The Crufts Effect

I would imagine that we’re not the first to make this observation. We’ve seen this ever since we got Louis but have only just got round to blogging it.

Quite simply the number of dogs you see being walked must double during the Crufts dog show. We take Louis down the valley every weekend come rain or shine and see just one other dog, Cassie, when we’re down there.

Yesterday, however, there were loads of other dogs down there so Louis had a good run around meeting some new four-legged things to sniff. When Louis sees a stranger, be it a dog or a biped, his reaction is to go into stalking mode. He goes down flat to the ground and shuffles forward until he gets to the point where he jumps up and races towards the “intruder”. This can be quite intimidating for bipeds but other dogs know what to do.

At one point we met a lady with three dogs. Two of them ignored Louis and the feeling was mutual. The third, however, wanted to meet his challenge so he ran at Louis before he could. It was a small dog and he ran at Louis likes a bullet. As he came level with us Louis rose up from his stalking position and went to say “hello”. The other dog veered out of the way at high speed only to shoot off the side of the path and into fresh air followed by a 12ft drop onto a muddy river bank. It was comedic to watch but we worried that the dog was okay. A few seconds later he appeared back on the path; just a little muddier.

Crufts finishes today so within a week we’ll have the valley back to ourselves. Louis will return to making sure the valley is cat free and all the squirrels are in the trees where they belong.

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