With Crufts just around the corner we thought it was about time we did a post all about our journey to get there, and how we prepare for a day at the worlds biggest dog show! This is our second time showing at Crufts and so it is still very exciting! We see lots of ‘Get Ready With Me’ posts, so thought we would do our own- Crufts style!
In order to qualify for Crufts, dogs must be placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in certain classes at certain Championship shows. For Baloo, this came at Paignton Champioship Show where he won 2nd in Post Graduate dog. He then went on to qualify another 3 times, a brilliant achievement for a teenage toller!
For us, we start preparing well before the big day. As a show dog Baloo has to be in fantastic condition all year round, and so his diet is super important, as it plays a huge part in a dogs condition. Baloo is fed on Benyfit Natural, a raw diet of the highest quality and he thrives on it! It helps keep him in peak condition and he absolutely loves it. To add to his food we use Dorwest supplements- Omega Star & Kelp Seaweed powder. These help him to maintain a beautiful coat and make him sparkle in the ring.
We also spend the 8 weeks prior to Crufts really focussing on exercise- doing road walks daily, up to 5 miles each time, and lots of free running. These two different types of exercise really help to build up muscle all over Baloo’s body- a judge last week commented on his wonderful fit condition! Of course, I keep Baloo fit year round, but we do make an extra special effort for Crufts!
And last but not least comes B’s least favourite part…bathing and grooming! Luckily, tollers do not require much “show prep”, but they do have to have neat and tidy ears and feet. Baloos ear fluff grows like mad, and I have to do his feet every few weeks. It is especially important for Crufts as hairy feet really show up on that famous green carpet! For B’s bath I will be using Dooleys, which makes him smell wonderful and really cleans his coat well. We have to time the bath well – too far away from the big day and he will get filthy again, but too close and he will look like a pom pom because his coat takes a while to settle! We are showing on Saturday and so will bath him on Thursday- giving his coat time to calm down, and between the bath and the big day we will stick to clean road walks! After his bath, and on the day, he will wear his special Dry Flat coat which will help to keep his coat under control and to dry with no flicky bits!
So there’s our Crufts prep- a little insight into the world of showing at Crufts from a fairly newbie team! Stay tuned for our Crufts wishlist, followed by our haul afterwards!!
Woof soon, B
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