Many thanks to Ann for the translation
Expectations

We had entered Jenny for Crufts 2005. Our friends Lisbeth and Karsten had entered a cocker too, and their border collie. Jenny had qualified by winning BOB + BIG 4 and Muscha's Dark Lady by winning best junior at the Helsingoer Int.show under Mrs Anja Puumala, Finland.

We did not expect much as far as our cockers were concerned. We were aware of the disadvantage of the undocked tails of our dogs. Very few dogs had undocked tails among the 400 cockers that were entered.

In the class where Jenny and Dark Lady were entered there was a nice black bitch with an undocked tail from Belgium.

We had hoped to be picked out among the last 6-8 bitches in our class but this did not happen. We had a distinct feeling that our dogs were gone over out of sheer courtesy, "What are these dogs doing here, with their long tails?"

The attention paid from ringside ranged from curiosity to headshakes as to our way of trimming and handling the undocked tails. We seemed to be the practical joke of the day! Which hurt our feelings, as we de facto had qualified and paid a very big sum of money to attend this show. Hopefully this scornful attitude as to long tails will change. An English breeder told me that a docking ban will be realized during 2006.

Judging

There were many really lovely dogs, in each class there were dogs, actually, that could reach top wins in Denmark. You have to remember that ALL dogs have to qualify to attend Crufts. Of course there were also dogs of poor quality, that would not stand a chance in Scandinavia.

My overall impression was that there were many dogs of good quality. From a Danish point-of-view it was not always the dogs with the best movements that won the classes, which was a disappointment to us. Many Scandinavian spectators present were of the same opinion. Good movements are much more appreciated in Scandinavia than in the UK but every country has its own priorities and traditions.?

Dog quality

Most of the dogs were of good size with very beautiful heads, short, compact bodies and with very good coats. Trimming is not as hard as in Denmark (heads sometimes not trimmed as well as hind legs) and the dogs moved slowly, or not much faster than the oldest handlers could keep up with. In my opinion some solids had very low-set tails and very short and stiff croups, that influence hind movemvents. Some partis were slightly over-built and had a rolling movement over their croups.

Is Crufts worthwhile?

Oh yes, it is an incredible experience. It is enormous. Five gigantic halls are filled with 23 000 dogs and 120 000 visitors during four days. A tremedously large number of stalls, where you can buy anything. Lots of entertainment in the Event Ring, Young Kennel Club Ring and the Big Ring and all the other small rings and, of course, all the race rings. It is fantastic and the athmosphere is festive. All doggy people should go to Crufts at least once in their lifetime. Birmingham Airport is at a 15-minute distance from the National Event Centre and a return ticket for one dag is available at DK 1 000. This money is well-spent. Do try it if you ever get the chance!