The award for Best Breed Booth at Discover Dogs 2021, held at ExCeL London, was presented to the volunteers promoting Border Collies at the show.
Accepting the award on behalf of the breed were Iain and Melanie Lewis who have owned Border Collies for many years and take part in showing and agility with their dogs. They are also fully-qualified search and rescue dog handlers.
Iain said: “It feels great that the Border Collies have won this award as it shows that our hard work is justified. It is lovely that someone appreciates the work we put into it – and appreciates the breed too.
Melanie added: “There are some young dogs with us on the stand this year who have never been here before due to lockdown. They have coped very well. We always emphasise to the public that this is not a breed for everyone and they are not to be taken on lightly as they are very active dogs. You need to put the time and effort into them, but we love them and wouldn’t have any other breed ourselves.”
The judges of the Breed Booth Competition were The Kennel Club’s Chairman, Tony Allcock OBE, and Chief Executive, Mark Beazley.
Mark said: “Naturally it was not an easy task to choose a winner from more than 150 breeds. The Chairman and I truly were spoiled for choice as so many breeds had gone to a huge amount of effort, for which we thank them. However, Tony and I just felt that the Border Collies had the edge with the super amount of information they provided to the general public. Also, the people fielding questions on the stand were incredibly warm towards visitors and it was lovely to see the way kids were interacting with the dogs. The Border Collie people truly are great ambassadors for their breed.”
Second prize in the Breed Booth Competition was awarded to the Dachshunds with third prize going to the Bulldogs.
Accepting the award on behalf of the breed were Iain and Melanie Lewis who have owned Border Collies for many years and take part in showing and agility with their dogs. They are also fully-qualified search and rescue dog handlers.
Iain said: “It feels great that the Border Collies have won this award as it shows that our hard work is justified. It is lovely that someone appreciates the work we put into it – and appreciates the breed too.
Melanie added: “There are some young dogs with us on the stand this year who have never been here before due to lockdown. They have coped very well. We always emphasise to the public that this is not a breed for everyone and they are not to be taken on lightly as they are very active dogs. You need to put the time and effort into them, but we love them and wouldn’t have any other breed ourselves.”
The judges of the Breed Booth Competition were The Kennel Club’s Chairman, Tony Allcock OBE, and Chief Executive, Mark Beazley.
Mark said: “Naturally it was not an easy task to choose a winner from more than 150 breeds. The Chairman and I truly were spoiled for choice as so many breeds had gone to a huge amount of effort, for which we thank them. However, Tony and I just felt that the Border Collies had the edge with the super amount of information they provided to the general public. Also, the people fielding questions on the stand were incredibly warm towards visitors and it was lovely to see the way kids were interacting with the dogs. The Border Collie people truly are great ambassadors for their breed.”
Second prize in the Breed Booth Competition was awarded to the Dachshunds with third prize going to the Bulldogs.