July 2020 with Covid-19

In my last blog on this page I said I am making he days count and not counting the days; and Boy has that been true.  We are coming to the end of July 2020 and still living the affects of Covid 19.   This month has seen a slightly reduction of social distancing from 2 metres to 1.5 metres if 2 metres can not be established. 

The biggest affect to my dogs is having to wear face masks in all shops and small spaces.  No problems there but I worried that maybe the dogs would be fearful of people suddenly wearing these things so I started wearing my masks on walks so that if they do ever get back to shows where the organisers are wearing them that they will be used to the sight of them.   I need not have worried; none of my dogs, not even the one that is very nervous, took any notice.  They did look at me weirdly at first but then seem to just shrug it off and carried on playing.  Job done!  There have been some very long winded training methods published lately on how to get your dog used to you wearing face masks but really I like to keep it simple and always try to keep the association of such things with something pleasant and my dogs LOVE their walks so it was a good choice on my part.

I was hoping that EditionDog Live might be going ahead at the end of August but unfortunately its not to be.  It's been moved to 29 August 2021.  To be expected really as the Government is not permitting mass gatherings at the moment but still it was something to look forward to.

Everyone is still asking me if Crufts will be happening next year and I honestly don't know.  It was anticipated that overseas exhibitor entries may be down anyway due to the uncertainty surrounding the UK leaving the EU on 31 December 2020 and the restrictions on the Pet Passport system but now are adding the Covid-19 factor it all seems to be against us.   However, I read in Our Dogs this week that the NEC in Birmingham where Crufts is held is still housing a Nightingale Hospital which, thankfully, has not admitted a single patient and will be decommissioned in October.   I also saw on the news that the Government are hoping to be able to reschedule conferences and events from December.   This Covid thing is certainly taking its toll and could continue to affect our normal dog shows and activities well into next year.  Let's hope our brilliant British Scientists find a vaccine soon.

In the meantime, keep safe and well everyone.