A TEESDALE couple are delighted after their beloved cavalier King Charles spaniels brought home two rosettes at Crufts.
Ted and Pat Rogerson have been breeding them for the past 40 years and began showing three decades ago.
Mr Rogerson said: “I used to have greyhounds and raced them as well. Pat had always wanted a cavalier King Charles spaniel and so we got one, and then another and another.”
The couple, who regularly show their pooches at open and championship shows, are”chuffed to bits” that they came away with two rosettes – a first in the graduate bitch class and a third in the yearling class – at Crufts. The event was held at Birmingham’s NEC arena this month.
Mr Rogerson said: “We pick the shows that we want to attend because of the cost of getting to the shows. It’s also depending on the judges as they tend to favour Blenheim colouring, not black and tan.”
Two-year-old Rabymar Isla Negra, named after a type of wine and affectionately called Isla, impressed the judges and picked up a red rosette. One-year-old Heart of Y Once in a Lifetime, known as Cali outside of the show ring, took third place in the yearling class. He added: “She came all the way from Denmark. We were lucky to get her as there was a lot of demand from all over Europe. But when the owner heard we had Cali’s great-grandfather, Sweep, and had bred her grandfather, she wanted us to have her.
“We were really chuffed she won as she only just turned one four days before the show and the judges don’t normally pick the younger dogs.”
The black and tan puppy was sent by a specialist courier from Denmark during lockdown last year, arriving at the couple’s home in the early hours of the morning.
Danish dog breeder Yvonne Hansen even accompanied Mr Rogerson to Crufts, flying in especially for the occasion.
He added: “She was delighted with the result and she took the rosette home with her. As Cali won third, she automatically gets an entry for Crufts next year and Yvonne has said she’s definitely coming over again and she’s going to bring her daughter this time.”
Mrs Rogerson said: “You can’t say the dogs are a hobby, they’re our life. We have 14 girls now.”
