Congratulations to @PupPiglet on being crowned as “Mr Puppy UK 2017″… Why 2017, I here you ask? Well, because of timings, it has been decided that the title will run for a calendar year, so the election on Saturday 24th September was to find the pup who will hold the title from 01/01/2o17 until 31/12/2017; and I’ll be Mr Puppy UK until 31/12/2016.
I know I’ve been quiet on the blog recently but this has been a combination of various reasons; work, domestic and also been a fairly busy year on the puppy front too… if anyone noticed! My time to put paws to paper has been lacking but I will catch up soon… and you’ll see a flood of posts coming, in no particular order. However, this post is about the most recent event – Mr Puppy UK… so let’s get on with it. *wags*
Saturday 24th September 2016 saw the election of the forthcoming 2017 Mr Puppy UK at the Pup Social. However, this meant it was a very different social for me as my commitments as a judge to find my successor meant that I couldn’t be much of a puppy.
Before I go too far though, I’d like to extend a paw of congratulations to the 7 competitors:
Scamp
Pup Piglet
Wolfy
Buster
Pup Nox
Elektra pup
Pup Dash
who entered the contest and on having the courage to enter and participate – you are all absolutely wonderful!!!
The afternoon started with a welcome from Boss Bear and PupBrock before control of the proceedings was passed over to Sister Jacqui (@SisterJaqui on twitter) who then introduced the judges, the prizes, the sponsors and of course… the puppies competing, who also had the chance to talk to the audience for the first time. After a quick break and a quick demo by Scruff and Jacqui it was on to round 1 – the Puppy Agility course. My fellow judges and I were keeping an eye on the proceedings and scoring the pups as per the comprehensive scoresheet.
After a refreshment break (to also allow the agility course to be tidied away), it was on to the next round… the Puppy Mosh – and this was for all to join in on… and I couldn’t resist getting a better feel for the contestants by joining in and getting on the floor with them! This was a good chance to relax as the next aspect was by far the hardest one… interviewing each of the puppies with the other judges away from everyone else. Hopefully I wasn’t difficult with my questions though *paws over eyes*.
Next up was the performance round but Sister Jacqui thought that it was best to show another demo… this puppy ended up being pup-napped by Kitty and having my fur turned in to a dress! What the pups and handlers were not expecting was me to return in ONLY my pup hood and with just my paws covering my modesty! *blushes* However; it was brilliant fun to participate in this sketch and I gather it went down quite well with some of the people there 😉 😀
Jacqui’s performance obviously inspired the five pups who were moving forward to the next stage, as what followed was five excellent demonstrations from dancing through to some rope-work and even some juggling.
Unfortunately though, two pups had to leave the contest at this point. However, it wasn’t quite over for them as they had to decide on the “Dog Catcher” – a prize for the best handler in the room. After much deliberation, lots of treats and *tummy rubs*, both pups eventually agreed to a handler and the “Dog Catcher” was crowned.
A quick rest then occured while some of the admin work was done… the counting of the sticks for Pup Congeniality, and of course, the final tallying up of the scores from the judges.
As we reconvened, it was announced that Pup Dash was “Pup Congeniality”; Buster was 3rd (or 2nd Runner Up!); Elektra was 2nd (or 1st Runner Up) and then I had to do some more work. As my human personality, I hate standing up and doing public speaking, but somehow as Spot I can do so… which is just as well, as I had to make a speach! It was then announced by the honourable (dishonourable?) Sister Jacqui that Mr Puppy UK 2017 was… Pup Piglet.
Congratulations to all who entered … and the team behind Mr Puppy UK and Pup Social for an excellent event. … I have a few months more left of my Mr Puppy Title, and part of these will be used to hand over knowledge to the upcoming Mr Puppy UK 2017.
*woofs*