Nostalgia: When Shropshire's top dog took the title at Crufts

His Shropshire handler Tricia Bentley was “cocker hoop” after Albert the three-year-old cocker spaniel, or, to give him his full name, Show Champion Canigou Cambrai, scooped the coveted top prize at Crufts.

Champion

He was Supreme Champion at the 1996 show just 12 months after winning the cocker spaniel class.

It was a double celebration for Tricia as the victory at the final night of Britain’s premier dog show at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre came on March 17 – her 50th birthday.

At the time Tricia, who kept eight other cocker spaniels and one boxer dog at her home in Rodington, said: “I’ve been showing for 28 years and it has been 28 years, 24 hours a day, of hard work. It is a dream come true simply to be in the ring for the final of Crufts.

“I’m delighted and very proud of Albert. It was worth postponing my birthday celebrations but I apologise to people who have had to rearrange everything because of the show. It’s the best birthday present I have ever had. Albert has that extra something.’’

Albert was named after the Bentley family’s great uncle who fell at the Battle of Cambrai, in northern France, during the Great War.

Once-in-a-lifetime

Looking back now, Tricia says: “Albert died in 2008 aged almost 16 years. He was a once-in-a-lifetime dog; very lovable and extremely loyal and he followed me everywhere.

“He loved the show ring and following his retirement would sit beside the car on show days, hoping he could go too.

“In the four months after Crufts he continued his winning ways until the July of that year, when he won Best in Show at the Cocker Spaniel Club of Great Britain Championship Show, and then retired at the top.

“Obviously Albert wasn’t aware of what he had achieved, but he certainly thrived on the attention he received after his win.

“Ten more show champions have been produced here in the years since and I am very lucky to have a two and half year-old daughter of Albert gracing the settee at present, named Abbie. She was the result of an AI (artificial insemination) mating.

Favourite

“Another of note is Rocky, who became the first male champion black and tan cocker spaniel – the first ever produced in the UK. He and Abbie are regular visitors to Haughmond Hill, which was a favourite haunt of Albert’s.

“We only have five cockers here now, all related to Albert and have, after 50 years’ successful involvement with the breed, gone into semi-retirement.

“I think you can safely say that Albert is the only Supreme Champion (Best In Show) to have come from Shropshire, although there are, and always have been, some very successful dog show exhibitors from the county.”

Although a dream dog at showtime, Albert had a mischievous side to his nature, with which many cocker owners may be able to relate.

His favourite habit was to take his bedding outside into the garden and sit there tearing holes in it.

Another favourite was “hide-the-shoe.” In other words, there would be games of hide-and-seek with the family’s shoes.

Normal

A normal dog then, but one who loved to be fluffed up for the show ring.

Turning him into a winner meant a regime including regular baths, showers and grooming to make him look as if he had just walked out of the beauty salon.

His exercise to keep him in tip-top condition included a two and a half mile walk every day with regular runs in the garden.

Victory at Crufts brought him immediate television stardom, as his first job was to follow in the paw prints of previous winners and appear live on the children’s TV show Blue Peter.

By the way, if you’re wondering where Canigou comes from in Albert’s name, it is a mountain in the Pyrenees which towers over Perpignan, by which Tricia was captivated on an exchange visit when she was 16.

And did Tricia win any other top awards? You bet she did, with her Canigou Cockers website listing a stack of prizes over the years of which we’ll just mention a fraction – top cocker breeder 1986, 1995, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, and top cocker veteran 2017.