he decade opened with Mr Charles Cruft’s invitation to enter the first annual ‘Great International Dog Shows’ to take place at the Agricultural Hall,
Islington, North London over three days from the
11th of February 1891. Many were those who answered
the summons for the entry of 2437, little more than a tenth
of today’s entry, was hailed a record with both exhibits and
spectators, including royalty, emanating from throughout
Europe, and class winners rewarded with beautifully
executed prize cards designed by renowned canine artist
Arthur Wardle.
Early canine events had generally been reported in either the sporting journals, like ‘The Field’ or the general pictorial press such as the London Gazette, but by the early 1890s the show world was sufficiently established to support some form of specialist publication. Possibly the first weekly to fill this void was ‘The British Fancier’, which catered for poultry and pigeon fanciers in addition to its considerable canine coverage, their directorate including collie enthusiasts Messrs T. H. Stretch, I. N. Woodiwiss, and Dr Geo. MacGill. By the mid 90s The British Fancier’s editor, Theo Marples, had persuaded several fellow canine enthusiasts, including Sir Humphrey F. de Trafford, Bart, who was himself a Collie enthusiast, to form a new publishing company capable of producing a weekly newspaper dedicated to the canine world. ‘Our Dogs’, edited by Marples, has continued to serve the canine world since its first appearance on
news-stands on the 5th of January 1896, and is today, like then, owned by a select team of dedicated canine enthusiasts.
