Usually, if your dog goes missing in your garden, it doesn’t take you too long to find him, but when you’re royal it’s a bit more complicated. Bigger garden for a start.

The British Kennel Club has come in for a real mauling recently, and consequently more and more organisations have bailed out of Crufts 2009. I think the real question here is not can we live with the Kennel Club, but more can we live without it?

I met and interviewed Dr. Roger Mugford at his Train and Behave Week. He’s a real character who’s lots of fun and not afraid to speak his mind. He’s also passionately committed to dogs; his own and those whose owners appeal to him for training or legal help. He is extremely likeable in person.

Roger invented the Halti, and sells many variations on a Kong theme. You can find his website at www.companyofanimals.co.uk

Here’s some thoughts from Roger about Crufts and the contribution of showing to the development of dogs:

Sometimes you encounter a person who restores your faith in human nature, and Emma Foxall is such a person. She is the woman who heard about a Golden Retriever puppy with a heart condition. His name was Alfie, and his owners knew they couldn’t meet the costs of his treatment, and advertised him on the Internet. Emma knew she had to help him, and she did.