Crufts, the world’s largest dog show

The Crufts Dog Show has been held in Birmingham, UK, every March for over 100 years. For many years it was held in London, which was much better as you could enjoy the city. But with 22,000 dogs entered over four days, London and Earls Court eventually became too small. I attended my first Crufts in 1975. Back then, I travelled by train from Bremen/GER, travelling with the Hoyer family as far as Hoek van Holland, then took the ferry and finally the train again to London. It was so exciting and impressive. My English at the time consisted of individual words that I had picked out of my Langenscheidt dictionary. Afterwards, I bought myself a very thick Langenscheidt German-English dictionary from my monthly apprentice’s wage of 180 German marks. It cost 80 German marks at the time. I translated the letters I wrote to englisch OES Breeders word for word. That must have been dreadful for the English breeders I wrote to. But I did receive replies.

So much for the early days of my Crufts.

I haven’t been to Crufts since 2019; after more than 40 Crufts, I’d had enough.

BUT: My “Caro” is one of the most successful dogs I’ve ever bred, and with two Best in Show titles and ten group wins across four countries, I wanted to bring her show career to an end at Crufts. Unfortunately, she’ll have to have puppies at some point.

That’s why we decided to enter her at Crufts on 5 March 2026 with the renowned breed specialist Ms B. Müller/CH (Pennylane OES). To do this, “Caro” had to qualify, which was no problem at all. I had to apply for an ATC number from the English Kennel Club. That only costs €25. Then I had to book a hotel at least six months in advance, and I didn’t want to book the Hilton again, which is a 10-minute walk from the National Exhibition Centre. I was recommended the Ibis Styles at the NEC. I usually avoid Ibis hotels, but it was only a 6-minute walk to our hall. So it was very easy to get there. For the night from Wednesday to Thursday it was only €180; the second night was double that: €360! Plus €45 for parking. They forgot to include the cost for our ‘Caro’..… Of course, there are hotels that are better and cost much less, but then you’re stuck in endless traffic jams in the morning, park somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and have to walk to the hall with your luggage and the dog. I don’t want that.

I haven’t been to Crufts since 2019; after more than 40 Crufts, I’d had enough.

Paul and I had to apply for an ETA Visa to enter UK and of course to  pay for; it was cheap, only 35 euros in total.

We had to book the crossing through the tunnel. As I know from experience that there can always be traffic jams, meaning you might miss your fixed-time train and end up paying a hefty surcharge, I opted for a slightly more flexible fare; including the cost for ‘Caro’ (vet check), it came to 448.00 euros.

On Wednesday morning, we set off from Maaseik at 6 am, avoiding Brussels and Antwerp, where  are always traffic jams. We drove at a leisurely pace via Mons, through Lille in France, to Calais. There, we went straight to the veterinary check; there were lots of dogs there, all heading to Crufts. The Hungarians with their Bobails, as well as Bruno Ripp and his wife, were also at the check.

Of course, I drive the routes and my Paul can relax in the passenger seat. Driving on the left in England is no problem at all; I’ve been there countless times. No traffic jams near London, as we had an early crossing. We arrived at the hotel at 3 pm UK time (one hour behind).

Checked in, unpacked, and then explored the hall in glorious sunny weather. The OES are always in Hall 4, Ring 19. I only knew the entrance to Hall 1, which felt like it was 2 km away from our ring. The NEC (National Exhibition Centre) is huge, and all five halls are full, plus the new Hall 8. My curiosity got the better of me, and I found the hall and the entrance at the back, as well as the shortest route. The photo was posted on Facebook and the question came: How did you do that!? A bit of ‘Conny Magic’ was enough.

A drink at the heart of Crufts, the Hilton Hotel Metropol, is an absolute must. You’re bound to bump into all the familiar faces there, and it’s always a big “Hello, how are you doing?”. “Caro” took it all in her stride.

On the way to the hotel

After all, she was featured in the *Our Dogs Special International* magazine. (There is also the cost of one page, which comes to 380 euros.)

The next morning we were up again at 5 am, so that we could head to the hall with all our show equipment by 6.15 am. We weren’t the first to arrive at the OES ring at 6.45 am. We’d found a great spot very close to the ring, so we could follow the judging closely. There were 111 OES entered, of which I estimate 75% were from abroad. There were around 55 males and 56 females. The Open Class for females was the largest class with 20 females, and it was our turn at around 1.00 pm. This meant I had time to say hello to almost everyone I knew and watch the judging of the males. The results are now available everywhere. The winning male came from Hungary but was bred in the USA; the reserve best male came from the Netherlands but was bred in France.

I’ll keep it short: ‘Caro’ took second place behind a bitch bred in England who is a granddaughter of my ‘Norman Harrison’. OK, of course I would have liked to win, but it wasn’t to be.

Here are lots of photos from the Open Class for bitches. This was the second half, as it was impossible to run them all at the same time.

With my ‘Caro’ in the ring; I received these lovely photos from Ms Helena and Vasco Madeira.

These are the five female dogs that placed:

This photo went viral across England after a photographer from a well-known English country magazine took it. He published it in an issue and wrote: ‘This is another way to do it – friendly handlers offering their congratulations.’

So here is the winning photo: “Ch. Shaggybo Spectacular Rival with Soulbobs” and ‘Vorbildlich aus dem Elbe-Urstromtal’ Caro beat all the other class winners from the many other classes to win Res. CC, i.e. Reserve Best Female

Today’s haul:

Afterwards, we had a few glasses of bubbly with various old and new acquaintances. These are the famous Bench Parties. “Caro” then had to head over to the Our Dogs stand in Hall 3 to promote the Euro OES Show 2026 (24 May 2026) in Belgium, alongside Vincent Hogan, a very familiar face.

We were back at the hotel around 7 pm; Caro had something to eat and made herself comfortable under the curtain. We had a lovely evening with Matteo from Italy, Carme and Christina from Spain, and Helen and Gareth from England.

Our alarm went off again at 5 o’clock sharp the next morning; we set off at 6. We arrived in Masseik at 4 pm after driving 1,400 km there and back. Our dog sitter had once again looked after and entertained Uschi, Peter and Heidi wonderfully. (Another 300 euros).

Dog showing is an expensive hobby. I must be mad, really – I could do so many great things with that money. But I simply love seeing my  dogs in competition.

Before our trip, we took a few photos of ‘Caro’ and had a bit of fun with AI.

My dream dog

Caro is currently on maternity leave. She is expecting puppies in mid-April