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Top 10 Crufts Facts
The 125th Crufts is just over a month away and, here at Dog Rocks, we couldn’t be more excited to be attending this key milestone in dog show history. Being the biggest dog show in the UK, Crufts is not short of fun facts, so we have chosen our top ten Crufts facts to share!
1. The first Crufts took place in 1981 in the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington and there were 2,437 entries and 36 breeds in attendance. In this first year, Queen Victoria’s collie, Darnley II, and two of her Pomeranians won prizes
2. Crufts was suspended between 1918-1920 due to the First World War and it was not held between 1940 and 1947 because of the Second World War.
3. ‘The Best in Show’ award was introduced in 1928. That year the award was won by a Greyhound called Primley Sceptre.
4. Crufts founder, Charles Cruft, died in 1938, aged 87. His widow Emma continued to run the show until 1939 but then passed it on to The Kennel Club, the body governing dog-breed standards.
5. In 1998 it was calculated that 340kg of canine hair and fur would need to be cleared from the NEC in Birmingham following the show!
6. In 2010 the gundog group was interrupted by a streaker who ran around the judging arena with ‘Istreak.com’ tattooed on his naked body! Despite this distraction, the Hungarian Vizsla went on to win Best in Show.
7. Despite being grammatically incorrect, in 1974 it was decided to drop the apostrophe from Crufts famous name
8. The breed of Cocker Spaniel has won the most Best in Show titles, with seven wins, 6 of which by one breeder! This is followed by the Irish Setter and Welsh Terrier which have both won on four occasions.
9. Crufts now covers over 25 acres of space, including 400 stalls and different arenas for a variety of competition and demonstrations.
10. Dog entries topped 15,000 for the first time in 1961 and kept rising – there were 21,564 canine competitors in 2014! Overseas competitors are ever growing – in 2014, there were 2,655 dogs entered from 45 countries outside the UK
We hope you have a fantastic time and Crufts! Why not come and join us at the Dog Rocks stand for drinks and nibbles at 4pm Friday 11th March. Hall 2 Stand 114.
Grab your Crufts ticket now here