American Owned Terrier Wins Crufts 2009
The 2009 Crufts show ran from March 5th to 8th, with judging divided into four categories: gun dogs, working and pastoral, terrier and hound, and toy and utility. The Best in Show is selected from these six group winners in the final. This year’s final included a Standard Poodle, a Boxer, a Hungarian Vizsla, a Pharoah Hound, an Old English Sheepdor and a Papillon. Donny the Standard Poodle won the Reserve Best in Show title.
This year’s winner, who’s pet name is Charmin, represents on the UK Kennel Club’s "vulnerable native breeds", which are so called because they number 300 registrations or less per year with the Kennel Club. Last year just 43 were registered with the Kennel Club.
Charmin’s owner, Margery Good, said: "This is so exciting. It’s over the top! It’s a great, great feeling and I’m just going to hug and kiss this dog until the end of time. He did everything just right."
Crufts is named after its founder Charles Cruft. The young Charles leaving college in 1876 had no desire to join the family jeweler business. Instead he took employment with James Spratt who had set up a new venture in Holborn, London selling "dog cakes". In 1878 French dog breeders invited him to organize the promotion of the canine section of the Paris Exhibition. The first Crufts show in that name was booked into the Royal Agricultural Hall, Islington in 1891.
