Buckinghamshire dog owner and amateur YouTuber set to compete at Crufts

A Buckinghamshire dog owner who started filming training videos to get through lockdown will take her much-loved – and internet famous – pet to his second Crufts next week.

Long Crendon’s Alison Gilbertson, 57, started filming her four-month-old Labrador Stanley during lockdown and posting the content on YouTube.

The videos took off and Gilbertson credits them, and the online community they built, with helping her through a difficult time.

She said: “In lockdown I thought my clients would need something to keep them occupied with the trauma of Covid, so we started a daily training video, doing different tricks and exercises each day.

“It was really helpful. At one point my husband was in hospital and I couldn’t visit because of Covid so I was home alone and really isolated.

“The training we were doing was so good to have a focus, and it gave everyone a sense of purpose and community. We made 123 videos over a hundred days and it took off, people loved it.”

Stanley, now four-years-old, entered the BASC Working Gundog Class for the first time at Crufts last year, and Gilbertson initially worried he wouldn’t enjoy being in a new environment.

She said: “He seemed to enjoy trotting and prancing around. We do most of our training outside so I had no idea how he would cope but he took to it so well – he was bulletproof!

“We had such a lovely day and we thought we’d do the same again this year. We don’t do dog shows every week, we don’t do ringcraft so we rocked up to Crufts going, ‘this is all very new!’ But he was a superstar. Amazingly out of 44 experienced show dogs, he came fourth! I was gobsmacked, really chuffed with him.”

Gilbertson moved to Long Crendon from Glossop, Derbyshire to be closer to family. And Stanley’s YouTube fame has meant they are never far from a wider community of fellow dog lovers.

She said: “I’m going to Crufts to enjoy the experience, catch up with friends - including some from the north-west - and colleagues, and watch the amazing work they do.

“I’ve moved 200 miles and I was walking my dogs before Christmas when this lady came up and she said, ‘Is that Stanley? From Stay at Home with Stanley?’ I didn’t know who she was from Adam! But she said she really enjoyed watching the videos. When I lived in Glossop we’d constantly get stopped and people would say, ‘Isn’t he lovely?’ He’s got a little bit of a following.

“All those videos we did created a really lovely bond and he trusted that I had his back. He’s a very special dog. It’s a joy to be with him.”

Crufts, run by The Kennel Club, is a unique celebration of happy, healthy dogs and of the loving relationship that they enjoy with their owners. Crufts is held from 7-10 March 2024 at the NEC Birmingham. Viewers can follow all the action and highlights on Channel 4, and further information can be found online.