Page 17 - K9News_Issue13_October2020_download_Neat

would stop dead in their tracks. Looking a loooong summer at home, especially
back on it we were lucky to get home
from Crufts! In hindsight, I think we were
really lucky to get to Crufts, a week
or two later and it would have been
cancelled for sure! And despite being
thoroughly disappointed that we haven’t
had any show since Crufts, I think it
was great that we actually got to go
to Crufts, it is the highlight of the show
year after all! How gutted would we all
have been if that had been cancelled
too! Let’s keep everything crossed that
we manage to get to Crufts next year,
whether on its original dates or not,
but for me I know that a year without a
Crufts doesn’t bear thinking about!!!
I see a lot of people posting on
Facebook about ring craft and training
classes the last few weeks. It’s great to
see that these seem to be starting back
up again in some places, unfortunately
none of the ones near me have come
back yet, but I’ll be really keen to get
back to them when they do, I have
a puppy who, despite getting lots of
training at home, is yet to have any
real experience of being gone over
by strangers or in any kind of show
environment, usually by this age my
puppies would be well socialised having
been to every show throughout the
summer, I think a lot of people are
in the same boat! I personally didn’t
appreciate the importance of ring craft
classes before the lockdown! But here’s
hoping that as the economy beings to
=
reopen and things start to return to
normal, our local ring-craft classes will
slot back into our weekly schedules!
I’m sure many of you will be delighted
to be back at school now! And I bet a
lot of you never thought you’d WANT to
go back to school, but I’m sure it’s been
K9 NEWS DIGITAL / OCTOBER 2020
without the usual distractions of dog
shows, sports, holidays and anything
else you might usually have gotten up
to throughout your summer holidays! I
bet lots of school students have gone
learned to appreciate how lucky we
are to get to go to school and see all of
their friends again. On this topic, I want
to wish you all the very best of luck
with the new academic year and best
of luck to those who will be starting in
new schools and colleges in the coming
weeks. I’m sure you’ll make the most of
all the extra hours that the absence of
dog shows will leave you for studying!
GETTING TO K NOW
Ever wondered what influenced some of
Ireland’s Top Junior Handlers, past and
back to school in recent weeks having '#
present, to get involved in the world of
dogs? Been curious to know what they
get up to in their spare time? Or wanted
to know what advice they would give
to any upcoming Junior Handlers? Well
you’re about to find out!
It is difficult to do a write up on Junior
Handling in the current circumstances,
there’s not a whole lot to report! So,
if any readers have any suggestions
on topics they’d like covered in future
issues, don’t hesitate to suggest them!
For this issue I asked a Junior Handler
who is currently competing in Junior
Handling, and an ex-Junior Handler, who
has in recent years become ‘too old’ for
the sport a few questions about their
time in dogs, their hopes for the future
and their lives outside of the dog world!
17