Young Kennel Club Groomer of the Year preview

A Cut Above

Crufts 2022 Young Kennel Club Groomer of the Year Competition will provide a showcase for the best of today’s talented young groomers.

The Young Kennel Club (YKC) grooming competition sponsored by Royal Canin takes place in Hall 1 on Sunday March 13th and the presentations are later the same day.

It has two categories and is open to all dogs over six months of age. Dogs do not have to be pure-bred to take part, but they must be registered with the Kennel Club on either the Breed Register or the Activity Register. This year’s classes see a variety of breeds from Border Collies, Tibetan Terriers and Spaniels to Papillons.

Class Divisions

There are two different class divisions for Young Kennel Club grooming.

Groom Through - Competitors need to show understanding and skill required to remove all dead hair and tangles from the dog’s coat.

Clip/Trim & Strip - Competitors need to show skills in coat removal by stripping, trimming and/or clipping the coat. Competitors may use either one or all of these skills in this class.

Members can try and qualify for Hunter Macdonald and Jock - winner in 2020

the Crufts final by competing in one of the Groomer of the Year qualifiers which will be held at various regional events in 2016.

To find out more about getting started in Young Kennel Club grooming, visit the website at http:// www.ykc.org.uk/competing/grooming.

The Young Kennel Club has an entire hall devoted to classes for young members from obedience, agility and flyball to junior handling and breed showing. Membership costs £15 a year with discounts for additional siblings and each member receives a ‘welcome pack’ with free gifts and educational material.

Royal Canin is delighted to sponsor the Young Kennel Club Grooming Competition. Fiona Brook is the main judge of the class and will be keeping a close eye on competitors to check how the youngster interact with their dogs and how sympathetic their grooms are.

There will be tips available on how to: • Brush your dog • Bathe your dog without a struggle • Clip and trim hair • Clip nails painlessly • Brush teeth and keep them healthy • Check and maintain healthy, unobstructed eyes and ears

Hunter Macdonald and his Border Terrier Jock from Strathpeffer, Scotland, won the Young Kennel Club (YKC) Groomer of the Year award at Crufts in 2020.

Hunter and Jock, who is owned by Hunter’s uncle, took first place in the YKC ring at Crufts for the coveted title of YKC Groomer of the Year, after qualiftying at a YKC training weekend in Newark and Scottish Kennel Club show.

To reach the Crufts final, YKC members have to compete in their categories for under and over 12s, and over 18s for Groom Through and Clip/Trim & Strip classes.

Hunter commented: “I just couldn’t believe I had won - when I went up to my mum afterwards all I could say to her was just that it was unbelievable. It’s fantastic and a dream. I didn’t even think I would win my category so to be the overall winner was just amazing.

“I knew that I just had to forget about the crowd around me and get my head down and get stripping. I didn’t even think about who was next to me, I just had to focus on what I was doing and what was going on in front of me.

“Jock is a mischievous little character. We started training together when he was five and we haven’t really

GOTY YKC winner

looked back since then. We do all the strip classes together but he’s owned by my uncle so I would just like to say a big thanks to him.”

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary said: “Many congratulations to Hunter for winning YKC Groomer of the Year – he showed outstanding talent and we wish him the best of luck for the future.”

For further information about Crufts visit www.crufts.org.uk. If you would like to find out more about the Young Kennel Club and how to join please contact the Young Kennel Club team by emailing ykc@thekennelclub.org.uk or visit www.ykc.org.uk.