Discover Dogs 2009

This weekend I have been down at Earls Court in London having a fabulous time at Discover Dogs, the annual show run by the Kennel Club for people to ´discover dogs´

The main part of Discover Dogs is the breed area, where dogs of nearly every registered breed and their owners each have a stand. This is where you come to ´discover the dogs´, meet them in person and chat to their owners about the breed. I talked to many different people, both those who bred their dogs and who just kept them as pets, and I was impressed by their passion and knowledge. Meeting and talking to responsible breeders, who are in it for the love of the dogs and not just the money, is a real eye-opener. They truly care about their breeds, always ensure their dogs have undergone, and passed, all the relevant health checks and maintain contact with the puppies they breed. Contrast this to buying a pup from ´the man down the street´ and you can see why the best breeders will always have waiting lists. However, I must confess I didn´t speak to people with the breeds I do feel suffer from their conformation, for example the Pekingese or the Shar Pei, as I didn´t want to get into a heated discussion!

However, the pedigree area is only one part of Discover Dogs, and the event is great way for the Kennel Club to showcase all the other work they do. There were several different show rings with demonstrations from many different doggy organisations, ranging from Hearing Dogs for the Deaf showing us how their dogs work with their owners, to ´heel work to music´ clubs letting us in on the trade secrets of how they train their animals. There were also some very brave owners putting their dogs through their paces in the Kennel Club´s Good Citizen scheme while we all watched on. It is wonderful to see the handlers working with their dogs, from the most basic Good Citizen Bronze to the expert dancers, the dogs were really enjoying what they were doing and it must be such a rewarding relationship for their owners, I don´t know why everyone doesn´t do it! My favourite demonstrations were the dog agility, particularly those from the rescue dog teams. We have all seen the Border Collies dashing round the course, but it was a real treat to see small Jack Russels, Staffies and cross breeds of all shapes and sizes showing what they could do, especially as all of them had been unwanted and abandoned at some point in their lives.

I also had the chance to have a good chat to the people from PetLog, the largest database of animals microchip details in the UK, which is run by the Kennel Club. They are the only database which is manned 24/7, charge only a single administration fee and keep your animals details on their files for their entire lives. Also there were Scrufts, the organisation run by the kennel club which holds shows and competitions for cross breeds and the Companion Dog Club, a relatively new venture for the Kennel Club which runs small, local shows all over the country with classes such as ´Prettiest Bitch´ and ´Waggiest Tail´. They were set up to provide a way for people who just wanted to have some fun with their dogs and enter silly competitions rather than serious ones. The Young Kennel Club were also there, giving the young handlers a chance to show off their skills.

I had a great couple of days at Discover Dogs, met lots of interesting people, all with the dog´s best interests at heart and learnt a lot more about what the Kennel Club does aside from the pedigree aspect. I shall definitely be there next year and I hope you will be too!