Crufts is an annual international Championship dog show hosted by the Kennel Club (UK), currently held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, England. It is the largest annual dog show in the world, as declared by the Guinness Book of Records, and lasts four days.

Crufts consists of several competitions occurring at the same time. The main competition is for the Best in show award, which is generally considered the highest award achievable by a dog and its owner.

Competing for best in show

Those that wish to win this award compete first with dogs of the same breed. The judge will award the Dog challenge certificate, Bitch challenge certificate, Reserve dog challenge certificate, Reserve Bitch challenge certificate, Best Puppy Dog, Best Puppy Bitch, Best of Breed and Best Puppy.

Dogs can also compete within each breed. These classes include Veteran, Spec puppy, Spec junior, Spec yearling, Post grad, Mid limit, Limit, and Open. Each is awarded once for dogs and once for bitches.

After the best of each breed has been chosen, they then compete with the others in their Group (in the UK, there are seven Groups: Toys, Gundogs, Utility, Hounds, Working, Pastoral, and Terriers) to find the Best in Group. The seven Group winners then compete to find the Best in show and Reserve best in show.

Other competitions

Another competition is the dog agility competition, where the dogs undergo a time trial, where they must manoeuvre, with the guidance of their owners, through, over, and around different obstacles. Any mistake made by the dog is penalized by adding time to their result. There are several agilty competitions now, for both individuals and teams.

Next is the obedience competition. Entrants compete for the Obedience World Cup, which is awarded to the most obedient dog according to the judges, after the dogs have undergone various demanding activities, such as offlead heelwork at different paces, distance control, and sendaway.

Lastly, the Flyball competition is a relay-style race. A team of four dogs must separately run, jumping a series of four hurdles, and then step on a box, which is rigged to release a ball. The dog must then return to the start of the course to tag one of its team, which then repeats this process until all the dogs have finished.

Other attractions

Crufts draws 120,000 visitors to the NEC each year, while the main purpose of the event is the search for the best dog in the show, many merchants sell a wide range of dog-related merchandise, or advertise dog-related charities. There is also a section known as Discover Dogs where visitors can see almost every breed recognised by the Kennel Club on view, and discuss each breed with knowledgable owners.

Crufts also holds special shows and demonstrations, where specially trained dogs may perform in front of an audience.

See also

• Charles Cruft

External links

• Official Kennel Club Crufts homepage
• Unofficial Crufts results page