A big thank you to everyone who turned out and supported the Best of British Companion Dog Show at West India Quay on Saturday 18th July. We were blessed with super weather and a venue with an amazing backdrop - vintage warehouses and chic cafes one side and ultra modern shiny glass office blocks the other, all framed by the docks, cranes, bridges and barges. If you have never been to this part of London, you really should try and visit it one day, it will not disappoint. The support from the vulnerable breeds was tremendous, with a special mention going to the Manchester Terrier people who turned up with nine Manchester Terriers, more than many open shows I understand.

Additionally we had English Toy Terriers, Field and Clumber Spaniels, Lancashire Heelers, Norwich and Dandie Dinmont Terriers and some Mini Bulls too. We had historic handlers from Clumbers (Chris Page as the Duke of Newcastle), Fields (Ruth Fayerman as Mrs George Mortimer Smith), three lots of Norwich Terrier handlers appearing as, amongst others, Charles "Doggy" Lawrence and Phylllis Fagan, John Charlton as Mr Dandie Dinmont (and Becky) complete with a magnificent set of whiskers. John and Becky travelled down by train and underground from Milton Keynes in full costume! I cannot forget our ever so slightly eccentric Lancashire Heeler ladies complete with plastic cow on wheels and finally Manchesters with Gordon Ralph's magnificent performance as Jack Black, London's most famous ratcatcher, returning to the docks for the first time in over 100 years and sadly for Jack, not a rat in sight!

Everyone entered into the spirit of the event and the handlers were in constant demand to answer questions and pose for photos and showed their dogs in full costume. We had a visit from a street performing, stilt walking, Queen Elizabeth 1, who was so fascinated with the dogs that I think she has actually booked a Norwich puppy! Our judge was Len Anniss and I am reliably informed that he was part of the conservation group that was actually responsible for saving those wonderful old brown brick warehouses, so it was only fitting that he should be there. Needless to say I think he did an outstanding job as he gave the title of Best of British Dog to our young Dandie "Jackson". Thanks for everyone being so sporting and not suggesting that I only became involved in this event on condition of winning! Our mission was to celebrate 150 years of dog shows in the UK, which we did, but also celebrated our rare breeds too!