Clumberdoodle Archie Is Top Dog Well Crossbreed At 2019 Cornwood Show

Pupdate 24th August 2019 – Clumberdoodle Archie Is Top Dog –  Well Crossbreed At 2019 Cornwood Show

The annual Cornwood Agricultural Show is a local show which is held about 2 miles away from where we live in Ivybridge, Devon, that we like to support.

Along with farm animals, trade stands and various displays going on, there is also a family dog show which takes place in one of the rings.

It was due to take place this year on 10th August 2019, but had to be rescheduled due to the very stormy and windy weekend weather that was forecast.

It was rescheduled to the 24th August 2019 (bank holiday weekend) and the weather could not have been different, as it turned out to be a heatwave.

I did not realise however that it was just the two dog shows that were taking place on this day as the actual horticultural show went ahead on the 10th August as planned but inside.

The fun dog show (although there were some serious competitors)  which had 18 classes and also the very competitive lurcher, whippet and terrier show were taking place so apart from these there was nothing else.

Anyway I decided to enter Archie into the best crossbreed class, just for fun but hoping that perhaps he would win a rosette as everyone thinks their dog is the best (and rightly so).

There were about 15 entered in to this class and he had stiff competition.

Well I could not believe it but he won and not only won a “first” rosette but also a cup (The Hal Cup) which is given by one of the  Committee Members in memory of her much loved crossbred Collie who died at the age of 14.

We keep it for a year so it will have pride of place until we have to hand it back next year.

Also by winning this class Archie also qualifies for the Crossbreed Champion of Champions Show.

I had no idea what this meant so I had to contact one of the organisers to find out a bit more.  I was told that the Judge would send me all the details including where it will be held.  I understand that this is apparently a big show where all the winners of the best crossbreed classes at qualifying shows compete, but am not sure if this is just a regional or national show.

So it is official Archie is a show dog winner, even though it was for best “crossbreed”.  Not Crufts but still absolutely delighted.

Clumberdoodle Archie Is Top Dog Well Crossbreed At 2019 Cornwood Show

I will update once I hear from the judge.   How exciting – who needs Crufts????.  I thought this was just a fun dog show, but for crossbreeds obviously not and was in fact a serious competition – so watch this space (see below)

Pupdate 13th October 2019

I found out that the Champion of Champions final would be taking place today at a large farm just outside Looe in Cornwall.  This final was incorporated into a normal family dog show.   There were 20 classes and the Xbreed champion of champions final was the last class of the day.  I can only assume that all the qualifiers competed in Devon & Cornwall Dog Shows held throughout the year, but I am not entirely sure.

The dog show started at 12.00 noon and  after emailing the organiser asked what the estimated time of Archie’s class would be and she said it would be around 3.00 p.m. but said if I wanted to enter into any of the other classes we had to register before 12.00 a.m. As I really didn’t want to enter Archie into any other classes we made the decision to leave our house at 1.00 p. getting there about 2.00 p.m (just in case they were running early).

We arrived at the farm and the show was being held in a very large indoor horse arena.  The floor was covered with a special surface and what I can best describe as  some sort of soft grey chippings on top of some ashy looking stuff but it was filthy.

The dog show was in full flow and I asked someone what class was in the ring, to be told it was class 7, gulp.  Only 13 class to go!!!

There was a room upstairs where you could buy drinks and cakes, so to pass some time we had a cup of coffee.  We then took Archie for a very short walk round the farm so he could relieve himself.   We then went back inside to sit and wait and wait.   We didn’t take any chairs (the seasoned dog show people, were all equipped with their chairs, picnic etc.)  As we realised it was going to be a lot longer wait than anticipated Steve went out to the car to bring in  a blanket that we keep in there and Archie’s noodle  bug that he sits on.

Archie got bored (he doesn’t do sitting still), Steve was bored and so was I, but we just sat there and watched the proceedings.   At the other end to the show ring there was a large empty area where we could walk the dogs and stretch our legs.

We watched the clock ticking slowly by and eventually at 6.00 p.m it was time for  class 20.

We entered the ring along with 22 other others, so it was a large class.

The judge went around to each dog and made us run or walk a little way around the ring and then made her decision.  There were rosettes for the top 8 and she called 8 into the centre of the ring, Archie unfortunately not being one of them.  He really doesn’t do himself any favours as although he is a very friendly dog with people he knows, he is wary of some people he doesn’t know and this judge  turned out to be one them.  He backed away from her when she wanted to smooth him, so I will use that as the excuse as why he didn’t get picked to me he was the best there.

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So after about 2 hours of travelling in total, 4 hours of sitting around in a dirty barn, it turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time, and I have decided that I would never bother to enter Archie into any more dog shows.  A whole day wasted and I can think of better things to do with my time.  I certainly could not enter the realms of dog shows.  However if he had won a rosette it might be different – but I think not.

Archie however loves to be active not just standing around and really enjoys agility and now he has learnt the technique of flyball which he also loves, so quite clearly he is not cut out to be a show dog, but I think he is the best.