11 Breed Notes –Crufts 2026

As expected, it ended up being a very long day for Keesie exhibitors at Crufts being second in the ring after an entry of 117 Lhasa Apsos; who for some reason hadn’t been given an earlier start, despite being following by another breed. We were also in Hall 2 this this year, where our ring was tucked away in what seemed like a dark, cold corner with the benching seeming somewhat haphazard. It meant hanging around nearly all day until our judging eventually began around 2.20pm with several calls for all Utility BoB’s to go to the collecting ring blasting out over the very loud tannoy during the judging. Our judge was Karin Hickson (Kichigai) (she last judged at Windsor in 2024) who’d drawn an entry of 42 dogs, with 6 absentees and 6 dogs entered from abroad. There were no entries in either of the Good Citizen classes, the Open and Veteran classes had the largest entries and judging was finally over almost 3 hours later at 5.15pm

The DCC went to a delighted Jose Mogro with his Valiant Wolfy of Antartic Angels ( Shamrock-Cedarhill Potter Magical Wizard x Tonic Tequila Sunrise of Antartic Angels) winner of Limit, who had come over from Spain; with the RDCC going to Corentin Fedeli’s Ch Fr Ch Aragorn Elessar El’fiyskiy Berill (Pushistikoff Caesar x Almaznyi Istochnik Tantsuyuschaya Feya) from Open.

The BCC with Best of Breed & Best Veteran was Bellesoeur & Fedeli’s Fr Ch Ostara Vita De La Lumiere D’hemera (Int Ch Iron Man Del Monte Dragnone x Int Ch Laicka) from Open and handled by Camille Jakel. Although this was Ostara’s 3rd CC (Karin had given her the 1st CC at Windsor’24); RKC rules state that three CCs from different judges are required to become a UK Show Champion.

RBCC was Michelle Queen’s Serenaubach Kiara at Martellkees (Elegant Sharm Galantnyi Kavaler x Serenaubach Auroras Dance) from Limit. Best Puppy was Sue & Alan Hill’s Bargeway Dark Knight at Plymkees (Torrikees Purple Rein x Ch Art Pride Bomb Explosive Beauty (Imp Rus))

The North of England Keeshond Club organises the Discover Dogs stand and a big thanks to Sarah & David Murray helping me again this year. Although as usual the real stars of the long four days were of the 4 legged variety; Joey, Zach & Luka, Fiver, Dallas and Tooin. Charlotte Craig & Ava helped out on Friday and Saturday morning, with Sue, Michael & Nicky Pattison doing Saturday afternoon with Pink, Rob and Bobbie.

It was surprisingly busy on all 4 days with Saturday and Sunday being the worst – apparently the weekend had been a sell-out. There were certainly far more than the 150,000 visitors who turned up for last year’s event. Despite moving some of the events to Hall 8, there still didn’t seem to be much space anywhere, everything still seemed to be crowded together, especially in Hall 3. For me though, it was the noise level which was the worse thing, it was horrendous as the constant announcements over the tannoy were deafening. You literally had to stop speaking until they were done as you couldn’t hear a word people were saying. Although the dogs didn’t appear to be fazed by it one bit, it couldn’t have been pleasant for them enduring that racket with their sensitive hearing.

Trying to get the dogs outside for a ‘comfort’ break was also a nightmare at times, as there was only 1 door open which everyone had to use, including people wanting a ‘fag break’. I’m not even going to mention the fiasco and hold-ups the new digital pass system caused. All it took was 1 clueless dog owner and a NEC member of staff being a total ‘jobsworth’ and it was instant queues & chaos everywhere.

There was the usual mix of people interested in the breed; a few current & ex owners who dropped by to say hallo, but again, hardly any non-dog owners who were trying to decide if a keesie was the right breed for them and with virtually no enquiries about keesie puppies. Having QR codes for people to scan was really useful; they were guided to look on the Health Matters website where all health test results are recorded and also a current list of breeders. The few people who were enquiring were all made 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.

March is one of those months were everything seems to be happening at once. The following weekend sees on Saturday (21st) the NoEKC holding their AGM via zoom (if you’re a paid-up member and haven’t rec’d details, please contact Secretary Jane Ring) which unfortunately clashes with BUBA’s open show at Stoneleigh. On Sunday (22nd) it’s the Keeshond Club’s AGM being held at Roade Village Hall, again, only paid-up members are eligible to attend and the entries for their Ch show (also at Roade VH on April 4th) close on the 20th.

Anji Marfleet