Slo/Eur Ch. Filigite Brash Celebration “Rico”, took the Group. Demure owner/handler Valentina Popova speaks very little English, so simply beamed at the flurry of congratulations and questions. Group judge Jack Watson was more focussed on form than on the famous Scotty temperament. When I quoted Westminster BIS judge Elliott Weiss’s remarks about Sadie, “She looked me in the eye as if to say ‘enough already–you know it’s me, just give me the ribbon’” he said what really drew his eye to Rico was “his lovely long head, short body, and ground-covering stride,” although he did allow that he had a lot of “ring presence.”

“Ring presence” certainly comes to mind when considering this year’s Hound Group winner, Pharaoh Hound Int. Ch. Northgate’s As You Like It “Qing”. Indeed, this show saw the conclusion of Finnish-bred Qing’s long partnership with owner/handler Jenni Hall. The striking pair (Hall’s brilliant aubergine bangs reflect Qing’s luminous copper body) have floated through a number of major European championships in the past few years, but Qing is now on his way to a career in America with handler Brian Livingston.

Judge Liz Cartledge commented on this hound’s eye-catching style: “He’s an absolute standout. He goes ‘round the ring as if he owns the whole place—and that’s what a show dog should do. I chose him because he really asked for it.”

Second-place hound Dutch Ch. Cappuccino Van Tum-Tums Vriendjes, a Dutch-bred Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, co-owned by Gavin and Sarah Robertson and Gwen Huikeshoven, will probably help solidify this breed’s growing popularity in the U.K., especially as this was the same One/Two breed placement as last year, when another  Robertson PBGV, Ch. Soletrader My Aphrodisiac, was second to Qing. Mrs. Cartledge called Cappuccino “a happy little hound,” with Gavin Robertson agreeing that he “enjoys life and enjoys showing.”

I’ve always enjoyed the high contrast aspect of the Hound Group, with pencil-elegant Ibizans vying with sturdy Dachshunds, and the NASCAR-speed Pharaohs skimming by the doughty Bassets, but for a real study in opposites there is nothing like seeing the Toy and Utility classes judged back to back.

Toy Group judge Mrs. D. Ann Horan said that her four winners “could have changed places at anytime,” but had special praise for her first-place pick, the Maltese Ch. Benatone Gold Ring, “Miles” the U.K.’s leading Maltese (in the Dog World/Arden Grange Top Dog competition 2009). “He fits the standard to a T. He’s got the temperament, he’s got the coat—he’s just everything you want in a Maltese”. This was a first Crufts Group win for handler Sarah Jackson, who has been coming to the show since she was a child and called her moment, “a dream come true.” She feels Miles is the best sort of example of the renewed emphasis on responsible breeding—fresh bloodlines from Miles’s dad—a top-producing American stud dog, and his British granddad, one of the breeds’ all-time top dogs. “At the end of the day, money doesn’t come first—it’s the welfare of your dogs.”

Andrew Leonard, the co-owner and handler of the Group Two toy, English Toy Terrier (Black & Tan) Ch. Witchstone Telling Tails, struck a sentimental note when he credited his win from his leading ETT kennel to his relationship to Lizzie: “She’s my girl, and always has been…when she’s out with Dad on show day, all she wants to do is please me, and she certainly did that today.”

While breed wins often go to veterans of the show circuit, it was nice to see some youthful triumphs, as in the case of the Toy Group’s third-place winner, 20 month-old charmer Roamaycee Royal Signature at Donzeata, a Brussels Griffon bitch, shown by owner David Guy. Ann Horan marvelled at Gladys’s pulled-together look “coat, compactness, lovely topline” which should have gratified Guy, who said his main challenge was balancing his philosophy of letting his dogs “lead free, happy lives” and maintaining their show coats! He also enjoys the breed’s “intelligence and impudence.”

Youth had its day in the Utility ring also, where judge Carol Harwood also had praise for the breed selections: “The judges sent me some beautiful dogs and it was a difficult choice. The eight [her shortlist] pressed each other very hard.” Her final choice accounted for, in my view, one of the most affecting images of the event. Veteran handler Liz Dunhill, after a marvelously flowing final run with 20-month old Akita, Ch. Ruthdales Next Top Model “Tyra” did not look up from her dog’s radiant stand until Harwood stood almost on top of her, ready with a ritual handshake and a rosette.  Says Dunhill, who teaches show craft and offers life coaching to other handlers, “I never believe it until it’s in my hand.” She credits Tyra’s win to her “super easy” character (“she didn’t read the part of the breed standard that says ‘aloof’”) and her own work on body english for dogs. In an echo of one of the studies mentioned in The Secret Life of the Dog, she notes that they are great readers of faces, posture, and pheromones. This bonding paid off in Harwood’s eyes:  “The Akita just pulled a little something extra out of the bag—and that did it.”

The second place win for top U.K. Chow Chow Ch. Towmena in the Frame “Framer” felt like a lifetime achievement award for owner/handler Rodney Oldham, calling the moment “amazing” after his forty-five years in the breed.  This was probably Oldham’s last Crufts as a handler, as he is now primarily involved in judging.

And while I started this section by talking about the contrast between the Toy and Utility Groups, there is, of course, one pivotal breed, the toy poodle, which shows as a Utility dog in the U.K. Harwood says she likes to see the toy stacked up with its Miniature and Standard counterparts, and proved it had big-dog chops with a fourth place award for Tuttlebees Witch Trader, graduating from his top puppy status last year.  Co-owner and handler Angela Corish also thinks this is the right group for the Toy, and echoed many competitors in saying that one key factor in Albert’s success is his genuine enjoyment of the show ring environment.

Have Gun dog, Will Travel

Show dogs have tremendous equanimity, but it is hard not to feel for the gun dog contingent, least suited of all groups to a long day spent in stanchions and the onslaught of hyper-ventilating crowds. And I admit to a great partiality for these gentle giants, so made time to circulate at several breed rings on Sunday morning. I love the Italian Spinone’s slightly goofy look—as if Charles Schultz had been asked to design a sporting dog—and was pleased to see that a program advertisement for last year’s breed winner, Sh Ch. Hastabbi Ticked Pink JW—boasted that she was “as good in the field as she is in the ring.”

This was also my introduction to the beguiling Bracco Italiano currently with Foundation Stock status in the AKC registry, getting a chance to watch both European champion Axel, and Julie Rawlings’ young dog Bolton Oransade of Braccorion “Gibbs”, handled by Liz Dunhill, in action. (Axel was the unsurprising BoB winner, with Gibbs going Reserve Dog.) A visit to the “Discover Dogs” section of the show (a series of breed information booths that occupied the whole back wall of Hall 3) revealed that Braccos originated in 16th century Italy, and that their Basset-like heads are coincidental. It also revealed, alas, that this is not the dog for my New York City studio apartment, demonstrating the important function of these booths—to inform prospective buyers and deter infatuated purchases that wind up as rescues.

I often think of gundogs as the Clark Kents of the show ring, but this mild-mannered contingent fielded some luminous performances in Group, first and foremost by its acknowledged Superman, the Hungarian Vizsla Sh Ch./Aust Ch. Hungargunn Bear It’N Mind, owned by Naomi Cragg and Kathryn Armstrong. Yogi is the record holder for Best In Show victories at all-breed shows in the U.K. As handler John Thirlwell noted, “He’s an exceptionally good mover—that’s his trademark, that’s when he shows his perfect conformation.” This was certainly enough to get the nod from judge Colin MacKay, who put up the effusive English Setter Sh Ch. Mariglen Francesca Fenston second. “Frankie” tried to provide me with my only dog interview by thrusting her muzzle into my microphone at the collection ring, but then left it to owner/handler Jane Dennis to say that “she just enjoys being here.” American Cocker Spaniel Afterglow Veronica Mars made a stylish third, and fourth place Flat Coated Retriever Ballyriver Mackenzie was an audience favourite.

Of course, the Gundog Group judging was only one facet of Crufts closing night, an extravaganza meant to display for a packed house all the marvels, and some of the miracles, the canine world has to offer. These included the Agility championships final; a gorgeous Busby Berkley-like presentation by the Southern Golden Retriever Display Team; and that most quintessentially English of all events, the awarding of the Northesk memorial trophy (by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation) to one finalist in the Gamekeepers’ competitions. This year’s winner, appearing in what must have been his usual working attire—plaid shirt, leather vest, and corduroy trousers—was Somerset gamekeeper Melvyn Hobbs and his English Springer Spaniel Whitebrook Lord of the Rings “Moley”.

This evening also saw the most international event of this very international show—the final of the Junior Handlers competition, which featured young handlers from thirty-six different countries who had qualified in a series of shows in their own countries, and were now being judged on their work with dogs borrowed from the generous British show dog community. Liz Cartledge, the U.K. coordinator for this event in addition to her judging responsibilities, says cheerfully that she obtains dogs through “blackmail, intimidation, and friendship” but feels that the effort is worth it—the juniors form strong bonds and “they are the future of dogs.”

This year’s winner, Aleksandra Szydlowska of Poland, is already a veteran handler at fourteen and was very pleased with her on-loan English Pointer, one of the breeds she shows at home. Judge Ove Germnudsson of Sweden praised her ease: “she had it all in the body, not overdone—she was clear, she was happy, and super contact with the dog.” Second place went to New Zealander Page O’Neill, and third to the U.K.’s Georgina Ferguson. But to me, the most striking moments of the competition had little to do with awards: the Israeli entrant, Maria Kraskin, handled an Egyptian Pharaoh hound—linking with a single dog lead two embattled cultures—and, 20 years after the ending of South African apartheid, its junior representative, Graeme Graham, was black.

Also moving was the annual presentation of finalists in the Kennel Club’s Friends for Life Competition, which showcases the work of service dogs for people with severe handicaps, physical or emotional impairments, or demanding and dangerous lives. Finalists this year included Treo, an 8 year-old Labrador who works as an Arms Explosives Dog with Sergeant Dave Heyhoe, and the winners, eight year-old muscular dystrophy sufferer Sam Daly, who credits his assistance dog Josie, a yellow Lab, with giving him the confidence to face the world and his illness.

A lighter note, but no less a testimony to the amazing generosity of dogs, was a performance by celebrity heel dancer Mary Ray (if you haven’t seen this sport before, think ice dancing–with a dog.) Her Western-themed presentation had her dogs Levi and Kizzy sashaying, whirling, and strutting to music from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and Bonanza, among other tunes, and left the audience dissolved in appreciative laughter.

Not a laughing matter, unfortunately, was the intrusion, as at Westminster this year, of a deranged PETA protestor screaming from the stalls; happily, both the audience and the imperturbable commentator took no notice of her and she was swiftly removed by the security team. (Early in the evening they’d had to deal with a well-known streaker, clad in a rhinestone jock strap, who rushed in during the Gundog final and probably thoroughly disconcerted the stately Large Munsterlander who was doing a down and back at the time.)

And then it was time. A traditional trumpet fanfare by The Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood, and the seven Group winners and Best in Show contenders moved into the spotlight. I think again of The Secret Life of the Dog as they go through their paces for BIS judge Valerie Foss and the audience applauds the lumbering dignity of the Rottweiler; the entitled waddle of the Corgi; the brisk churn of the Scottie; the singing lines of the Pharaoh Hound; the determined wriggle of the Maltese; the intent trot of the Akita; and the rangy lope of the Vizsla. And in the end, Yogi, this somewhat solemn, Australian-bred dog, and his no-nonsense handler John Thirlwell, took the prize, which had eluded them last year.

As Yogi and Thirlwell were put through their paces by a barrage of photographers, Valerie Foss praised her predecessors’ “brilliant” group picks: “it was a difficult decision, but you come down to the one, on the night, that has the charisma, and the big ring presence.  And he’s such a lovely moving dog.  He’s sound, and he’s happy.”

According to Thirlwell, emerging from the glow of flashbulbs with the comment that it “hadn’t sunk in yet,”

and that he felt “surreal”, happiness for Yogi is showing off, and pleasing his people. “He’s done a lot for the breed.” And, as 2009 top stud dog, all breeds, “he’s not just a pretty face.”  Although presumably, he is passing that sweetly grave demeanor on to his offspring. The Reserve Best in Show went to Rico the Scottish Terrier.

It’s Always Brigadoon

When I arrive at the NEC Monday morning to look at photos in the U.K. Kennel Club press office, most of the physical manifestations of the show have already disappeared—the stands toppled; the rings dismantled; the plush toys returned to whatever Neverland they live in between events; the tidal flow of debris scooped up. Crufts 2010 is over, and the dogs gone home to dream of bones.

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