Taking The Lead

With Crufts this month, Heather Harris investigates the biggest dog show in the world and discovers that any dog can have its day, including a dedicated pack in Herts

WHEN it comes to dog shows, Britain has long taken the lead. And it all started with a dog biscuit.

Aged 14, Charles Cruft worked as a post boy at Spratt’s Patent Ltd, home of the Spratt’s Meal Fibrine Dog Cake – a name that was as hard to swallow as the product itself. Seeing a business opportunity, Charles was soon a travelling salesman, marketing these tasty treats to an enthusiastic canine-friendly audience.

As his career blossomed at Spratt’s and his reputation for marketing spread he decided a great ploy would be to set up a dog show. He ran six annual terrier shows at London’s Royal Aquarium. But the seventh was more ambitious. Some thought he was barking up the wrong tree but Charles proved them wrong when in 1891 the first Cruft’s Dog Show opened to all breeds at the Royal Agricultural Hall in Islington. A whopping 2,437 entries came from all over the country and the event even gained royal approval with a visit from Queen Victoria.

Scamper on 125 years and last year’s anniversary show (held at NEC Birmingham after outgrowing London) attracted an enormous 24,000 dogs and their owners over four days. Almost 160,000 people came through the turnstiles – 15,000 more than Glastonbury Festival.

What’s on in the arena is now matched in size by the trade stands selling more varieties of dog biscuits (and everything you could ever possibly need for a pooch) than young Charles could have ever imagined.

Channel 4 with top dog presenter, Clare Balding, presents daily coverage of the event and the Best in Show champion still makes headlines around the world (and is quickly snapped up by dog food advertisers).