Today Buddy's been been out and about at Crufts as part of the Well Balanced Pup Press Pack. Well if anyone can sniff out a story he can! Buddy's main aim in any crowd is to meet and befriend as many people as possible, and went about that today too. We visited the Discover Dogs section of Crufts, where Buddy was convinced that what everyone really wanted was to meet a Labrador, rather than whatever breed we found ourselves near.
Today was also our first time in the main arena as part of the Safe and Sound team. This is headed by Carole and Stewart Thornley of Aricia Dog Training. The Safe and Sound scheme aims to inform children how to be safe around dogs and to treat them in the right way. There are about sixty of us on the team, adults, children and dogs, and it's great to help get such a positive, relevant message out.
I've said before that there is more to Crufts than showing, and I don't mean to denigrate showing in anyway, I just mean that the event is a celebration of so many aspects of the dog-human relationship. And it's fun too! For example at one point this clown visited - well invaded really - the press office. He claimed his dogs were from the toy dogs, and they were "wheelie" (really) dogs. Apparently they were called Tick and Tock - they're watch dogs you see. He certainly loved his job.
One of the other things that I've loved about this Crufts is the beautiful adverts all around the venue. This is clever marketing, because the photos are so beautiful that as a dog lover your eye is drawn to them, and then of course you can't help but take in that dfs logo. It's a clever match up of Crufts and a sofa company; where are most dogs at their happiest? - on their couch of course.
Tomorrow it's our second time in the main arena with the Safe and Sound team, and it's gundog day. I love gundog day, although I probably am biased in their favour because of Buddy. The gundog group is the most affable and easy going, and I look forward to being surrounded by them.
Take care,
Julie x