The Officers & Committee have been busy planning (and re-planning) for our 2021 Show and are now excited to announce the launch of our Schedule.

Our Show will be the first All-Breed Championship Show to be held fully under cover; with our show partly indoors and part outdoors. Our show will be un-benched and we have to assume some social distancing will still be in place in September. To satisfy the local authority, and to ensure exhibitors safety, we have ‘spread out’ our show. We have invested in a larger clear span pavilion than usual and increased the number of rings being used each day.  It is likely that we will be treating all indoor space as ‘wet weather’ accommodation. To ensure maximum ventilation throughout the venue it is likely that all doors will remain open, and the heating will not be switched on.

All rings will have the usual picket fencing.  Before the pandemic we were intending to carpet all indoor rings.  However, as all rings and grooming areas will be cleaned and sanitized at the end of each day there will be no carpeting in the rings at the September Show. We are pleased to announce that all grooming areas are covered therefore gazebos and exhibitor’s tents will not be necessary or allowed.

As usual car parking is free, and care is given when issuing parking passes to try and ensure you are parked as near as possible to your rings.

We have over 40 Breed Club Championship Shows joining us in September.  This will give the opportunity for many breeds to compete for two set of CC’s on the same day.  All Partnership Shows are advertised in the schedule with a reminder below the breed classification.

We hope exhibitors will understand and appreciate why we are only holding the main Groups for all Best of Breed winners this year, culminating in Best in Show. This decision was not taken lightly.  However, after much discussion the Officers and Committee felt it necessary to ensure that there is no undue pressure on breed judging. Judging procedures may need to be amended to comply with COVID-19 guidelines and as such breed judging may take slightly longer than the recommended 2 minutes per dog.  The ‘National’ breed judging, and the partnership Club Show judging, has all been planned to try and keep exhibitors in their ‘breed bubbles’ wherever possible. To further support the ‘breed bubble’ concept and limit the movement of exhibitors around the site there will be no Stakes Classes and no Puppy, Veteran or Special Beginners Groups this year. However, a Best Puppy in Breed, Best Veteran in Breed and Best Special Beginner in Breed will still be selected in each breed and winners will receive rosettes for achievements. This decision also allows all indoor space to be vacated in a timely manner each night to allow the cleaning, disinfecting and drying to take place. We will, of course, return to our full complement of Groups & Stake Classes next May.

Schedules are now on-line at Higham Press and entries can be made with immediate effect. Hard copies will be sent to 2019/2020 exhibitors who previously entered by post and can be requested from our Secretary. Postal entries will be taken. To avoid handling cash, all catalogues must be pre-paid. Ring Numbers will be issued with your passes. Exhibitors who enter on-line are responsible for printing their own ring numbers and passes.  Passes and ring numbers will only be posted to exhibitors who make paper entries.  Exhibitors are encouraged to enter any extra dogs as Not for Competition and the entry fee has been reduced to £7.50.

We would be pleased to hear from anyone who is willing to steward at the show.  Anyone stewarding for three days or more is provided with a free caravan pass.  Stewards receive a daily allowance of £10.00 plus a further £10.00 if they do not use the lunch ticket provided. Please contact the Secretary, Jennie Griffiths on 01694 751258 or e mail secretary@thenationaldogshow.org.uk

Trade stands will be both indoors on the balcony and outdoors.  All will comply with any COVID-19 Safety restrictions in place at the time.  Booking and enquiries are now coming in and any trade stand holders who do not want to miss out should contact the Secretary without delay.

Nick Gourley, the Society’s Chairman said “We are very confident that we have plans in place to gain local authority approval to host a COVID-19 safe National Dog Show at Stafford County Showground later this year. The key message from the government’s medical advisors last week was for indoor venues to ensure maximum ventilation as lock-down restrictions start to ease. They also talked about cleanliness and hygiene practices both of which we have covered in our plans. Our classification for all Breeds is extensive with lots of opportunities to qualify for Crufts 2022. We have included Yearling classes for all breeds and the breeds with numerically higher entries already have the new Novice and Graduate qualifying classes. Non CC Breeds all have a minimum of 10 classes with no mixed classes. So we now hope and pray that the vaccination roll-out continues and infection rates remain low over the coming months. Whilst a number of our Show’s usual ‘attractions’ have had to be paired back this year we guarantee we will create the customary ‘electric’ atmosphere associated with the National.”

You will be guaranteed the usual warm welcome and we look forward to seeing you in late September at Stafford.

Jennie Griffiths

Secretary

Birmingham Dog Show Society Limited – home of The National Dog Show