Nicky wows the judges at Crufts in 'first' for owner
THEY say every dog has his day – and for one Plymouth spaniel that moment came when he was awarded the title of Top Dog at Crufts.
American cocker spaniel Nicky delighted owner Nancey Walker when he was crowned breed champion dog at the famous show.
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TOP DOG: Nancey Walker with her American cocker spaniel Nicky
Miss Walker, 30, said: "I've been showing for 17 years and this is my first major win at Crufts.
"I'm over the moon. To win at Crufts is the ultimate. You show all year to qualify to go there."
Three-year-old Nicky, who struts his stuff under the stage name Anansie Platinum, took the prize in a gruelling day at the NEC in Birmingham.
He had to get up at 4am to travel to the show, and started by winning his class, beating 17 other dogs.
He then went on to win the Best Dog title for American cocker spaniels, on Sunday. He also won Best Opposite Sex to the overall winner, a bitch.
Miss Walker, who runs the dog grooming business Ladies and Tramps in Peverell, said she had only started showing Nicky in the last few months, having originally concentrated on showing his sister, before realising he too had potential as a show dog.
She said she thought the judges had been impressed by Nicky's closeness to the breed standard, the optimum characteristics for a breed of dog.
Miss Walker said she was especially happy because she had bred Nicky herself. One of her bitches also picked up a second prize at Crufts.
She said Nicky was now being inundated with requests from suitors who fancied using him as a stud.
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by sarah Cooper, plymouth
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 6:53PM
“Well said Nancey, that's the point I was trying to get across!! I lost my pedigree because he was so inbred, only lived 3 1/2 years - it broke my heart. I would have never bred from him because I was very aware of his background but ignorant people said I should have bred from him because at the end of the day they only see the money and not the consequences and heartbreak!!
xx”
by Benny Factor, Cold Spring Harbor
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 11:22PM
“"The BBC suspended coverage of the Crufts dog show in 2009 pending further investigations into the health and well being of pedigree dogs in the UK.
This decision follows the broadcast of the programme Pedigree Dogs Exposed on BBC One in August 2008, which identified serious issues affecting the health and welfare of some pedigree dogs.
The BBC's Pedigree Dogs Exposed showed a number of breeds with genetic diseases caused by owners breeding for aesthetic perfection. The programme showed spaniels with brains too big for their skulls and boxers suffering from epilepsy."
Search for "Anger at BBC Crufts decision"”
by Esther Davies, wiltshire
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 8:19PM
“Well done nancey and nicky, you did so well!! I think it is absolutely ridiculous that people are so narrow minded that they have such negative things to say about this. Obviously it is wrong that people have bred dogs in a bad way but does this pedigree spaniel look in any discomfort, i dont think so. People who really care about their dogs, often show people would never want to harm or cause discomfort for the dog. The trouble with the bad breeding has come from people who dont have a clue what they are doing breeding anything together, so I think that the people who should be taking the blame for all your bad comments are people more like yourselves who just dont know or understand.
Crufts is a great tradition and dogs are not harmed for the event so there is absolutely no need for people to be so negative and nasty with their comments.
Well done nancey, i know your dog thoroughly enjoys being shown!”
by Nancey Walker, plymouth
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 8:11PM
“To the healthy dog owner
There are problems in pedigree dog breeding but you cannot blame this at all on dog show people. There are millons of pet owners pumpimg out puppies for money that are ignorant to the fact there dogs even suffer from heriditary conditions. They do no testing and sell on puppies that are then bred from again and the problem grows bigger.Myself and my friends in the dog show world take breeding our dogs very serious and none of them would be bred from without the correct health screening test being past. As nickys parents and there parents and so on. And if nicky were ever to be bred from this would only happen if he passed all the health tests required. Breeders that show dogs are more aware than ever of the changes needed to carry on breeding healthy happy dogs and will do there best to continue to change the bad and breed this out . The puppy farmers and pet people that dont have a clue need to be better educated as they are the mass producers of the dog population in this country. My breed suffers with heridetary cataracts .
I have owned dogs with heridetary problems and wouldnt dream on multiplying them . You cant show a blind dog so why would you breed one.
I hope this makes sense so that you can see where these problems come from and who are now having to sort them out.We breed only if we want a new dog to show (maybe 4-5 years) we dont exploit our dogs for the sake of making a quick buck , infact the testing , time and care we take in breeding a litter we make nothing by the time we sell our pups and are very fussy as to who we sell them to.
Nicky would never of won what he did without being a healthy happy dog !!”
by Sarah Cooper, Plymouth
Tuesday, March 16 2010, 6:54PM
“Well done both of you!! It's the hobby/backstreet breeders who need to be stopped who are breeding dogs for the money and not the welfare of the animals - There are too many people inbreeding, they are not researching the background/bloodlines of the dogs. I spoke to somebody only last week who has a pedigree dog and said he would breed from it, he asked me to check if it was a female!! and thought it would produce eight pups because it had eight teets!! he had already worked out how much money he could make. With knowledge like this, what hope is there!!!
Keep up the good work Nancy.
Sarah HPC”