Glad to be home!

Yes, this Picture sums up crufts... exhausting and the leading cause of worry lines... But WHAT an amazing experience, and for us a once in a lifetime event. By the time Crufts rolls around next year we will be off to Canada and on to our next great adventure.

I would like to take this time to reflect... When people see me the first question on everyone's lips is "How was Crufts?!" and oddly i am having a hard time answering that because i think back on it with a tangle of emotions... Yes the Opportunity and experience was Great and if i went back in time i would do it all over again, but now that i have been.... would i go back?

4 days was far far to long for any person never mind dog to be in that environment, it saps your very soul to be so near to that many other people, to not have your own space.

The Kennel Clubs Organizational skills are a mess, trying to alter our performance routine on the day we arrive is not acceptable... and dealing with their constant time table changes was a nightmare!

For the worlds larges dog show organised by a world renowned dog club you would think that they would stop and think about the dogs. "exercise areas" consisted of: a) an indoor 10 foot by 8 foot fenced of areas with shavings and a pole for them to pee on. b) a similar get up outdoors though larger and covered. there where small grassy verges, but they were close to roads with industrial traffic. Seriously guys, is a Fenced off dog park too much to ask? Heaven forbid we would let our dogs off the lead... on grass... they could get their paws dirty or wreck their fancy hair dos.

Before we even arrived at Crufts we were told to direct any press questions regarding the controversial breed issues to the kennel club (who pay people to come up with evasive answers) or to simply answer "Fit for Function, Fit for Life" the KC motto. Let me be the first to say BOLLOX! What a load of Tripe....

What is this Function these dogs are fit for? to sit a kennel being bred to relatives so they don't ruin their Prestigious blood lines... working breeds who have never seen a field, or a sheep or game bird.. Breeds who are almost guaranteed to need operations or at the very least haircuts before they will be able to see properly.

On a more positive note, What a fantastic thing to see all the breeds with their tails... schnauzers, rottweilers, boxers they look like better happier dogs who will finally be able to express their emotions properly and be better understood by their canine cohorts.

Don't Misunderstand me, I Love Pure Breed dogs, ever since i was a child my sister and I would pour through the encyclopedia of dogs until we had them memorized, we had our favorites, and we still do. But that said, i wouldn't trade in my pack of mutts for the "Best of Breed"

So as i close the book on Crufts, i open a new one.

A tiny brindle puppy has fallen into my lap, a runt of a litter of 11 taken away from their owners due to the emaciated condition of their mother and the puppies themselves. She is a Crossbreed, and she fits in the palm of my hand despite being said to be 7 weeks old (unlikely) and her mom being a little bigger than Loki.

It looked iffy that she would survive the night as she is skinny, dehydrated and anemic, but after waking me up every hour during the night for her feeds of milk substitute she seems a lot brighter and is tottering around with Duffy who is quite smitten, where as Loki doesn't want to know.

She doesn't have a name yet, because she is still not far from Deaths door, but Whinge bag and Bobble head seem as good as any for now.

unfortunatly it means that catching up on my sleep is a thing of the distant future.

Oh well.