Dancing with dogs

Semis hint at another great Crufts finale

- Richard Curtis

THE CRUFTS semi-finals are a highlight in the heel work to music calendar with many people not active in the sport coming along to enjoy the day. The event is run by Rugby dog training club who, although they don’t have a large HTM contingent, have such a dedicated membership from the other disciplines who give up their time to help out on the day. Many of them help out in the kitchen where head chef Dave Ray had a brilliant selection of food on offer to anyone attending.

The day kicked off at 9am with the advanced HTM non-qualifiers class for those not in the semi-finals. There was a good entry of 15 but as is the case nowadays after those that didn’t show up and the training rounds there were only seven scores on the board. Lesley Brocklehurst must be one of the only handlers still to be competing from the first competitions that were held back in the late 1990s. She has been often seen working her Collies at Crufts but it’s her Flat-coated Retrievers that she is well known for. Rehyrb Makaya is her latest black Flatcoat to reach advanced HTM and they scored 21.95 which just edged them into first place from Linda Webster and Isabella Gal a Border Collie.

Small dog routines