The Gossip Column: March 15, 2024

All the action this past week was at the CRUFTS DOG SHOW. More than 20,000 dogs were on hand to make the four-day event go by very quickly. Congratulations to OCTAVIA STENSEN for representing the United States in the International Junior Showmanship competition. One of the startling presentations in the main ring was the Vulnerable Breeds in the United Kingdom. Many of those breeds mirror those on the list in the United States. OUR DOGS, the English weekly newspaper, held a supper party on Saturday evening during CRUFTS hosted by publisher DAVID CAVILL and his wife ANGELA. Also greeting the guests were editor VINCE HOGAN, KATE & RONNIE IRVING, SUE SAMPSON, CAROLINE KISKO, TONY ALLCOCK, LEE JANAWAY, TIINA TAULOS, JOHN SHAW and MIKE MACBETH.

Some of the Americans who attended CRUFTS include REBECCA CROSS, CINDY VOGELS, LORI WILSON-PAUST, ADRIAN AGARD, SHERRY HURST, PEGGY MCCOY, ERIC CICERON & JANICE HAYES, HONI REISMAN & BONNIE FOLZ (who are spending a few days in London), LETISHA DE LA TORRE, JOE BUCHANAN, LOIS DEMERS, DINA PLANCHE, PATRICIA BERNARDO, LISA CROFT-ELLIOTT, ANDREW & AMY GREEN, DENISE FLAIM, PAM BEALE, KAREN JUSTIN, BARBARA MILLER, AMY RUTHERFORD, BILL MCFADDEN, CHRIS & RACHEL MANELOPOULOS, PETER GREEN & BETH SWEIGART (the only American on the judging panel, where she drew more than 100 entries in Norwich and Norfolk terriers), and from the American Kennel Club DENNIS SPRUNG, GINA DINARDO and MARK DUNN, who flew home on Saturday evening to prepare for the annual delegates meeting, where the voting for the three new directors (from a field of four) will take place.

Best in Show judge ANN INGRAM performed her usual professional and thorough evaluation of each of the seven dogs, selecting the Australian Shepherd as the winner, with the Jack Russell Terrier as Reserve Best. This was the first year that JRs were eligible to have CCs given in the breed. But in the most amazing first in the long history of the CRUFTS DOG SHOW, ANN was the first judge from Ireland to judge Best in Show. Next year CRUFTS will be held March 6 to 9, 2025. ...

Congratulations to well-known Norwegian judges ESPEN ENGH and AGE GJETNES, who after 34 years together have recently gotten married. ... 

JODY PAQUETTE & LAURIE GREEN have returned from going on safari in Tanzania.