‘Terrible twos’ at Crufts as pets raised in lockdown unleashed
PUPPIES that missed out on early socialisation owing to the pandemic are exhibiting difficult behaviour as they mature, according to experts at Crufts.
A generation of young dogs missed out on making friends in the park or at group training classes because of Covid rules.
This week they are making their first appearance at the dog show and are displaying all the excitability of animals denied a normal upbringing, trainers said.
On day two of the event at the NEC in Birmingham, Ann Benefield, 72, whose twoyear-old Golden Retriever Poppy is entered in the Good Citizen Dog Training display, said: “When she sees another dog she wants to call to them, and she wants to pull the lead. She’s excited, because she wasn’t over-socialised as a puppy.”
There were also signs of the “terrible twos” from dogs with gaps in their socialisation and training in the ring.
Pat Moncur, president of the Basset Hound Club of Scotland, said one handler had become so frustrated with her charge that she had stormed out of the arena saying she would never exhibit the puppy again.
The dog, said Mrs Moncur, “just didn’t enjoy it at all. Her tail was down and she wasn’t interested in titbits.”
There were further indiscretions during the agility finals in the main arena.
Betty, a young toy poodle, chose to scurry around an obstacle rather than climb over it, and sniffed at a judge’s heels when it should have been on the ring.
The next dog went some way to redeeming Betty, however, by relieving itself on the artificial turf.