The Kennel Club recently announced a special ‘early bird’ offer on Crufts 2014 ticket prices; buy before the 19th April this year and get them at “2013 prices”.

Unfortunately, while this is a very generous offer for the especially keen among us, what it really means is that Crufts ticket prices are set to rise yet again in 2014.  How much they will be raised by “hasn’t been confirmed yet”, according to a KC spokesperson on the Crufts Facebook page.

Crufts 2014 runs from  the 6th to the 9th March, at the NEC, Birmingham.

The early bird ticket prices are as follows: 
Adult £14.00 (+ £1.25 booking fee)
Child aged 9 – 15 £10.00 (+ £1 booking fee)
Child aged 8 and under FREE
Disabled Visitor £10.00 (+ £1 booking fee)
Senior Citizen (aged over 60) £10.00 (+ £1 booking fee)
Student £10.00 (+ £1 booking fee)
A £2.00 transaction fee (per sale) also applies

Best in Show and Obedience ring tickets do not appear to be included in this offer.

Click HERE to take advantage of the early bird prices.

The schedule for Crufts 2014 is: Thursday, Working & Pastoral; Friday, Terrier & Hound; Saturday, Toy & Utility; Sunday, Gundog.

Crufts 2013 may well be hailed as one of the most successful ever, as TV viewing figures and footfall at the NEC hit an all time high.

The number of people attending Crufts in person increased by 3%, from 145,000 in 2012 to almost 149,500 this year.

Meanwhile, an average of 1.7 million dog lovers tuned into Channel 4 and Channel 4+1 on Sunday night to watch the Friends for Life and Best in Show finale. The broadcast across the whole event, on More4 and Channel 4, delivered an audience which cumulatively peaked at 4.5 million over the four programmes.

Additionally, 145,000 hours of watch-time was clocked up on the Crufts live internet stream during the show, with over 13,000 subscriptions to the Crufts YouTube channel.  The Crufts Facebook page was hugely popular, delivering pictures, videos, news and comment throughout the show and now has over 100,000 likes.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “We are ecstatic that Crufts continues to hold such a special place in people’s hearts, particularly at a time when other events are seeing a decline in visitor numbers due to the economic climate.”

The Best in Show trophy was presented this year by Samsung Electronics, to commemorate 20 years of sponsorship and support. They also presented the Blue Cross with a cheque for £20,000 on the final day, to mark the success of their joint venture, the “Adopt-A-Dog-A-Thon” App, which reached over 2000 players via Facebook.

“She is just so busy, so naughty, she’s such a character: a once in a lifetime dog.”

Last night Crufts 2013 culminated in the usual pomp and circumstance that is Best In Show. We are delighted to report that the award was taken by Ch Soletrader Peek A Boo, a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, called Jilly at home. Jilly was bred in the UK.

Credit: The Kennel Club

A Labrador Retriever caller Romeo, from Italy, took the Reserve title (It Ch Loch Mor Romeo).

We are delighted with the result, as we have had our eyes on Jilly for quite some time. She’s a fantastic show dog as well as a wonderful example of her breed; she was Top Dog All Breeds in 2012, as well as the Reserve Best In Show winner at Crufts back in 2011. She was also Top Hound in 2011 and has 8 all breed BIS, 5 RBIS, 27 CCs and 26 Group wins under her belt. (You can read more about her here.)

Jilly is co-owned by Sara Robertson and handled by her other owner Gavin Robertson, who got a tad emotional during his TV interview. “It’s something I’ve thought about since I was a little boy” he said.

Here’s a small selection of the headlines from around the web this morning:

Rare dog breed wins Crufts Best in Show – The Independent

Oxfordshire canine Jilly crowned Crufts champion – BBC

Crufts 2013 Best in Show’s owner had decided to retire pet just months before victory – Mirror

Jilly the Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen beats 20,000 other dogs to be named Best in Show at Crufts – Mail Online

A twist in the tail as Crufts top dog quits – The Sun (Jilly is actually being retired, to have puppies)

‘Naughty’ hound is the top dog at Crufts – Express

Last night was also a triumph for Owen and Haatchi, the three-legged Anatolian Shepherd Dog, who won the Friends For Life final prior to the Best In Show Judging.

The Best in Show trophy was presented to the winners by Samsung Electronics, to commemorate 20 years of Crufts sponsorship and support.

We’ve just confirmed that all five of today’s high profile breeds passed their vet checks, giving Crufts 2013 a 100% pass rate and meaning that we will once again see two full groups in the main arena this evening.

In the Pastoral group, the only high profile breed was the German Shepherd Dog. Their pass today retains the breed’s 100% pass rate so far. The BOB winner was the famous CH ELMO VOM HUHNEGRAB, of Seiger type.

In the Working group, we had the Douge de Bordeaux, the Mastiff, the Neapolitan Mastiff and the St Bernard.

The winning DDB was the dog, CH BAKERVILL’S STYLE FUNKYBOY.

The winning Neapolitan Mastiff was the dog, simply titled KINGLOUIE.

The winning Mastiff was the bitch, THOMASTER BLACK ROSE.

The winning St Bernard was the dog, CH LAZEYBEARS BACK TO BLACK. His pass retains the breed’s 100% pass rate so far.

Congratulations to all the dogs who passed their health  checks this year!

To commemorate 20 years of sponsorship and support, Samsung Electronics have been given the honour of presenting the Best In Show trophy in the Main Arena this evening.

Samsung also have a stand at the show (in Hall 3), where visitors can play with the latest technology, including tablets and a 3D TV, as well as have a photo taken with a fun doggy background as a memento of their visit. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, so do drop by!

This year, Samsung and the Kennel Club paired up with the Blue Cross to fund vital health checks for rescue dogs via their Help-A-Dog-A-Thon app. With this app (available via the Crufts Facebook page), users can care for and play with a virtual dog – every dog which is helped in cyberspace goes towards helping a real dog in a Blue Cross centre. They are presenting the charity with a cheque for £20,000 at 2:00pm today at their stand (also in Hall 3), but it’s not too late to try the app and help them make even more of a difference!

Other anniversaries this year include Hearing Dogs, which is culminating a year of 30th anniversary celebrations today at Crufts, and Dogs for the Disabled, who are celebrating 25 years at various events, including Crufts, throughout in 2013.

It’s snowing around the NEC this morning, which is somewhat appropriate as the halls are full of solid working dogs which are happy in the cold: Huskies, Malamutes, Samoyeds and St Bernards!

The cold hasn’t kept the journalists away, though, and the press room is buzzing as usual.  There are plenty of stories to chase today, and we’ll be tracking them all down for you.  Do keep checking back here throughout the day.

For a start, we have five High Profile Breeds today: the German Shepherd Dog in the Pastoral Group, and the Douge de Bordeaux, Mastiff, Neopolitan Mastiff and St Bernard in the Working.

Thus far all nine of the High Profile dogs from the past three days have passed their checks.  The German Shepherd and St Bernard breeds also have a 100% pass rate since (and including) Crufts 2012, when the checks were first introduced. We await today’s results with interest – could we see two full groups again this evening? As usual, we will tweet the results as soon as we have them, or you can visit our Vet Check Tracker (via the Crufts tab) on this website.

Secondly, we have five Vulnerable Native Breeds to watch out for today: the Smooth Collie, the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, the Old English Sheepdog and the Lancashire Heeler in the Pastoral group and the Mastiff in the Working.

Two VNBs have already won their groups – the Skye Terrier and the King Charles Spaniel. Could there be another tonight?  We understand that More 4 did some coverage on the VNBs last night; sadly we missed this, but do let us know what you thought.

Speaking of VNBs, an update on the Top Winning Irish Water Spaniel we mentioned yesterday: he went 4th in the Gundog group, behind the Labrador (from Italy), the Weimaraner and the German Shorthaired Pointer.

Dogs to look out for today include Ch Allmark Fifth Avenue, an Australian Shepherd, who was the Top Winning Pastoral Dog 2012*. The Top Winning Working Dog 2012 was a Bouvier des Flandres, who is not present at the show today.

If you’re not into dog spotting, there are a few celebrities about as well. Marc Abraham (the TV vet) is hard to miss in his blue scrubs: he’s here to promote his “Where’s Mum?” anti puppy farming campaign, on Mothers’ Day. The Barking Blondes are also about with their dogs, and swimmer Mark Foster will be in the Main Arena later to judge the Crufts Factor, along with Lucy Heath, winner of ITV’s “That Dog Can Dance”. Finally, we’re told that Ed Speleers from Downton Abbey will be around as well.

And of course we have the usual Friends For Life and Best In Show final this evening! It’s going to be a long day!

We’re going to get out there – have a great final day at Crufts folks, or just watching at home: don’t forget it’s on Channel 4 tonight, at the earlier time of 5:30pm.

* Update: He won the Group that evening!

Irish Setters like to sleep in a variety of ways…

All photos taken by Laura Patricia, on her new WB250F camera, very kindly provided to the Crufts bloggers by Samsung

It’s been another eventful day here at Crufts 2013, with the main headline being that the Clumber Spaniel BOB passed its vet check and will represent his breed in the Main Arena this evening.

That makes a fifth full group for the event, and a 100% pass rate so far. The dog who won was Big Boom’s Banditos Dex, son of the BOB who failed amid much controversy last year.

9 out of 15 high profile breeds passed their vet check in 2012, and this year 9 out of 14 (the Chinese Crested was removed from the list) have passed so far, with five still to be judged tomorrow. This is excellent news for both the dogs and breeders, and the scheme in general.

In the Pastoral group there is just one high profile breed, the German Shepherd Dog, while the Working group has four: the Mastiff, Neopolitian Mastiff, St Bernard and Douge de Bordeaux. Interestingly, the GSD and the St Bernard currently have a 100% pass rate over all the health checks held since (and including) Crufts last year.

But back to Gundog day: the Top Winning Gundog 2012, an Irish Water Spaniel, won his BOB and will be representing his breed in the ring this evening. This breed (and the Clumber) is one the nine Vulnerable Native Breeds in the Gundog group. And, the first ever NOva Scotia Duck Tolling Retreiver CC was awarded to Trevargh The Entertainer at Brizewood, the dog.

We, meanwhile, attended a seminar at the new KACI stand in Hall 5 (more about that later), and decided to campaign to bring back tail docking – it would be much easier to photograph dogs if they weren’t wagging!

All our photos from the day (as well as the past two) will be up on our Facebook page shortly, and we’ll let you know the results of the Group judging as soon as we know, via our Twitter feed.

See you tomorrow folks!

Look who we met at Crufts today!

This incredibly handsome fellow is Twigmore Jumping Jack Flash At Cefnithon, known as Rhys at home in Wales. He came third in his Veteran Dog class today, and will be taking home a yellow ribbon as a result.

This will match the rest of his wardrobe: not only is Rhys an accomplished show dog, but he also volunteers, with his owner June Pettitt, for Pets As Therapy.  He is a fully qualified therapy dog. June says that he is “excellent with adoloscents” and also works with children and the elderly. He certainly took our cooing over him well in his stride!

He was at the show with his niece  Clumbess Crackling Rose At Cefnithon, who had yet to enter the ring when we spoke to them. Hopefully she’ll also get to take home a ribbon.

Do you have a dog who is an excellent ambassdor for their breed? We’d love to share your story – do please get in touch!

We said last night that we would let you know how the Top King Charles Spaniel got on, but we don’t have to; he won the Toy group last night in front of a sizeable audience! Cogratulations to him, Ch Maibee Theo, and we wish him and all the other finalists the best of luck on Sunday.

The current line up is: Skye Terrier Ch Salena The Special One, Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen Soultrader Peek A Boo, Tibetan Terrier Kybo Pandarama, and the King Charles, with three Groups still to be judged.

We’re delighted to see two Vulnerable Native Breeds represented. Today, there’s a good chance that one more will be added, as there are nine VNBs in the Gundog group: the Irish Water Spaniel, Sussex Spaniel, Irish Red & White Setter, Gordon Setter, English Setter, Welsh Springer Spaniel, Field Spaniel, Curly Coated Retreiver and Clumber Spaniel.

The Clumber is also the only breed in the Group which is subject to a High Profile vet check – we’ll let you know the result of that as soon as we have it. If he passes, it will continue the 100% pass rate which has been enjoyed by the dogs so far, and will mean another full group in the arena this evening.

Dogs to watch out for today include the Top Winning Gundog 2012, Irish Water Spaniel Ch Whistle Stop’s Elements Of Magic. The 7th place Top Winning dog, Ch Salty Dog Of Tampa Bay, a Labrador Retriever, is however not present at the show.  We’ll keep you updated about the IWS’s progress  throughout the day. *

It’s also a historic moment for the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, as this is the first year which they have been eligible for CCs.

Saturday is always the busiest day at the show, and we suspect that some spectators may have been brought here against thier will! For those less interested in dogs, we suggest a stop by the Samsung stand in Hall 3, where you can play with the latest technology, including a smart 3D TV, and the latest Samsung tablets, phones and phablets (like the Galaxy Note). You can also have your photo taken with a fun background, and have it printed or emailed to yourself as a fun memento of your day.

Media personality Paul Ross and Ed Speleers from Downton Abby will also be at the show today if you fancy some celebrity spotting.

Have a great day at Crufts folks!

*Update: He won BOB and will be representing the breed in the Group later tonight.