11 Breed Notes – Crufts 2023

At Crufts, our judge was Sheila Jakeman (she last judged Keesies at Bath in 2018) who had drawn an entry of 69 dogs with 13 absentees, the majority of which (11) were bitches with 6 from the open class. There were only 3 dogs entered from abroad this year, a bitch from Italy who was absent and 2 French boys. We had a civilised late start as judging started at promptly at 10.00am and it was all done by 1.30pm.

Yet again the Keesie ring was in the far dark and draughty corner of Hall 1, but this year to add to the ambience the benches were barricaded off from the queues waiting to get into the main arena. It didn’t leave much space to get up & down the benching area, in fact I doubt very much if there was the 6 foot space that the KC stipulates.

What I was surprised to see from sitting ringside, was the number of dogs who refused to allow their teeth to be shown – by Sheila or the handlers, or even be gone over. I commented on this last year; methinks that there still needs to be more practice and ring craft training done.

DCC with Best of Breed was Natasha Hickson’s Ch Kichigai’s Only The Lonley (Bert von Ricara (imp Den) x Kichigai Special Edition) from Veteran and the RDCC went to the Open winner, Mel Harris’ Ch Kichigai Boy Is Back In Town for Watchkees (Ch Neradmik All About The Boy for Watchkees x Kichigai Lilac Wine)

It was a second CC for Nichola Kerr’s Caraspitz Good Luck Charm (Vanstrand Thunderball x Zandvoort Field of Dreams) who was also from Veteran whilst the RBCC went to the Post Graduate winner, Mark Redler’s Keitakees You Are My World (Ch Neradmik Family Affair with Lekkerbek x Byquy Kinky Boots at Keitakees) from Limit.

Best Puppy was Ann Down’s Liefkees Assisi (Int Ch Quasars Brilliant Light Van Het Earlskamp Serenaubach (Imp Bel) x Liefkees Adina)

The North of England Keeshond Club organises the Discover Dogs stand and a big thanks to the 2 legged workers helping me again this year – Sarah & David Murray, Lisa McCormack, Sue Pattison along with some of her family and Sue & Steve Jardine. Although as usual, the real stars of the long four days though were of the 4 legged variety, Winston, Parker, Brody a rescue, Joey & Zach, Ennis & Maia and Olympia, Fiver and Tooin completing the team.

It was surprisingly busy on all 4 days with Saturday being the worst – apparently that day had been a sell-out. There were certainly far more than the 150,000 visitors who turned up for last year’s event. There was the usual mix of people interested in the breed; a few current & ex owners who dropped by to say hallo, but again, not many non-dog owners who were trying to decide if a keesie was the right breed for them with enquiries about keesie puppies. What did (pleasantly) surprise me though was the number of people asking about the health of the breed & what tests we did. They were all guided to look on the Health Matters website where all test results and a current list of breeders is listed. The people who were enquiring were all aware that they would have to wait for a puppy (hopefully not for too long), but I wonder if our dismal puppy numbers are having an effect on enquiries – it all boils down to supply and demand.

There weren’t many ‘doggy’ trade stands, with quite a few ‘familiar faces’ missing – who wants to buy sunglasses when it’s snowing outside or have your eyebrows done at a dog show? There also didn’t seem to be much space anywhere, everything seemed to be crowded together, especially in Hall 3. Trying to get the dogs outside for a break was a nightmare at times, as there was only 1 door for the dogs which everyone had to use, including people wanting a ‘fag break’. As for the NEC’s new ventilation system, all it seemed to do was to dry everyone’s lips, dried the dogs eyes making them run and give people a stinking cold.

Apparently the reason why the car parking was so horrendous (many exhibitors turned up at 6.30am to find the East parks were full) and having to queue for over an hour to get into to the north car park was because the NEC were short of staff – as if they didn’t have enough notice. All in all, I’m just glad it’s over for another year!

Anji Marfleet