Skip to content
Your Complete Dog Lover’s Guide To Crufts Dog Show
Crufts is the greatest dog show on earth! Home to over 500 trade stands full of all the dog goodies you could dream of and 18,000 dogs and their handlers performing in the ring. This is an event that dog lover’s look forward to every year!
Get completely prepared for this year’s event with our ultimate guide to Crufts.
Crufts 2024 tickets
The dates are set for Crufts dog show 2024! Put the 7th-10th March 2024 in your diary and grab your Crufts tickets here.
Buying your tickets for Crufts in advance saves you money, meaning you’ve got more to spend on all the wonderful dog products you have on your wish list!
Weekday advance tickets are cheaper than the weekend event days, but you may be more swayed by the shows and breed groups performing each day. More on that in a mo!
But first, let’s look at ticket prices.
Tickets range from £14-£25 when purchased in advance, and from £17-£29 if bought on the door. Under 8’s go free.
Can I take my dog to Crufts?
Only assistance dogs and dogs invited by the Kennel Club are admitted to the event, so you will need to make alternative arrangements for your dog. However, we’re sure you’ll be forgiven for leaving them at home when you return with your bounty of dog goodies after your trip to Crufts!
Many of the stands run Crufts promotions, meaning you can snap up some great deals whilst enjoying the show.
Crufts Categories
Crufts splits their breed judging into seven breed groups, and the winner of each group goes forward to compete for the best in show.
The Crufts Breed Groups Are: Toy, Gundogs, Utility, Hounds, Working, Pastoral, and Terriers
Learn more about the different dog breed groups and what they're bred for here.
Throughout the 4 day event, dogs will compete in the ring against others in their group to determine the best in breed. Before the finale, determining the prestigious best in show.
Crufts Schedule
Each day at Crufts there will be various shows and competitions taking place, from agility to flyball, heelwork to music, junior handling and lots, lots more.
The Crufts schedule for 2024 has now been release and you can see the fulll show programme here!
Here's a round-up from the schedule at the latest Crufts show to give you an idea of what to expect.
Thursday 7th March - 2024
Agility, flyball, freestyle, heelwork to music, junior handling, and police dog displays. Plus breed group judging for both the utlility and toy groups, including French Bulldogs, Dalmations, Schnauzers, Poodles, Pomeranians, and more.
Friday 8th March - 2024
Agility, flyball, heelwork to music, junior handling, and gamekeepers competition. Plus breed group judging for the Gundog Group including Pointers, Retrievers, Setters, Spaniels and Vizslas.
Saturday 9th March - 2024
Scrufts semi-finals, Hoopers display, agility, flyball, heelwork to music, obedience display and young kennel club displays. Plus breed group judging for working and pastoral groups including Boxers, Collies, Huskies, Sheepdogs, Shepherds, and Mastiffs.
Sunday 10th March - 2024
Agility final, rescue dog agility, medical detection dogs display, Kennel Club Hero final, Flyball final, Young Kennel Club final and Best in show. Plus breed group judging for the Terrier and Hound groups, including Airedales, Sealey, Border, Australian and Fox Terriers alongside, Dachshunds, Whippets, Beagles and Foxhounds.
Learn more about popular dog sports like agility, flyball and heelwork to music here.
Planning your visit to Crufts
Crufts is enormous! The event spans 5 halls and there is so much to pack in, so it helps to plan in advance so you don't miss anything.
From ample stands full of fabulous dog products, show discounts and special offers and the meet the breed areas, there's a lot more to Crufts than what happens in the ring.
What to wear
Something comfortable! This is a dog show, and it’s HUGE, so you’ll be doing a lot of walking as you make your way around all the stands, show rings and meet the breed areas.
We recommend wearing layers so you don’t get too hot in the arena/halls and you can wrap up warm en route to the event.
What to take
Choose a bag that’s smaller than A4 size to carry with you into the arena. Any larger bags of luggage can be booked into the cloakroom when you arrive.
There are cash machines, a cloakroom and plenty of places to buy food and drink at the show.
You can bring your own drinks and snacks into Crufts so you can avoid the queues and stay energised for the day!
Ultimately, we recommend travelling light so you don’t have too much to carry around with you all day. Don’t forget, you’re likely to pick up more stuff as you make your way around all the trade stands exploring new dog products and snapping up special offers!
Shopping at Crufts
Last year 85% of all visitors visited the trade stands, making it the busiest area of the event. We recommend making a list of the stands you want to visit along with their location, so you can ensure you find them easily.
At the Tug-E-Nuff stand we welcomed so many dog lovers, who popped by to check out our toys, meet our dog training partners, and pick up their free Tug-E-Nuff gifts.
One of our favourite things about Crufts is meeting dog lovers, exploring how the power of play helps them, and hearing ideas for new toys they'd like us to create!
At this year's show, we launched TWO brand new sheepskin squeaky toys, and our Crufts visitors set eyes (and paws) on them first. They were a total HIT!
Getting to Crufts
By Train: Arrive at Birmingham International Railway Station and you can easily access the NEC via bridge on foot (or by wheelchair)
By Coach: Both MegaBus and National Express operate coach services to Bimingham Airport, where you can easily make your way to the NEC for Crufts.
By Car: Pop the postcode B40 1NT into your sat nav, then follow the signs for the NEC when you get close. Look out for Crufts signage to reach the best car parks. Take a note of where you’ve parked so you can easily find your car after a long day!
There is a free shuttle service from the car park to the venue.
You can book your car parking for Crufts here.
Is Crufts wheelchair friendly?
Yes, the venue is fully wheelchair accessible. They also offer mobility equipment including wheelchairs and scooters, which are available to pre-book. You can book yours via email to info@necgroup.co.uk
There are plenty of assistance dogs and their handlers at Crufts each year, and whilst it's busy, it's accessible for all.
What channel is Crufts on?
If you can’t make the event, or want to tune in and watch your favourite breeds or dog sports, you can watch at home. Tune into Crufts on Channel 4 if you’re in the UK, or via the Crufts YouTube channel worldwide.
The Kennel Club are also running podcasts throughout the event, just search ‘Kennel Club’ wherever you get your podcasts.
How to qualify for crufts
To qualify for entry to Crufts your dog must be Kennel Club registered, unless they’re a crossbreed entering SCRUFTS.
To qualify for Crufts show entry, dogs must have qualified in 1st, 2nd or 3rd place at a championship show. You can find the full list of qualification criteria for Crufts here.
Scrufts is for crossbreed dogs over 6 months of age. You can find a list for qualifying heats for entry to Scrufts here.
Do you fancy yourself as the handler of next year’s Cruft’s winner?
The first step to getting your dog to qualify for Crufts is to start training and attending shows.
Check out our list of the top 10 dog sports to try and see what takes your fancy.
Cruft winners 2023
Best in Show (Gundog Group Winner):
Am GCh Kan Trace Very Cheeky Chic (known as Orca) the 4-year-old Lagotto Romagnolo from Croatia.
Working Group: Ch Manzart Wise Guy (known as Archie), a 3-year-old Dobermann from West Sussex.
Pastoral Group: Ch Airzeppeline (known as Delia), a 7-year-old Old English Sheepdog from Italy.
Terrier Group: Ch Blanca Vd Schoenen Bergen (known as Blanca), a 3-year-old Wire Fox Terrier from Croatia.
Hound Group: Ch Sade Paris (known as Paris), a 5-year-old Irish Wolfhound from Cheshire.
Utility Group: Ch Huffish Rewrite The Stars with Atastar (known as Jake), a 4-year-old Standard Poodle from Bristol.
Toy Group: Ch Ellemich American Express (known as Dublin), a 18-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from Essex.
Reserves were won by a Border Collie, Tibetan Mastiff, Border Terrier, Basset Griffon Vendeen, Japanese Akita, Yorkshire Terrier and a Labrador Retriever.
As ever, there was a wonderful range of both rare and more recognisable breeds showing off their skills in the ring.
Other UK Dog shows
Crufts may be the biggest dog show in the world, but throughout the year there are loads of great dog shows you can attend.
From championship shows to fun dog shows, there are lots of dog events to visit across the country - either as a competitor or a visitor.
We travel the UK each year, visiting lots of dog shows including Dogfest, All About Dogs and many more.
Check out all the UK dog shows we'll be visiting this year.
READ NEXT:
Take our play pawsonality quiz (and get your personalised play plan free)
