As a child I was glued to the television set when the world’s biggest dog show Crufts came on. I yearned for a dog when I was small, but I was not only drawn in by the four-legged-friend potential of these glossy pups. I liked watching the showmanship of the arena and the comedy of the handlers trying to match a massive hound’s slow-motion lope or a tiny lap-dog’s trot as they made their way round the ring. My admiration grew as I saw stoic dogs stand patiently while stances were corrected and form was observed. And then there was the serious business of guessing which one I’d most like to win, and which one I’d most like to bring home. I remember being particularly taken with a massive teddy bear-style Saint Bernard.
Bearing in mind the styling, the primping, the preening (the hairspray) and the theatrical finale perhaps it’s no wonder that I became a fashion editor later on – I’ve written about the similarities between catwalk and dog show before (see Teddy’s Tales: The Parallel Worlds of Dog Show and Catwalk).
Last year’s winner was a supermodel of the canine world if ever there was one: a prancing, radically coiffured standard poodle called Ricky. With his huge quiff, his pom-pom tail and matching anklets – not to mention his sculpturally shaven rear end – he looked every inch the diva, bouncing his extravagantly topiaried bundles of poodle fluff all over the place.
Crufts starts airing tonight, 6.30pm, on More4. It will also be streamed live on the Crufts YouTube Channel. I wonder if there will be any Teddy lookalikes in the final? Actually, I think Teddy’s brothers in arms are more likely to be among the six crossbreed dogs that will compete for the excellent title of Sruffts Family Crossbreed Dog of the Year. Teddy may be a fully paid-up pedigree, but I’m convinced Scruffts would suit this mucky pup far better.
