My friend, also in a toy breed, said she might be doing the breed stand after her puppy class on the toy day of Crufts. She isn't sure what to expect. I'll relay your posts to her. Might think about doing the same !

There are quite alot on here that do them,
Goldmali, Gwen off the top of my head but loads more :)
They all go back year after year so they must enjoy it :)
Hopefully they will be along soon to give first hand view :)
Lea :)

I did it last year with my breeder (I'm new to the breed and my girl is afraid of of people so didn't want to do it alown)  hopefully doing the same this year. It can be tiring but it's good fun too.

Basically you man the stall with your dogs and chat to people about the breed while they fuss the dogs. some will have specific questions and some will just be curious about what your dog is. The most common things I was asked was
What the breed was bred for
What are they like to live with
How are they with kids/other pets
How come one hasn't got a tail
Health problems in the breed
How hard to get a pup and average cost of one

Thank you Lea and Jo :)

Personally I wouldn't man the stand the same day as I was showing. We've done this in the past and it's exhausting! You need to make sure that there's enough dogs on at any one time as it can be very tiring for them as well, we try to have 3-4 on the stand. I only take along the dogs I know will enjoy it.  I volunteer to do the morning or the afternoon shift, not all day.

I find with Crufts that this brings the more serious breed enquiries as people have visited on the specific group day, unlike London where a lot of people visit for a day out.

Agree with Jo on the questions asked. 

I did it with my American cocker once, it was great fun but very tiring. I wished I'd taken a crate or trolley for him to lie on, because after the first hour or so he was too tired to jump up so people could stroke him, but he didn't fit on a chair very well. People kept saying how lovely and placid he was, and I had to keep explaining that although they were a fabulous breed, they should not be thought of as placid! I would love to do it with my Cavalier girls, but it's always the same group from the same club that do it, so no chance there. :-)

I've done it a few times; the breed club organises a wonderful rota for the four days so that nobody has to do more than three hours on any day, then rest of your free admission day is your own. It's very hot and very tiring for people and dogs, and you end up with sore feet from standing and no voice from trying to make yourself heard over the general background hubbub and the stale air!

Like Lea said I've been doing it for years now. Started off with just hubby and me, then my daughter came as well, this year my son also so it's almost the entire family now. It really helps to have several people as then you can take it in turns, can go to the loo, go and have a look around etc. However I'm not fond of sharing with other people (no matter how well we get on) as I prefer my dogs not having to mix with dogs they don't live with, and also the booth can get over crowded. Some breeds get huge booths (the most popular breeds) but the majority of us only get little ones and with more than two people there it's a bit crowded. Often the day is split into morning and afternoon with different people and different dogs and I'd really recommend that for a first time. We tend to do a full day now, as there are four of us with at least two dogs that love people, plus of course in my breed there aren't many of us at all.

I have always seen it as a great honour to be asked though, as you do represent your breed. The dogs you use must be bomb proof as they will be touched by literally hundreds of people. They need to ENJOY meeting so many people, and not all do, as it is rather over whelming. Some people are very good at asking if  they can touch the dogs, others just seem to think they can do what they want. I had to laugh this year as my youngest dog, who was just 7 months old at the time, was outside the pen when a woman with two children appeared. The woman, without asking, told the two kids to sit one on each side of Penny with their arms around her, and she was going to take a photo. It was towards the end of the day and Penny had met so many people and was tired. She wasn't 100 % sure about suddenly being literally surrounded by people -one on each side and one straight in front! So she simply took one step backwards, with the result that both kids fell over as they were leaning on her! No harm done but I couldn't help feeling it served the mother right. This is the sort of thing you have to be prepared for though.

The good thing about using the pen is that when the dogs get tired, as they will do eventually, they can go and lay down in the corner and then cannot be reached by anyone, so it is their choice if they talk to people or not. I would only have a dog out of the pen for a short while.

As for the questions, both my husband and my kids were worried the first time, saying they didn't know enough about the breed, but once there they realised it was just a question of telling people about the dogs they know, like their names and ages and what they are like to live with etc. It's rare to get more taxing questions although of course it does happen. The main thing is to be honest and tell people both good and bad points about your breed.

The most difficult day to get volunteers are of course the day the breed is shown, as very few want to both man DD and show. So that tends to be the day the breed club will be desperate for help. Although in the most popular breeds, there may be more volunteers than needed and the people chosen tend to be the ones known to the breed club committee, as they need to know, of course, that you are a responsible owner of the breed and capable of promoting it in the best way.

There are various rules to follow, they will be sent out before the day. Pups have to be 6 months old, the booth has to be manned at all times etc. You cannot promote a breed club or try to sell pups or similar. Checks are done several times during the day.

If I am ever able to get to a DD Marianne, I'd be happy to step in for a bit to give you a break (providing you trusted me with your dogs!).

Thanks. :)

I think it served the mother right too!

Thanks all, I have put my name down to do my breed stand with my one dog too :)