The girls and Dom LOVE dogs. Me – not so much. But, when the girls saw an advert on TV for Crufts and asked to go, we thought we’d give it a try. It would also serve as a handy stop on our way back home from a trip to London.
Well, what an absolutely fantastic day it turned out to be! The firm highlight of the day was the Discover Dogs area which showcased over 200 different breeds of dogs. Each breed had a stall with information about the breed and a breeder/owner there to talk to about their love of that breed. But the most important thing about these stalls was that there were real life dogs there to stroke and play with! We honestly couldn’t believe that we got to fuss pretty much every breed of dog going. We made sure to pet Peggy down before we left to make sure she hadn’t smuggled one under her coat!!!
We fell in love with the Bernese who were utterly bonkers and we loved the calmness of the lazy chows and leonbergers.
But it was this fella who totally won over our hearts. Otis is a Basset Griffon Vendeen. We have one in our village called Worzel and he’s such a character. If we were to have a dog (which we never will), we’d want one of these!
Our visit fell on the Friday which was the utility and toy category day. We loved watching the judging of the chow section. We’d be rubbish judges as they were all just so cute! We then went into the main arena to watch the various competitions; we stayed in there for a full two hours. The flyball heats were particularly exciting and the agility competition very entertaining. At the end, the local police force did a display showcasing how they use police dogs on duty, from breaking up a crowd of fighting people to detaining a burglar. The police dogs definitely got the loudest cheer of the afternoon.
The NEC was absolutely packed with hundreds of stalls selling dog related products and there were lots of charities and organisations there too. We got to meet a therapy dog team who had the most chilled dogs we’ve ever met.
So, our family rated this as a firm 10 out of 10 day out. We didn’t know what to expect at all but we had an absolutely fantastic time. Will we be going again in 2026? It looks like we will!
