17 December 2021

Discover Dogs Article November 2021

Thousands of dog-lovers visited over 150 dog breeds at The Kennel Club’s Discover Dogs event in London last November. The event at the ExCel hosted the agility finals, heats for the cross-breed competition Scruffts and doggy relay displays. Dog behaviourists were on hand to help owners with training and socialisation problems. It was brilliant, especially after the lockdowns, to meet so many people again.

Looking around I was amazed at how many different types of terriers there were, Maltese, Irish, Norwich, Patterdale, Airedale and one I had never heard of: the Cesky Terrier. And then I came across the Scottish Terrier show dog stand, WOW. There were four beautifully groomed Scots with perfect skirts standing proud and showing off the breed in the most fabulous way.

The STECS stand was in the centre of the event, in the Kennel Club’s own space, and next to the Beagle rescue stand which was super noisy. Our stand was manned by Elaine Core, Jean and Rob McCleod, Cath Marchbank with her two Scottish Terriers Wilf and Savannah and me with my beloved Scottie Remy.

Many of our visitors already owned a Scottie, but others were weighing up whether or not they had the right type of home for one. If I had a £1 for everyone who said ‘you don’t see many Scotties these days’ or ‘my Gran used to have one’ I would be a wealthy woman. We were also visited by lots of our breed supporters, including our friends from the London Scottie Club.”

Currently, demand to rehome Scotties far outstrips supply. But demand for the breed is on the rise again. So, this event was primarily an opportunity for STECS to engage with the public, to make sure they understood what they were taking on before they committed to a Scottish Terrier.

Karen Randall