0:00
It's a massive event here in Birmingham, NEC
0:02
As you were saying, 18,500 dogs all gunning to try and be best in show
0:06
But it's not just about those dogs competing. It's about learning about why dogs are so important to us, why we love them
0:12
As Shelley is showing, she very much loves me here. We're joined by Claudia Atkinson, who's the gundog trainer
0:18
Just tell us what you love about being at Crufts, but also, you know, as a gundog trainer, why they're so important to us
0:25
So as a gundog trainer, this is obviously quite a different environment for us to be working in
0:30
I think the best thing about Crufts is being surrounded by so many like-minded people who love their dogs
0:36
just like we do, and they want to get the best out of them. And tell us, you know, because gundogs are working dogs, you know, in the countryside and for rural communities
0:45
you know, they are so popular. Why are they so important to those areas
0:49
so we do a lot of shooting up in the north and we couldn't run those shoot days without our dogs
0:57
it would be impossible the beat line is so important the picking up team is so important
1:01
to be able to keep those really great British traditions going and introduce us to who we've got here with us
1:09
so here we got Jaeger and Delta these are mother and daughter two golden retrievers we got Luna the cocker spaniel Shelby our Labrador and I think Shelby taking a bit of a liking to me
1:22
Shelby, are you enjoying Crofts? I think that's a yes. I think for the smile on Shelby's face, that is a yes
1:29
And tell us what you're doing here, of course. You're actually showing people... Hello, Shelby. You're showing people, you know
1:35
just how almost easy, in a way, it is to get started on training your dog as well
1:39
Yeah, it's not as a closed shop as people think, and it's getting that foot in the door
1:45
We want to give people that foot in the door to be able to go and enjoy gundogs just like we do
1:51
And how old are some of these? Do you have to start young to be able to get that kind of routine in them
1:56
Yeah, I like to start young. You need good foundations, so we need good obedience
2:02
So we start that really young, and then we start off with some of our gundog stuff from about six months old
2:06
Amazing. Claudia Atkinson, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much to all of the dogs here and especially Shelby
2:12
who's definitely taken a liking to me. We're right in the thick of it here at Crufts
2:17
Fantastic stuff, Jack. Thanks indeed for bringing us all of those dogs
2:21
I'm very, very jealous, frankly, of your job today. It does look fun. When the world's going slightly mad, isn't it nice just to have something
2:27
sort of like cuddly and some dogs to play with? And Shelby did look rather lovely there
