I beg your pardon Marianne, I thought it was the Kennel Club setting the rules.  I shall not post again.

I don't know.  What do you do at the moment?  You know the deal when you enter Crufts, this is not new, the public have always been there and in great numbers for several years.

At the moment I comply as I have no choice However what I have been saying is that I would like to see a change. Just because it has been that way for years does not mean it cannot be made better. I do not wish to remove the public from the show but just to make some areas public free for those of us who actually MAKE the show...The Kennel club need to listen to it's exhibiters because with rising prices on fuel etc.. dog showers are starting to look carefully at the shows they enter and Crufts is no exception. I know of several who have chosen not to show at Crufts because it is not  the easiest to cope with both for dog and handlers.
It could be made so much better
Aileen

this is not a reply to you Merlot, just tagging on at the end ;-)

My problem is now solved ELLA IS IN SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so I won't need a bench and no longer need to know what time we need to be on it as we will be DOGLESS :-(
Bloomin typical 3 dogs qualified only entered 1 and that 1 decided to come into season and is happily flagging for her sister!!!
We are still going, but only as spectators.
Paula xxx

ditto, unless the puppy comes in too, but hope not as she was in season only in November.

>ELLA IS IN SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh no! :-( Not Ella as well as Lily?

>You know the deal when you enter Crufts, this is not new, the public have always been there and in great numbers for several years.

And now it's becoming more and more of a problem, so something needs to be done about it, to make the occasion more pleasant for everyone.

When it's broke, fix it. :-)

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">i think its also stupid when your not allowed to leave till 4pm i,m going with my dog on the train and my return time is 5 past 3  our judging will be well over by then so cant see why we have to wait

Never show a cat then welshie, as you can't leave until BIS is declared at a cat show and you are then told you can go, you are fined if you leave before without permission!

But the revenue from events like this must surely be a fundemental part of the KC's strategic planning to ensure they can runs future initiatives and improvements ?

I know there is an issue about the public but as I am classed as 'public' I haven't seen such terrible over crowding and annoyance around the benches.

They'd still get the same revenue even if exhibitors and the dogs had a bit of privacy away from poking fingers. There's nothing like a small chocolatey hand grabbing your clean dog just as you're heading towards the ring ...!

That wouldn't worry me ! :-)

I wouldn't go if I wasn't allowed to walk round the benches as it is for me a way of researching as Discover Dogs is good but not when you are looking into a breed with in more detail .

> Maybe it's because nobody in the world of dogs like to be told by people NOT breeding, NOT showing and in fact not even OWNING dogs, how we should act at dog shows........

Oh I so wish we had a 'like' button!

If I didn't have a dog going round the benching areas wouldn't hold any interest to me only if to say hello to fellow friends/exhibitors, which is very different to unknowns upsetting the dogs. The amout of certain breeds getting clearly upset by the amount of people walking past, when left on a bench and we all know what can happen when a dog is unhappy with situations. I've been luncged at by dogs on benches, this was just to get back to where I was exhibiting. The way it's set out is imo not dog friendly for those there.. They need to be set out like at normal ch shows and hidden away from the public..

>>There's nothing like a small chocolatey hand grabbing your clean dog just as you're heading towards the ring ...!
>That wouldn't worry me !

LOL! Okay, white icecream then!

Esme it maybe a like button but I think the statement is perhaps a bit far from the reality as the last statement maybe quite right but the rest maybe not quite correct and I hope is just a mis understanding as Stooge I think would quantify the other statements but I don't think should have to .

> Stooge I think would quantify the other statements but I don't think should have to .

He or she can please themselves but I agree with what Goldmali said 100% and am exerting my right to say so!

> and am exerting my right to say so

Ah - but by 'exercising' your right to say so, you are agreeing that 'anyone' else has a right to do so as well !

I can see the attraction and the common sense of not letting the public round the benching areas. Problem is distinguishing between complete dog novices with the chocolatey fingered children, and someone like me, who sometimes goes up on gundog day just to catch up with my Yankee's breeder and to give his dad a cuddle. I couldn't do that ringside as she wouldn't want to be bothered by me just before or just after going in the ring, much better to find her in a quiet moment at the bench. But I do as an exhibitor appreciate the nuisance the public can be as well.

> Ah - but by 'exercising' your right to say so, you are agreeing that 'anyone' else has a right to do so as well !

Agreed, but I thought it was worth saying for the purposes of balance. And because it's what I think.

And FWIW, I think to 'exert' one's rights can be synonymous with 'exercising' one's rights.

I think from a historical perspective benches were originally designed to be part of the exhibition area where dogs could be viewed prior to competing in the rings.  However things have changed somewhat and dogs are no longer left on the benches for the public to simply look at.  Although it should be said that the facility to view dogs at rest is a useful one for people wanting to absorb the whole dog show experience, or just get more of a feel for a breed.  I'm happy to talk to people about my dogs and most are very good at asking to meet or pet them.  I do prefer to get the dog off the bench though as I tend to treat the bench as a 'bed' space rather than a place for interaction :)

Luckily we are rarely on the main thoroughfares though and I do feel very sorry for some of the more popular breeds in high traffic areas as they rarely get any peace.  It would be useful to provide them with some screening or fencing alongside the main walkways just to give them an area where they can't get bumped into.  A few notices reminding people to give the dogs a bit of room would also be good.  I do remember someone walking through Discover Dogs one year loudly exclaiming    "F***ing dogs are everywhere" !!          Really, it's a dog show madam - what did you expect?  

> I do remember someone walking through Discover Dogs one year loudly exclaiming    "F***ing dogs are everywhere" !!          Really, it's a dog show madam - what did you expect?

Quite! :-D :-D

> "F***ing dogs are everywhere" !!          Really, it's a dog show madam - what did you expect?   <br />

ROFL!!!   What a silly comment!  And exactly what did she expect to see at Cruft's?  Bloody giraffes?

>  think to 'exert' one's rights can be synonymous with 'exercising' one's rights

True :)

>> in fact I cannot remember seeing grooming areas at crufts
>They are there. Invariably empty :-)  People don't choose to use them but not sure why

Possibly because having the public wandering around the benches means you can't leave your belongings (and other dogs) there unattended in relative safety?

>The benches are where a breeder has all their dogs together even those not for competion.

You can't enter dogs 'not for competition' at Crufts.

In the Crufts rules -

"preparation of exhibts should generally take place on the benches or in the area provided by the show society"