Crufts 2022

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166 – May, 2022

By Amy Fernandez

Photos by Lisa Croft-Elliott

Nobody can stage events like the British. Coronations, funerals, weddings, parades, you name it. Yeah, they’ve had centuries of practice but still, somehow they always manage that almost impossible blend of rigid formality and total weirdness. That brings me to Crufts 2022.

Just like over here, Britain’s 2021 show season ran like a dodgy alternator–stop, start with plenty of instant meltdowns. Crufts 2021, originally rescheduled for last summer, was ultimately canned along with a lot of other stuff. Predictably, everyone was counting the days for this year’s gigantic canine extravaganza at the NEC. Entries were down somewhat, with roughly 16,000 dogs entered in conformation and a grand total of slightly over 20,000 after adding in all of the performance events. The spectator gate swiftly exceeded 50,000 and millions more tuned in at home. Maybe the whole situation was set up to ensure a great welcome back, but maybe Crufts 2022 really was worth the wait.

The Best In Show winner, a Flat-Coated Retriever, managed to strike a blow for English traditionalism, except for the fact that he came from Norway. Gotta say those Norwegians have got something going on after taking the Olympics last month and now Crufts. It’s fair to say that the end of Flat-Coat domination of the Gundog scene coincided with the rise of the formal kennel club world a century ago. For most of its modern history this breed has been cultivated by devoted specialists. Anyway, the Best In Show winner, Almanza Backseat Driver, came from Oslo with his handler/co-owner, Patrick Oware, who definitely lost his Scandinavian cool in his teary-eyed, post-show interview.

For many years the Kennel Club has dedicated substantial resources to promoting and reviving its native breeds, including an annual showcase for them at Crufts. Anyway, their message seems to be getting across because Gundog Reserve went to another British stalwart, the Irish Setter, Gwendariff Come Fly with Me–an actual local dog from Lancashire.

  Click here to read the complete article
166 – May, 2022

 

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Posted by AnthonyA on May 15 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.