Jacob & Bruno at Crufts?!

It really doesn't feel like a week ago that we attended the greatest dog show on earth, Crufts. We were really excited to have been invited by some of Cruft's main sponsors; Eukanuba, Iams UK & Furminator. We had never been to Crufts before, but had always watched it on the tele, hoping one day that we would be able to go!

One thing that really made our visit to Crufts, was that we were able to take Jacob & Bruno. You aren't allowed to take your dog to Crufts, unless they have been invited by the Kennel Club, or you are showing them. It certainly was a privilege being asked!

Off We Went

We attended on the Friday, which was perfect as Friday was the Terrier and Hounds groups, meaning there were going to be hundreds of Dachshunds of all different colours, fur types and sizes. We had a 2 hour + journey to get to the NEC that is in Birmingham. This meant quite an early start, but we were all excited to go. When we arrived, because we had the dogs, we were able to park in one of the closest car parks. Phew, that certainly saved us having to walk!

Wow! It's Big In Here

We walked in the dog handler entrance, straight into hall 1. WOW! The place was massive, there were hundreds of stalls full of doggy products, and this was only hall 1 out of 5! We can certainly see why people go for more than one day. We made our way round the first hall, getting stopped by every other person to say hello to Jacob & Bruno, which they loved might we add! We managed to stop off at some exciting stalls to meet new people such as the guys at Vetschoice where we got the boys some toothpaste and mouthwash... much needed. We also stopped off to see the guys at Animology to introduce ourselves and were made very welcome!

Furminator UK

We were fortunate enough to

join in with some events throughout the day. Firstly, we were invited by Furminator to meet with the amazing Stuart, who gave us brilliant tips on how to groom Jacob & Bruno. We had bathed Jacob & Bruno the night before and they had a bit of dandruff in some places. It was interesting to hear that natural products would mainly help with that and also the quantity of shampoo you use will also affect it. We were also told that towel drying can also cause a bit of dandruff too. We were given a big bag full of goodies and in there was the FURminator FURflex brush that helps get rid of loose fur.

Eukanuba & A Dog's Tale

Eukanuba had set up a seating area within their stand for the 'stars of Instagram' where they had lunch for us and also lots of treats for the pups! We were able to meet up with other Instagram dogs, like Dobby.dash, Alfie Bear, Jasper the Sprocker & Adorable Cockers. Eukanuba had also put on a show for us including a live orchestra which they played 'A Dogs Tale' which is proven to calm and relax dogs! It worked for us. You can listen to it with your dog at www.soundcloud.com/eukanubaUK and see if it relaxes your dog.

Show Time!

After these two events, we continued around the show, stopping at more stalls, including Woof & Brew who we had recently won a competition with. We also stopped by Ivy & Duke who make wonderful hand made dog beds. We stocked up on some doggy drinks. Crufts celebrates all things dogs, so it was a really pleasant experience being able to 'discover dogs' where you could see all of the different KC recognised breeds. Of course, we made our way to the dachshund section first to see all of the long haired, short haired, miniature and standard daxies! We also watched a couple of the dachshund showing events, which was very exciting.

IAMS & The Flyball Masterclass

In the evening, we had been kindly invited by Iams UK to experience a Flyball masterclass which is a famous doggy sport which takes place at Crufts. We were able to see how the dogs played the sport and even got to run with them ourselves. Obviosuly, Jacob & Bruno weren't able to take part as they wouldn't have been able to jump over the hurdles... After the master class we went back to a private room where we had nibbles and a chance to chat to other doggy pawrents who had also been invited. The dogs were also kept in food and water too!

We did try to enter the main arena to watch one of the agility events, but we weren't allowed to take the boys in there. We would definitely like to watch one of these events next time!

Watch the flyball masterclass below:

Time to Go

Our day at Crufts was a brilliant one and we all had such a great time. We were very grateful for the invitation from Crufts to come and work with some of the sponsors. We would urge any dog owner or lover to definitely go next year. There was so much to do and if we had the chance, we would have gone for more than one day. Thank you Crufts for an amazing time!

Let us know if you went this year and how you got on or if you plan to go next year!

Thank for reading,

Oli, Jay, Jacob & Bruno