"Crufts 2005"　Takemi Sugimoto

Crufts 2005, the biggest dog show in the world, was held from Mar.10th to Mar.12th. On the first day Airedales were shown. Every entry had 21,000 dogs and attendance was 120,000 people. It was such a big crowd!

In the hall, not to mention the all breed show, agility dogs, obedience dogs and police dogs were demonstrated. In an area about three meters square, there were many booths that displayed posters and information about each breed of dog. Volunteers explained their breed to people using charts, and pictures and so on. There are dozens of shopping booths in five halls. A
festive mood pervaded in every hall. There were rare breeds that I had never seen.

I had decided to attend Crufts many months before the show. I planned to stay for only three nights in UK as I had done on previous trips. I left Japan on Mar 9th and met Mr.Matsubara, who was flying by another airline, at Heathrow Airport. We went directly to Birmingham by train.

The next day, we left the hotel and arrived at the hall at 8:30am although Airedales wouldn't start until 10:00am. We met Mary of Jokyl, David, Lesley and Gus of Stargus, Alaine and Martin of Jaideld and other friends. I received a hearty welcome from them.

The Airedale Terrier's turn started after 10:30am. The total Airedale entry was 92, but some of them were absent, so actually they were probably around 80. I sat down on the chair that Alaine had saved for me and I started to videotape. One of the Airedales in this show is Am.CH. Greenfield Celtic Legend from US. He is a brother (mother is different) of Am.Eng.CH.Greenfield Captain Fantastic that is handled by Mary and is one of the famous Airedales in UK. I saw Celtic Legend when I went to Montgomery 2001.

The progress of this show is basically similar to ours. All the entries are high quality and first-rate. And the handlers, almost all of which are their owners, show them to the judge with great confidence and pride.

My guess had proved right in each of the dog classes but it was too difficult to predict the winner in the open dog class. It is a wonder that the judges can choose just one winner from so many wonderful dogs. The judges selected Am.CH.Greenfield Celtic Legend as the winner and he got DogsCC. In the meantime, each bitch class is closely contested on the high level. Eventually, CH.Garland Sweet Carolin Jokyl won and got Bitch CC. That was her second successive victory

Janet and Tom of Robroyd found me during the show and we were glad to meet each other again.

I joined the group for lunch after the show. I'm not sure who brought the foods, sandwiches, fruits, biscuits and so on. I enjoyed the foods. After that I said good-bye to Alaine and Martin, Janet and Tom. Mr.Matsubara and I enjoyed shopping which is another pleasure at Crufts. There are many shopping booths and they have a variety of goods. I have not seen that large a quantity of booths in Japan.

I was supposed to go sightseeing in London but since Mary of Jokyl invited me, Mr. Matsubara and I visited her. We checked out of the hotel in Birmingham in the morning and went to London first. After we checked in another hotel in London, we went to Waterloo station. Jokyl Kennels is located near the Alton Station. Alton Station is southwest of London. It took about one hour by train. We had lunch near Alton Station and then we left for Jokyl Kennels by taxi. We arrived there after two o'clock.

Mary and David greeted us with a smile as usual. Olive Jackson and Valeria of Javal in US were there, and they also welcomed us.

When we came into the room, Mary herself was trimming a junior dog. I was surprised she had the energy to trim although she was probably tired. First of all she showed us a young female, Jokyl Bittersweet that she handled at Crufts. Next she showed two puppies to us. Mr.Matsubara has their sister, Di. And then she showed us nine puppies on the trimming table one after
another. They are eight weeks old. They have a great conformation and looked so calm. Mary talked to the puppies while they were on the trimming table and they did not look afraid to be touched by anyone. I understood that the puppies had been cared for lovingly and trusted people.

We left Jokyl kennel before 4 o'clock. David gave me a ride to Alton Station and we headed for London.

We are going to visit Stargus today. We caught the train from Liverpool Street Station at 9:00 in the morning and arrived at Kelvedon Station at 10:00. We met Lesley and Gus at the station.

We arrived at their house and had a cup of coffee as we talked about Crufts, our club ATCJ, and dogs they had sent to Japan.

And then they showed us around their kennels. The kennels and playground areas were well arranged on their property. It's enough for about ten Airedales and Welsh they have.

One by one, Gus showed us his Airedales on the trimming table. There were two junior dogs whose sire is CH. Stargus Devil in Disguise and dam is Stargus Synergie, Stargus Dante, who is the next stud dog, and also a wonderful Welsh. They all have the excellent features of Stargus. I feasted my eyes on these beautiful dogs!

Next they showed us around the rooms which were decorated with a great deal of Airedale goods. Their collections range from ornaments and pictures to stuffed Airedales. They have a large collection! I also have a large collection but I can't equal them.

We had to leave their house at 1:30pm so that we could get to Heathrow Airport. I stayed at Stargus for over three hours, but I felt it went like a flash.