Crufts 2014

tk123

SingItOut wrote: »

I'm quite short maybe that's why remi (bfs husky) appears bigger haha

I have the same problem with my retrievers appearing huge lol!

ABajaninCork

It was a Samoyed. I reckon that's the winner right there!

I'm on a roll tonight. Picked out the Rottie, Samoyed and the Bearded Collie to place...:D

HeidiHeidi

ABajaninCork wrote: »

It was a Samoyed. I reckon that's the winner right there!

I'm on a roll tonight. Picked out the Rottie, Samoyed and the Bearded Collie to place...:D

No, not the Samoyed. Was to the left of him and the Pyr. Twice the size.

In fact, does anyone know the breed of the dreadlocked dog? Missed that one as well.

Mountains of things they were!

HeidiHeidi

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

No, not the Samoyed. Was to the left of him and the Pyr. Twice the size.

In fact, does anyone know the breed of the dreadlocked dog? Missed that one as well.

Mountains of things they were!

Found 'em!

Komondor (dreadlocks) and Maremma Sheepdog.

New ones on me

Zapperzy

My heart breaks a little when I see the banana back gsd, my grandparents have a beautiful huge straight backed one.

The komondor resembles a giant mop, very strange coat! :eek: And that maremma sheepdog looked like a massive sheep

ETA: Used to regularly see a guy walking a pyrenean mountain dog, huge gentle giant.

HeidiHeidi

Zapperzy wrote: »

My heart breaks a little when I see the banana back gsd, my grandparents have a beautiful huge straight backed one.

The komondor resembles a giant mop, very strange coat! :eek: And that maremma sheepdog looked like a massive sheep

I was trying to think what it reminded me of :D:D

SillyMangoX

I keep trying to find out my moms favorite breed while we're watching, she says she doesn't like big dogs but every single one she says she likes is a giant! Especially the Black Russian terrier!

Hooked

SingItOut wrote: »

The Siberian husky on more 4 at the moment looks so tiny! My boyfriends sib husky looks huge in comparison

Just catching up on today's coverage... Not wanting to sound cruel, but that husky was not my cup of tae at all!!!

Not just the fact it was slim... The proportions, it's head, neckline... Nothing about it appealed to me.

I've obviously been biased by the show dogs I've seen over here, and the fact Hugo and Jacks dad is such a fine example of the breed.

Last years BOB was the same... Not for me at all.

The agility is something else. To see those dogs and the kids that run them... Amazing!

muddypaws

Hooked wrote: »

Just catching up on today's coverage... Not wanting to sound cruel, but that husky was not my cup of tae at all!!!

Not just the fact it was slim... The proportions, it's head, neckline... Nothing about it appealed to me.

I've obviously been biased by the show dogs I've seen over here, and the fact Hugo and Jacks dad is such a fine example of the breed.

Last years BOB was the same... Not for me at all.

Lol, Ron, the BOB today has run in loads of sled dog rallies, i.e., working in harness and some very close relatives of his have raced in and completed the Yukon Quest, a 1000 mile sled dog race. Not looking for an argument, but honestly, how many of the show sibes that you prefer actually work and are fit for purpose? I was delighted to see that the judge this year was someone who has working sibes. I am also delighted that a majority of the sibes that are shown in the UK are dual purpose, i.e., they work and are shown, really not the case here unfortunately.

SingItOut

muddypaws wrote: »

If only you knew how controversial that is. The Sibe judge this year is from Norway, and is known for his working lines dogs, so a lot of people with the smaller, show style sibes didn't enter. The dog that won BOB is a lovely dog, but is tall for a sibe, within standard, but definitely a working dog, so very ironic that you think he was tiny.

And this is me looking at him on the tv so of course he's going to look smaller

BillyMitchel

SillyMangoX wrote: »

I keep trying to find out my moms favorite breed while we're watching, she says she doesn't like big dogs but every single one she says she likes is a giant! Especially the Black Russian terrier!

The Black Russian was amazing in fairness. How did it do? Was that the same group as the Tibetan Mastiff? The Kommador was really impressive too.

Not a fan of dog shows at all but some nice specimens on tonight.

SillyMangoX

BillyMitchel wrote: »

The Black Russian was amazing in fairness. How did it do? Was that the same group as the Tibetan Mastiff? The Kommador was really impressive too.

Not a fan of dog shows at all but some nice specimens on tonight.

Didn't make the short list
Did anyone else see the poo-vac? I want one! :pac:

Hooked

muddypaws wrote: »

Lol, Ron, the BOB today has run in loads of sled dog rallies, i.e., working in harness and some very close relatives of his have raced in and completed the Yukon Quest, a 1000 mile sled dog race. Not looking for an argument, but honestly, how many of the show sibes that you prefer actually work and are fit for purpose? I was delighted to see that the judge this year was someone who has working sibes. I am also delighted that a majority of the sibes that are shown in the UK are dual purpose, i.e., they work and are shown, really not the case here unfortunately.

Hey muddy paws

I guess I've only been exposed to one 'type' or look over here. Now, most of the show dogs I've seen have been as slim as Ron... And I know one kennel that work their dogs. They are all quite trim. Whereby Hugo is a bit on the big side. I guess it was more about proportions than how slight he was.

He just wasn't the type of husky that I like. He looked a bit leggy... Longer muzzle... Narrow face and chest.

SillyMangoX

Have to say I'm loving all the full tailed dogs that were traditionally docked!

boomerang

Speaking of Clare Balding,

Has anyone else read her autobiography? It's a great read! It centres on all the dogs and horses she had growing up. I really loved it.

andreac

Look who I met today and she's lovely.

Toulouse

No way!!!! So jelluz

Wish I was there but sadly my partner in crime's dog is very ill so it'll be next year.

andreac

Awh that's a pity but hopefully the doggy will feel better soon. Anyone who's a dog lover should try and go to crufts at least once in their life. It really is doggy heaven. So much to see, do and buy. Ai art from showing there's still lots of other doggy related stuff to see so even if you aren't in to showing it's well worth a visit.

Toulouse

Yep, we're not into showing at all but we head over for the shopping (one guy gives me great deals on slip-leads, I head to him every year) and also to see what rescues are there, meet up with friends, check out what's new on the food scene and the last few years we've had some dogs that we've previously rescued competing in Agility so we go to see them.

SillyMangoX

Ah you're so lucky Andrea!! Very jealous over here :P

cocobubbles

Hey guys, quick question - is the whole concept of Crufts "cruel"? I've been having this debate with a few of my friends...I saw from the above comments that they do something to the GSD's back?? I'm a bit confused because I absolutely love dogs and would love to go to Crufts but what's the story with it? Opinions please!

borderlinemeath

cocobubbles wrote: »

Hey guys, quick question - is the whole concept of Crufts "cruel"? I've been having this debate with a few of my friends...I saw from the above comments that they do something to the GSD's back?? I'm a bit confused because I absolutely love dogs and would love to go to Crufts but what's the story with it? Opinions please!

TBH, it would need a thread of it's own to discuss all the pros and cons. There has been controversy in the past due to what show judges deem 'breed standard' - certain breeds - The GSD is a prime example with the sloped back- have exaggerated features that are detrimental to their health. The judges award the exaggerated dogs and then the breeders follow suit and breed dogs to accentuate the features. Inbreeding and line breeding and breeding without health testing has also contributed to poor health through inherited and genetic defects - Pedigree Dogs Exposed was a programme run a number of years ago to bring to light some of the problems that happen in the show world.

But, it doesn't mean every breeder and every shower is contributing to the problem so to label the entire event as cruel is a bit over the top.

cocobubbles

borderlinemeath wrote: »

But, it doesn't mean every breeder and every shower is contributing to the problem so to label the entire event as cruel is a bit over the top.

What are your thoughts about the agility/heel work/flyball events? Those doggies always look like they're enjoying it!:)

baby and crumble

I don't know enough but I do think that in a lot of cases they are trying to highlight that the exaggeration of characteristics which have a negative impact on health is bad. I know last year a couple of the dogs that won best of breed were withdrawn after vet reports at the event, so I think they're trying to get it all better.

I do love the agility though, and a lot of the competitors in that are cross and rescue dogs so that's always great to highlight too.

tk123

The gundog display is my FAV!! Can't wait! I love the fact that dogs are trained with positive reinforcement and all the handlers are women lol!

SingItOut

Oh any idea when is the gun dog display on? I always like to think my labrador could have done all that stuff if he was bothered

HeidiHeidi

Not sure about the breeding/inbreeding thing - I think I'm inclined to come down on the side of it being bad - two breeds I'm familiar with are GSD (well known problems there with breed standards) and Rough Collie - I've heard all my life that their heads are bred to be so narrow and pointed that they literally don't have enough room for a proper brain. That might be a bit hysterical, but you get the point. And sure enough, the dogs with big thick heads would usually run rings around the narrow, pointy ones any day.

(if that's wildly inaccurate, then apologies, I have no intention of derailing this thread - I know it's a mad generalisation.)

As for the agility, I think there's no way you could make dogs do that if they didn't absolutely love it! They're usually beside themselves with excitement before they start. I absolutely adore it. I got dragged to a sled-racing thing in Edinburgh a few years ago, was dreading it, thought it bordered on abuse - well, nothing could have been further from the truth! The dogs had an absolute BALL! Nearly lost their lives with excitement when they saw the harnesses coming. It was brilliant.

Dogs love learning and doing, and the more of that that's encouraged, the better in my book.

Looking forward to the gundog group as well - although the pastorals are my real favourites - my sister has a retriever pup (well, 10 months now) that I reckon would beat all around him in a show ring. I don't think they'll ever show him, but I'm actively trying to get them to do agility with him - he'd be crap (he's HUGE!) but I think he'd absolutely love it.

HeidiHeidi

SingItOut wrote: »

Oh any idea when is the gun dog display on? I always like to think my labrador could have done all that stuff if he was bothered

http://www.crufts.org.uk/judging-programme-breeds

Showing/judging schedule.

Gundogs on Sunday.

muddypaws

cocobubbles wrote: »

Hey guys, quick question - is the whole concept of Crufts "cruel"? I've been having this debate with a few of my friends...I saw from the above comments that they do something to the GSD's back?? I'm a bit confused because I absolutely love dogs and would love to go to Crufts but what's the story with it? Opinions please!

They don't do something to the GSDs' back, its a result of breeding. Crufts is a dog show, a big one, but still a show, so it depends if you think dog shows are cruel or not. The positives about Crufts though is that there is so much more there than just the breed showing, I watched a lot of friends today give a canicross demo in the main arena, all the humans and dogs had a great time running around the ring, and hopefully will encourage others to get out and exercise their dogs, so thats good for dogs. There is no way the agility or flyball dogs are being made to do that, if they didn't want to, they just wouldn't, so again, great fun for dogs and their humans, building bonds and giving exercise. There are discover dogs stands, educating people about the different breeds, and there are welfare stands and charities.

SingItOut wrote: »

Oh any idea when is the gun dog display on? I always like to think my labrador could have done all that stuff if he was bothered

There's a display listed on the live streaming around 1pm on Sunday.

HUGE congratulations to Melanie Corcoran who has just won BOB with her lovely Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Rory. Mel is a good friend of AndreaC's, who is ringside, keeping us all informed. So delighted for Mel. So watch the group later, and cheer on the Irish

Dodd

This is on Channel 4 from 19.30 to 21.00 tonight.