Darlington Champ Show

Been to Darlington Champ Show at Newby Hall, and it was absolutely atrocious The organisers really need to look at the suitability of the site. The place was a mud bath there were NO areas that were unaffected and the mud was extremely smelly I think sheep poo was mixed in with it. I feel for anyone showing there tomorrow

I am lucky enough to drive a 4x4 and my Honda was a godsend but there were loads of cars and vans stuck waiting for the tractor to pull them out


When you pay on average £25 to enter each dog and then the other costs you incur then this show should have been cancelled as no dog could be judged under these conditions

Rant over

So you won't be showing then?

Doesn't sound like ideal conditions - YUK!!

Go ahead and rant away . We had a similar day at the Hound Assoc of Scotland back in April. where even the benching area was flooded and covered in mud and it was very slippery,. Loads of cars had to be towed outo f the mud filled car parking area by tractor.

High entry fees and all that preparation to have dogs looking good and for what to take them into the ring covered in mud , not counting the cost of travel. This is another show where the committee should re - think the venue. Outdoors in Kelso at the end of April!!!! I ask you.

So I can well sympathise with you Rottalmarotts.

DITO, just thought I would add, its damn dangerous running a dog in mud,, dont know how many people I have slipping at shows due to the ground conditions,, good old british weather eh?
we should add dog showing to extream sports....... look at what b-eye did to her leg at a show a few weeks ago,,

I 100% agree! I went yesterday, the first day it was DREADFUL, and they expect people who have not prepaid to pay £10 to "park" the car!!! We were towed out by a tractor as we were stuck, there were at least 8 others just from by us that were waiting too. The first 4 rows of border benching was so muddy it covereed your feet, NOBODY could get to those benches it was disgusting! On the Darlington website it stated the ground "was in good condition" liars!

I did show my Rott and yes it was very tricky,the judge should have used some common sense as he sent them running in these conditions and even the fittest (not me lol) amongst us struggled as it was like running through treacle. I did actually consider withdrawing and going home but after travelling for nearly 2 hours and struggling to the ring it was a case of I'm here will just get on with it. Scrumpy coped better than me she has four legs lol

Oh dear I feel for you all, I couldn't enter as Kayleigh's breeder was judging, which I was sad about as its another local show for us, but with the weather I am glad I didn't.

I hope that Wetherby will be better on Sunday - crossing fingers that it has dried up a bit.

my friend went with her doug de bordeaux got a second third and fourth with her 3 didn't complain about conditions but thats scots for ya lol, must ask her what she thought x

Yes I was there yesterday with Isla, Drizzle and his owner. It was a total nightmare, queued for over 45 minutes to get in due to the usual 2-3 lanes of traffic being reduced to 1 due to the mud. To top it all off we'd both forgotten our Wellies so had to trail through the sh*t (and yes, judging by the smell there was some form of poo involved! ) in our trainers!

To be fair to the show organisers though, they really can't do much about the weather. I've been going to Darlington at Newby for many years and this is the first time they've had this problem.

And lets be honest, it could be worse - they could take the show back to Darlo!