10 March 2017 – Dog World

So, the day we have waited for is finally here. All the preparations are behind us that we have tirelessly worked towards, making sure everything is to perfection on the chosen day. We can honestly say, Crufts here we come.

No matter what your own personal opinion of Crufts may be, it always manages to grabs you by the throat and gives you goosebumps as you enter the halls. There is a golden opportunity for each and every one of us to meet up with existing friends and the prospect of embracing new acquaintances from all over the globe. Our Facebook friends, who before have been just a face on the mobile or computer, we could be meeting for the first time. For many of the overseas visitors it will be their first experience of the show, so please spare a thought for their anxieties and lend a helping hand if the need arises. Just a smile and a hello may put that certain person at ease and make their day a special one. The hand of peace, unity and friendship is one I would hope we can all leave the venue with by the end of the day.

It will be a long day for us all with an early start of 8.30am and it being a Friday motorway day. But would we miss it, of course not. Our thanks also to our Papillon judge, breed specialist Mrs Cathy Urquhart (Blackpark) and also to the two stewards of the day Eddie Bishop and Bill Evans, who have to keep us all in order, what a task ahead of them! It’s going to be an exciting day. Good luck to everyone at Crufts, no matter what breed you are representing. Enjoy and most importantly have fun on the green carpet.

Excitement mounts also for the Pawscars Awards evening held at the Metropole Hotel on the Wednesday before Crufts. Here is an opportunity for the men to strut their bib and tuckers and the ladies to put on a bit of glitz and glamour. Oh, I do love a bit of fairy dust glitter. This is a fabulous evening for all attending with the Pawscars individual awards being presented and also the Top Dogs in all the groups receiving their trophies. We will be as proud as punch to be part of the proceedings to stand on stage to receive Travis’s Top Toy trophy for the second year for the Papillons. What an honour indeed.

Lee Cox and Suzy Roffey make the perfect team as presenters for the evening, keeping us all amused. Whilst Gavin Robinson and Stuart Baillie, who are the founders of Pawscars make sure the evening is kept swimming along nicely. They must be so proud of what Pawscars has achieved already for the charities that are under the Pawscars umbrella. The only word is …..FABULOUS.

The Papillon Butterfly Dog Club of Scotland held their Open Show at the Cochrane Hall in Alva. The clubs secretary Elaine Davidson wishes to thank the committee, exhibitors, visitors and juniors for a very enjoyable show. She commented how nice it was to see some of the dogs which have come through rescue over the years. Breed specialist Nadia Angharad Al-Bazi was at the helm for judging the breed and Liz Anderson took on the task of the junior handlers. The steward for the day was Nicola Pitcaithy who made sure everyone was in the right place at the right time, not always an easy task. Elaine mentions that there was a good array of puppies in the puppy walk and no doubt they kept everyone amused with their antics.

The principal winners for the show were as follows; what a joy it must have been for Jennifer Smith of the Adinaken Kennel, a fantastic result taking both top awards. BIS/BD Papplewick Penhaligion at Adinaken and RBIS/BOS /BV with Ch Papplewick Pretty In Pink at Adinaken JW Sh Cm. Huge congratulations to both yourself and your Mum. RBD went to Carole Hatch with Amicae Call Me Bad Macstrak and RBB/BPIS Jackie Hill’s Caraideas Rhapsody in Blue. Congratulations to all the principal and class winners.

Please note that the clubs AGM will be held on Sun, 2nd April at 1pm at Station Hotel Larbert. All paid up members are more than welcome to attend.

Another Open Show to report is at Okehampton & DCS where Tamara Dawson (Tamalva) was judging the breed. Sue Stanbury had a lovely day with Inixia Bella Bella taking TPG2.

Well, it will be soon be that time of year again. This time a pleasant one with summertime approaching the clocks go forward. Oh joy lighter nights. This year we change to British Summer Time on Sunday, March 26 at 1am, which means you’ll need to put your clock forward an hour. I always struggle to remember when the clocks change, so here is a little tip to help you on the way. Simply memorise the simple phrase ‘spring forward, fall back’. The clocks always go forward an hour on the last weekend in March in spring and go back on the final weekend of October in autumn. Probably for us dog lovers the easier way to remember is that it is UKTD on Sat 25th March, so when you get home after the show put the clocks forward, easy peasy!

I hope this week will be Cruftstastic for you all, enjoy and most of all have fun. I am wishing you all a safe journey to the NEC. No notes next week with Pawscars and Crufts taking priority, but I’ll catch up with you the following week with all the news from Crufts.

IRENE ROBB