Page 13 - K9News_Issue16_May2021
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OK. The rants are over. Let’s move onto I really have absolutely no idea what is
something a little more light-hearted. happening now. It is only April and my diary
already looks like it’s been attacked by a
In the pre-Covid days our world used to revolve
drunken octopus that just climbed out of a pot of
around the dogs, and the years calendar was
ink!
set around the shows.
And I suspect that, by the time this issue of K9
In these weird times, our lives still revolve
News hits the streets, it will all be different again!
around the dogs, but the calendar bit has gone
right out of the window! As well as my now-indecipherable diary, I also
run a spreadsheet with all the judges for our
It used to be simple. Boston and Manchester –
breed, and I used to update it regularly as
January. It’s March. Must be Crufts. It’s August.
judges were announced in The Journal. This has
Off to WKC in with the caravan, annoying the
been abandoned completely.
locals as we trundle along the A470. We knew
exactly where we were geographically, and what And don’t even think about mentioning the wall
month it was, by the shows we were attending. planner!
2020 was easy enough. After Crufts was over Now, that really is enough to make you scream!
we knew exactly where we were.
But when all is said and done, my problems are
We were nowhere! We stayed at home. miniscule compared to some.
Everything was cancelled. All diary entries were
I no longer serve on any breed club or show
tipexed out and I contemplated selling my empty
committees, so haven’t had to deal with the
diary on Ebay.
stress of attempting to re-schedule events
But 2021 is turning out to be a little bit more and then having to make the really difficult
challenging. decision of whether to cancel or not, with all the
subsequent knock-on problems it causes.
So far…..….Boston and Manchester……err. No.
I haven’t been anxiously awaiting that hard-
March. Must be Crufts. No, wait. It’s July. No,
earned first-time CC appointment, and worrying
hang on, it isn’t.
every time the phone rings.
May will be Bath. No, Bath is now in August with
I don’t make a living dragging a large gazebo
Paignton and Bournemouth.
and trailer load of dog combs, water bowls
And Blackpool….. which is in June is now in and coat conditioner around the country in the
Wales. No. Not in Wales. On the weekend of endless cycle of setting up and taking down a
WKC. And not in June. In August. stand.
Southern Counties is now in Windsor. Or is that Or any of the other too-many-to-name jobs and
Windsor is at Southern Counties. No, hang on. businesses whose livelihoods depend on the
That was just Facebook being, well, Facebook! activities of the canine world, and have been
Windsor is with Crufts, Boston and Manchester. seriously disrupted by this pandemic and all its
And WKC. As in not happening now until 2022. consequences.
Along with City of Birmingham, WELKS and
For all of these, and the many others deeply
Three Counties.
affected by all this weirdness, I feel genuinely
But at least we’ll know when it’s May because and deeply sorry.
SKC is always in May. Except it’s now in
But for us, as I’ve said before, this is just our
September at the same time as their August
hobby. We are lucky.
show.
So I’ll shut up now!
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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MAY 2021
