Article by Katrina Arnold : Crufts 2022

Dermott McSquirmott and I had a lovely day at Crufts competing in the Good Citizen's Special Pre-Beginner Class on Saturday 12th March.

The Crufts atmosphere is electric, and the noise of the crowd unbelievable in its intensity. It is very daunting for any dog to compete in such conditions, particularly one as noise sensitive as Dermott. However, he rose to the occasion and turned in a good round. Despite having walked round the show for a couple of hours on Friday afternoon, and again on Saturday morning, Dermott entered the ring for his round, looked up at me, and said "Just look at all the people!". That meant he was a bit overwhelmed for the first stretch of his heelwork before coming into focus as we started the formal turns. In all we lost 4 1/2 marks for heelwork, which was fair. On his recall he waited beautifully, but as I turned to face him I put in an unnecessary "sit" command. His commands are "sit" and "straight" (for the recall) and, over the din, I don't think he heard me. He stood up and made to return before deciding he had been asked to sit and, correctly, sat back down. His "presentation" was 100% accurate but his "finish" was slightly skewed. Overall we lost 1 1/2 marks there. We were clear on the control at the gate exercise. We were also clear on our play, where Dermott displayed vigorous and active play, but an immediate willingness to relinquish his tuggie when told do so. We lost 3/4 of a mark on examination of the dog because he wasn't keen to let me inspect his back foot. In total for our round we lost 6 3/4 marks from a possible 55 marks. We were not in the places but nicely bunched with the majority of the class in the 5 to 7 marks lost bracket.

The Good Citizen's Special Pre-Beginner Class is an excellent introduction into the world of Competition Obedience, which is now Dermott's and my major focus. So much so that we are now qualified out of this class and will be working Novice and A at the shows this season.

Dermott is a rehomed Collie and started at Warlingham Dog Training Club as a "problem dog" with many issues. Despite having had dogs all my life I thought he would be the one with which I would truly fail, and Warlingham was our last chance before I faced the awful decision of having him put to sleep. Fast forward 10 years and we are a happy working partnership. Dermott has a "job", which he enjoys in his own special way and I have a new hobby. Hats off to Warlingham Dog Training Club for taking us on, and to Jacky Carter and Pat Faulkner who have never given up on us.