Ahhh and that’s that for another year. Crufts, the biggest dog show of the UK calendar has been and gone. We build ourselves up to it, we prepare our dogs, ourselves and chose the outfit with excitement. We book a hotel, drives for hours, get to the NEC, load the trolley, lug all the equipment into the halls, set up, sit in anticipation. We are called into the ring, run up and down, are assessed and then leave the ring… and that’s it for most of us, then drive another 3-4 hours home. Why do we do it – because its CRUFTS. This year we did all of these things twice, Thursday for the Gundogs and Anne Barclays Portuguese Pointer and then again Sunday for the Canaan Dogs.
This year there were 7 Canaan Dogs entered, with three absentees. Mrs A Albrigo from Italy was the judge on the day. The results were as follows – Post Graduate Dog, 2 entries, 1 absentee. 1st Anacan We Got the Power, Mrs E M Minto. Open Dog, 3 entries, 1 absentee. 1st Am Ch River Rock Unanimous Decision, Mrs C Miller, Mrs L Hastings-Menaker, Miss A Byrne and Miss A Barclay. 2nd Anacan Abu Ghosh, Mr M W R Moulding. Puppy Bitch, 1 entry. 1st Ancaan Rock My World, Mrs E M Minto. Open Bitch 1 entry, 1 absentee.
We were so happy to see our good friend and co-owner Mrs Chris Miller and her family here for the show. Chris was reunited with ‘Datak’ after a separation of almost a year and exhibited him as if they had never been apart. She described it as a bucket list item, checked. Massive thanks to the judge for appreciating our boy and awarding Best Dog and Best of Breed to Am Ch River Rock Unanimous Decision. Reserve Best Dog to Anacan Rock my World. Best Bitch and Best Puppy went to the only bitch there, Anacan We Got the Power.
So Chris then went onto the Group with Datak, although not making the cut I think we were all very proud of the way the breed was represented. There is also the international draw of Crufts and meeting a lovely Israeli Judge who was with a French breeder of Canaan Dogs made this an interesting day. As many of you who follow the breed may be aware, there has been some disparaging remarks made over the colour of our dog. Having the Judge from the breeds country of origin make a point of mentioning that she could see no problem with his colour, really encourages us here.
With Crufts in the rear view mirror we looked towards the British Utility Breeds Open show held at The Kennel Club Building, Stoneleigh on Saturday 18th March 2023. Sadly, there was only one entry at this show and it was our Datak ‘Am Ch River Rock Unanimous Decision’ despite standing alone in the ring, he behaved wonderfully and was awarded Best of Breed by Judge Nicola Duffield. He then went into the Group/Best in Show, he was not placed but again we felt proud of how he showed himself and the breed off.
If you have any other awards or achievements that you would like included here, please feel free to let me know.
Alison Byrne