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RESCUE AT CRUFTS 2012

I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation from Pam Hill (The Kennel Club Rescue Directory
Coordinator) to represent our breed on the Kennel Club "Find A Rescue Dog" stand this year!

This stand is used to promote public awareness of Breed Rescue and the work of rescue organisations, as well as the particular organisations occupying the booths.

After careful consideration and thought it was decided that to have a dog that was not in full coat, was much more appropriate and realistic to what a 'Rescued' dog would most likely look like.

So my search began! With help from Geraldine Hughes I was given details of a suitable 'Rescued' Afghan called 'Honey', a Black Masked Cream.

Honey was 'Rescued' by Julie and Graham Smith when she was 8 months old, painfully thin and neglected. As her new home included male hounds and another rescue she was spayed.

Having the run of the house and all the love and devotion to promote a happy and contented hound she soon settled in.

Julie and Jessica (Julie's daughter) met me at 8.30am to introduce me and my husband to Honey. Honey is now 4 years old, has a lovely foreface full of Monkey Whiskers and a solid construction. We introduced her to the 'Booth' and within 10 minutes she had had a good sniff around, a drink and surveyed the area thoroughly and of course given us a good 'Going Over'.

With that done she settled down to take the whole day in her stride. Making the most of being admired and photographed and fussed by our many visitors. Julie and Jess made several visits to ensure all was well and apart from a couple of short walks out in the sun and of course a much needed snooze Honey with her wonderful, trusting nature was the Star of the day for us!

Such a high profile is so vital to get the message out to the public and during the course of the day I was able to give my contact details to a person working at a kennels in the West Midlands region and several people were eager to pass on to me their details as they were interested in taking on a 'Rescue'. This was ideal as I was able to talk and assess people face to face, often first impressions and that initial gut instinct are so important and so often right!

At the end of such a rewarding day Pam Hill approached us with a 'Goodie Bag' and in it was a lovely Pink, fluffy dog bed with white paws over it! Such a fitting reward for the lovely Honey to take home with her, for her contribution to Crufts 2012. 

Carol Humphries.