The Greatest Dog Event in the World Meets Doglyness - Crufts 2022 Recap!
Yes, you’ve read it right - Doglyness exhibited for the first time at Crufts 2022!
This fantastic event, centred on championship confirmation for all recognized breeds of The Kennel Club, also celebrates the amazing nature of our canine friends. It is an exhibition that recognizes their love towards their human family, the amazing tasks they successfully accomplish every day, the roles they have in our lives.
So naturally, we had to be there.
Crufts dog show is organised every year by The Kennel Club and is THE place to be for dog lovers, breeders, groomers and enthusiasts from all over the world.
Its founder, Charles Cruft, couldn’t have imagined in 1891 that his legacy would be so magnificent, his idea so deeply developed, and his love for dogs shared with so many people in one place.
And this year, we had the opportunity to be a part of this amazing event.
Four days of pure joy
In addition to the introduction of our brand to the UK market, we also had amazing demonstrations from three of our UK based Doglyness partners—Lynne Land, trainer/groomer extraordinaire and our UK distributor, Lisa Hart, Asian Fusion Groomer of the year 2019 and Ruth Revillas Rodriguez, International Certified Master Groomer with over 20 years of experience across breeds.
Lynne kicked off the first two days showcasing her grooming skills on two of her poodles, Freddie and Mojo along with her training skills with a special piano rendition from Mojo. Mojo showed the Crufts audience why she is a Guiness Book of World Record holder in pirouettes!
Lisa Hart - a woman of many talents and interests, which include vintage fashion, classic cars, hiking and mountain climbing. An award-winning groomer based in the UK and specialised in Asian Fusion grooming, as well as Terriers. Lisa continually seeks professional development and participates in grooming competitions - one such resulted in her being named Asian Fusion Groomer of the year at The International grooming conference 2019.
Next up on Saturday, also known as poodle day, we had a live demonstration from Lisa Hart showcasing classic Asian fusion techniques on her poodle Viktor and Lynne’s poodle Pixie. The beauty of this grooming technique allows the dog's natural, joyful expression to shine.
On Sunday, Ruth showed booth visitors how to use some of the new Doglyness products on drop coats with her model Chispa, a Lhaso Apso. The crowds at the booth were in awe, not only of our talented team but our product line.
The Doglyness brand was evident from the smiles on the faces of our team, the tranquility of our booth and the many client guests who came to meet in person and chat with others about the brand. From Retro Poodles to Karol Todd’s red poodle pack, we enjoyed meeting clients both old and new.
Through these meetings, we’ve learned quite a few things.
Let’s go through all of them in five main points.
Doglyness booth and all the products. Anka Hana Sladoljev, our founder with Pippa
UK Market
It comes as no surprise that the greatest dog show in the world is held in the UK - Brits are known for their passion about their pets, the attention they pay to their furry friends and the time they put into their care. It comes as no surprise then that the UK market loves Doglyness!
As a way to get over those pesky Brexit import fees and bring the finest natural and organic pet care products to the rainy island, we have launched our UK website earlier this month in partnership with Lynne and Steve Land.
Crufts participation has shown that this was just the right move. We met our UK based clients and potential customers in person, and we must say that nothing compares to the excitement and gratitude they have shown at our booth!
All breeds love Doglyness.
Doglyness is a company founded by a poodle mum, and these long-haired angels and their parents do make a sizable portion of our customer base. However, it doesn’t mean we are poodle exclusive. Breeds such as Bichons, Lhasa Apsos, Doodles, and even some Gundogs have all visited the booth and witnessed the power of our bathing products.
We must say it has truly been marvelous to see these gleaming coats standing next to the bottles that provide that astonishing shine!
Busy booth full of interested costumers. Along with some interviews we’ve also organized product demo.
We grant market wishes.
We follow your feedback and demands online, and now we’ve had the opportunity to hear some face-to-face! The most important ones we received concern our bottles - those of you who need to see the results before commitment wish to see more testing-sized bottles, while professional groomers want litre bottles.
Why are we so excited about these demands? We’re still very young (only 7 in dog years!), but this goes on to show that we already have demands on both sides of the market - private and professional ones.
We would like to take this opportunity to let you know that we are working on fulfilling your wishes - it will take a little bit longer because we will stay true to our 100% Vegan Bottles commitment - but you can count on these bottles hitting the market soon!
Organic products and growth.
We knew that Doglyness is a name that will probably ring a bell in the dog grooming world. However, we were completely taken aback by the scope of this! Most visitors were greeted by a question ‘Are you familiar with our products?’ and over 90% of them in fact knew about our main principles from our social media presence!
We are so thankful to our growing groomer community of brand ambassadors, and to all of you who support us in our mission - thanks to you our growth has come as organically as our products!
Spreading the love in person.
Doglyness in not just a company, and our customers are not just buyers. We consider us to be one big family, with so much love going around that it would simply be a shame to share it only through the online world.
The final realization we got at Crufts, as we were sadly packing our belongings, was that it was such an amazing experience because it occurred live. The Doglyness energy is infectious, and you could feel the positivity spreading from our booth as we were meeting everyone.
So, those of you reading this will be the first to know that we will continue our voyage across the globe, visiting dog-related shows. Our first stop will be Interzoo 2022 in Nuremberg, Germany, so come and meet us there and let’s share the love and smiles in person!
We’ve received so much great feedback from our happy costumers.
Final thoughts
This was our first time at Crufts, so it comes as no surprise that the feeling that took over us was the one of pure divinity. For dog lovers such as ourselves, this event matches that of a true paradise - just imagine so many different breeds strolling around, their wonderful natures, perfect prances and bouffant hairs celebrated in the most amazing way.
But what really swept us off our feet was the enthusiasm, appreciation and genuine interest the visitors have shown in our products. The looks on their faces when they visited our stand and our groomers have shown them the results of using Doglyness products - priceless!
Our founder, Anka, shares her thoughts about the event:
The most exciting part as the founder was to see how many people came to our booth knowing which products they were ready to purchase or had received recommendations from their groomers about products to use between appointments. The awareness of the Doglyness brand surprised me and showcased how strong the community is despite being under two years old.
The creation and development of our unique natural pet skincare range has been a labour of love for every member of the Doglyness team, and it means so much to me that the work we are passionate about also resonates with others.
When I dreamed of creating the first plastic-free, organic pet coat care range, I could never have anticipated the work and dedication that would be required to make my dream a reality. Our customers being vocal about their love of Doglyness launched us to the skies. Our best product advertisement is our quality and the word-of-mouth testimonials from passionate customers.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to you. The ones who are reading this, who are spreading the word out there about our products, the ones who have led us to this point and put us in that Crufts booth.
We are sure that this is just the first dog show from many more to come, and we are looking forward to learning new things each year!
Oh we almost forgot - there’s a video summarizing our time at Crufts! You can check it out on our Instagram and Facebook account!