www.maryray.co.uk/OLD_NEWS/news_march_08.html -
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Published on: 3/1/2008
Last Visited: 8/6/2008
We were very busy in the run-up to Crufts and it was all linked, me with all the organisational things with the Kennel Club and Mary doing a lot of work with Pedigree.And not forgetting the fact that there was a lot of work to be done on the stand we were having at Crufts and the new products that we were putting on sale there.Mary, as usual, was booked to do some demonstration slots on the Pedigree stand - and what a stand it was, absolutely huge.There was a big new stage area with screens on the outside showing what was on the stage and the whole area was set within the middle of the stand.I was at the NEC on the Tuesday taking rosettes and trophies there and getting myself sorted out for the show and on the Wednesday Mary joined me.She had her Best in Show heelwork to music rehearsal at lunchtime, then on the Wednesday evening she had a 30 minute cabaret spot to do at the Hilton Hotel.Pedigree had invited over 100 people from the independent pet trade to a day of seminars and business meetings.In the evening, they had a dinner and
at the conclusion of the dinner Mary came on and showed them what the dogs can do.I think it was one of the highlights of the day as everyone really enjoyed it and thought the dogs were fantastic.As usual, Mary showed how she trained her dogs using the latest Pedigree training treats of course and also showed them some of the tricks that the dogs can do.Then as a final touch, it was really lovely when we got back to our room that evening to find that Pedigree had arranged for a beautiful bouquet of flowers to be there to greet us.
On the Thursday morning, Mary had been asked by the Kennel Club PR Office if she would do a spot on television.All this was due to what had been in the press over the previous few days and we really could not believe the stupidity of some of the remarks about heelwork to music and turning Crufts into a circus.And Mary did feel very strongly about some of the remarks that had been made.Even I got a bit irate when one newspaper printed some facts from this website and decided to use the odd few words then print them out of context.These people should realise that it's not about dancing with a dog - just like obedience and some of the other working disciplines, it is very skilled.They must understand that firstly you have to train a series of tricks/moves to perfection then you have to choose a piece of music with all the right attributes and then you have to choreograph your tricks/moves to the music.So how can they call that a circus?Anyway, rant over as Mary fielded the questions very well, gave her own answers - and she was not briefed by the Kennel Club - and she was eventually quoted in several newspapers, heard on several radio programmes and of course was featured on BBC television.Later on Thursday, Mary did a book signing on our own stand (we'll come to the stand later) and appeared twice on the Pedigree stage in Hall 3.As usual, she had a terrific response with a packed audience and that was to be the tale of the whole of Crufts.
Friday was Championship Obedience Day for Mary as she had qualified our Quincy for the dog championships.The obedience was once more held in the Pavilion where the Kennel Club had made some changes to alleviate the crowd problems.I thought it was a brilliant little arena.Peter Lubby was the judge and Mary was thrilled to achieve a fourth place in the championships.
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Mary was the first person ever to work two dogs, then three dogs, then four dogs so what could she do next to make it special?We decided some while ago that we thought it was time to do a pairs routine in the Main Ring and there was only one person we could think of who could fit the bill and Mary had actually worked with him before on The Underdog Show.So she asked Richard Curtis - a really nice guy, easy to work with, not a prima donna and of course very skilled and successful.Mary chose the music and she had been wanting to perform to Barnum for quite a while.Richard cut it into a usable 4.5 minute recording and it was Richard's idea to use his famous clown costume.
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It also helped us to understand why they wanted Mary and Richard to perform the routine again when we thought they should have enough.
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On the Saturday, Mary just had the demonstrations on the Pedigree stand alongside book signings and working on her own stand.It was certainly a difficult day as I don't think we have ever seen so many people at the show itself.And this was to be a repeat on the Sunday as well.It's probably a good time to mention Mary's trade stand; we have always had a 4 metre x 2 metre stand which is very expensive at Crufts and then at the last minute the people who were taking the stand next door decided not to come so the Kennel Club asked us if we would like another 4 metres which we duly took.This probably worked out well because for the previous year we had been working with a British design company who have overseas manufacturing facilities and Mary was going to launch her own, branded dog training range at Crufts.We already had the new target stick before Crufts and at Crufts itself we had the new box and clip clickers with lanyards and wrist coils.A product called 'Cool Dog Airflow Tailgate Lock' which is a very sturdy product to enable you to securely lock the back door of your van or estate and leave it partly open so that you have a good airflow in to your dog, there was a 'Turbo Towel' which was a super-absorbent towel in its own plastic container to dry the dog off, a new 'Mary Ray Treat Bag' with a quick-close top, pockets for the clickers and target sticks and a removable inner pouch that can be easily washed - a really great product and, as with the others, at a really good price as well.The last new product is unique and designed by ourselves.It's called a 'Target Click and Treat Stick', it has a handle with a lever with a built-in clicker in the handle and when you pull the lever, the plastic ball at the end opens and the treat you had previously secreted in there drops out.Mary had some fantastic demonstrations with it at Crufts and although we had several hundred for the launch at Crufts, we had sold out completely by end of the second day - and it was only £11.95.All of this stock will be in the Store section of this website by the second week of April as we are expecting fresh supplies to have arrived prior to that.We are also looking for overseas distributors for this range.At this point, I should also mention of course the launch of the Pedigree training treat that Mary helped to develop.Mary has her name on the front of the pack and there is a little piece about her on the back of the pack, it's only 2 calories per treat and very tasty.And, most importantly, it's the right size and consistency.They have a specific website that again Mary has had some input into and there's also a little quiz for you to complete: www.pedigreetrainingtreats.co.uk
Take a close look; Levi & Pogo have one foot off the floor, Mary and Richard have both feet off the floor!
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On Sunday, Mary and Richard were going to perform the first public showing of their new Barnum routine.
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Mary was due on at 8:26 pm and as you will probably understand with the television people, it has to run exactly to time.So at 8:24 pm, Richard got into the elephant box to be carried in to the arena and at 8:26 pm precisely, Mary was introduced into the arena by Nick Brookes-Ward.
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And I know that Mary is indebted to Richard for all his input into this year's routine.
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Prior to Crufts, Mary had a final photo shoot for her new Superdog book which comes out at the end of this year.Also, she did a couple of photo/video shoots for Pedigree for their website on the Crufts stand, she went to Leeds to do a dog training presentation at the Asda head office, she did a cabaret spot at the NEC for the Pedigree Stakes Finals and a one-day obedience training course for Rugby DTC.Finally, we went down to Bristol again for another Cabaret Evening for Andy Moxham where there is always a great atmosphere and this year was no exception as there were around 200 people and Mary had a fabulous night and, most importantly, so did the audience.
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A much bigger Mary Ray shop at Crufts 2008, with all the new mary Ray branded training products, including the "New Unique" target click and treat stick
The reason of course that I had my own holiday this year for the first time ever is because Mary is going on her Canine Cruise at the end of March.She actually leaves the day after our 30th Wedding Anniversary - four nights in Miami and seven nights on a 2,000 capacity cruise liner.I understand that there are over 500 doggy people going so I'm sure she will have a good time with her friend Ann from Australia.She arrives back during the second week of April and on 9th April we have a Cabaret Night at the Severn Hall at Malvern Showground.It's tiered seating which means that everyone should have a good view so if
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