Letters from Readers:

Hello,
I WAS browsing through Ask Jeeves on Pyrenean sheepdogs and came across your page on Crufts. I regret to say your information on the above breed is incorrect. As the Pyrenean sheepdog is currently on the imported register, it CANNOT be exhibited at Crufts. Your page is very misleading for overseas exhibitors. Currently the Pyrenean sheepdog can only appear in the Discover Dogs section of the show. - Brenda Judson, Carabrae Pyrenean Sheepdogs

A Pyrenean sheepdog is very different from a Pyrenean mastiff which was the breed mentioned in the article as one of the four new breeds to be exhibited. There are breeds coming to Crufts each year now from all over the world, many imported from different countries and many just coming over for Crufts and out again. They are able to do this because of the Pets Passport scheme that was introduced last year (or may even have been 2003).

The paragraph you mention was taken from a British newspaper report on Crufts and did not specify whether the four new breeds were to be serious show competitors or on exhibition as accepted new breeds. For myself I assumed the latter as a new breed would not be familiar to the judges and it would be hard to judge their 'finer points' against older, established breeds. However, the wording could perhaps be taken either way. But as a person not living in UK and never having had the pleasure of attending a Crufts show, I could not assume to change it to reflect my own interpretation. - Ed