Discover Dogs 2011

Discover Dogs 2011


Poppet and children promoting the Kennel Club's Bark and Read charitable foundation.

Saturday 12th November my first ever visit to ‘Discover Dogs’, was a really ‘Grand Day Out’, apologies to Wallace and Gromit for pinching their catch phrase, but it really did describe the event perfectly. 

Prior to attending the show I had joined the Kennel Club’s Companion Dog Club facebook group. The members are a friendly bunch who clearly love dogs and enjoy taking part in various activities with them. The invites to come and say hello were flying around for weeks before hand. Their excitement to be attending ‘Discover Dogs’ was only matched by the whole atmosphere of ‘Discover Dogs’ itself.

For many years I have attended Crufts, the show which is highly regarded by dog breeders and dog owners from around the world, but my visit to Discover Dogs 2011 proved to be a very different experience. Crufts is a large show spread over several halls at the NEC, Discover Dogs covers a Hall at Earls Court. It is a much smaller show, but certainly should be a ‘must visit’ show on everyone’s list of things to do in the dog owners’ calendar.

The size of ‘Discover Dogs’ allowed you to comfortably go around the stalls, visit the pedigree booths with examples of 200 breeds, (most of which were displaying health information for people to read through) and still catch some of the fascinating activities taking place in the rings.

Stopping by the Companion Dog Club ring I had the chance to talk to many of the CDC supporters. One lady Gwynne told me she was not a member of the CDC but having visited the show she was going to join it at the show. Clearly very much in love with the scruffy mutts style of dog, she was really hoping a small dog with a very shaggy coat was going to win the class. It didn’t this time but he did get into the end of the line up. As Gwynne said ‘How do you choose between all these lovely dogs?’ I think an application for the CDC club should go to every puppy buyer and every rescue dog when they leave for their new homes. The owners really loved being able to show off their ‘pride and joy’ and just like their dogs they were very happy to be there.

The Kennel Club chose ‘Discover Dogs’ to launch their Bark and Read charitable foundation which will it is hoped halt the numbers of children leaving school unable to read or write. It would seem impossible for this to be happening in this day and age but it is. There are a growing number of dogs being taken into schools to support the work done in the class rooms. These dogs are part of Reading Education Assistance Dogs (READ) and Pets as Therapy Dogs which run a scheme called Read 2 Dogs. As the dog is not judgemental children feel more comfortable reading to the dog, which improves their confidence and improves their literacy. A dog who is already working in the class rooms at St Lawrence School is a chocolate Labrador called Poppet, who was taking part in the Scruffts competitions. Sadly Poppet did not win the class this time but as the children spoke about what makes Poppet special it was very clear she is very special to all of them.

The KC launched an app at Discover dogs which they hope people will download to help them decide if their lifestyle is suitable to have a dog then to find a puppy or dog suitable to their lifestyle. The KC hopes the app will help to guide people to buying puppies from reputable sources, not shops which are more likely sell get poorly bred un-socialised and unhealthy pups bred on puppy farms. The app is available from Android Market. Along with this launch, the KC were also promoting their ‘end puppy farming’ campaign urging people ‘Don’t give Puppy Farmers an early Christmas Present’. Dog lovers were being asked to give their support to the KC campaign by signing an online petition

. If this petition gets over 100,000 signatures then the government will debate this in parliament. Can we get over 100,000 signatures? Let’s hope so! So proudly wearing my Be Puppy Farm Aware collar pin, a small purple pin which cost £2 and added the money to the KC Charitable Trust I went on to watch the Family Crossbred Dog of the year competition.


Anna Webb, JoAnne Good and Anthony Head judge the family crossbreed of the year

The judges for the family crossbred of the year were Anthony Head aka the King in the TV series Merlin, and also seen in Little Britain and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, JoAnne Good and Anna Webb of BBC Radio London’s programme Barking at the Moon. The judges had to take into account the importance of dog training & responsible dog ownership as well as taking into account the dogs good character, health and temperament. This year’s winner was Milo a bull terrier cross. Anna Webb one of the judges and a very bubbly personality said it was very hard for the judges to choose between all the dogs, but perhaps Anna was drawn to Milo being a miniature bull terrier owner herself? When I met Anna before judging she was very excited at the prospect of judging at Discover Dogs, her obvious enthusiasm for all things doggy was hard to miss!

The Kennel Club’s Companion Dog show regional heat winners competed in a separate ring for their own Best In Show. To get to the show the dogs take part in Companion Dog shows across the UK in special classes for CDC members only. Winners then qualify to take part in Discover Dogs at Earls Court. The classes include Handsome Crossbreed Dog, Prettiest Crossbreed Bitch, Childs Best Friend, Golden Oldie and as well as other classes you might expect to find at a companion dog show. The competition for the dog with the waggiest tail raised some laughs among the spectators underlining the general feeling of this show.


The waggiest tail class

On a more sober note the Kennel Club announced its partnership with Wisdom Panel Insights a company offering owners the chance to find out exactly what breeds are behind their crossbred dogs. This has proved successful in America and it is hoped that if crossbreed dogs are DNA tested it will help owners establish if there might be health issues that they will need to be aware. A wise move as many of the breeds being crossed to create the ‘designer dogs’ are not health tested before the mating takes place if at all. Crossing for example a poodle and a Labrador to create a labradoodle could leave an owner coping with a pup who develops Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) as both breeds suffer from this eye disease. Another use it might be put to eventually could perhaps help dogs held in DDA cases where the breeds behind the seized dog could be identified to help with their release if the DNA proved the dog merely looked like a banned breed, but was not in fact of a banned breed.

Although it is a much smaller show it was worth going to and I would urge others to go and visit, especially breeders as this was definitely a pet owners show and where better to meet them? We constantly hear that education is the way forward for dogs, this show is an ideal meeting ground between the breeders and the pet owning public to share knowledge and improve dog ownership.

Would I go again? Yes very definitely, I had a really good time, this is another well run and well thought out show organised by the Kennel Club. Next year put the date in your diary for a great day out.