From the December 2018 Issue of ShowSight – Click To Subscribe.
In General
Two major facts have had a serious impact on the show scene in Belgium and Luxembourg of the past 12 months. First, there is the new tendency to organize double CACIB shows, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. This has a serious impact on the future of the dog shows and the first victims are the often smaller single shows. In one weekend it is possible to win two titles what brings you in speed tempo to your necessary titles, and once you have them, you can start breeding the dog or retire him or whatever. But anyway, a big part of the exhibitors will no longer show the dog on a next show. And that is when it affects the coming shows in the first place, even the big ones and the doubles. In the long end they will find decreasing the numbers of entries. But what regret even more is that the competition will go down too, and we will have more and more breeds with hardly a few dogs to show and titles will be won easier, another reason to stay home once you won your titles. It is time that the FCI will take measures!
Kortrijk 2017
Mr.Vanlerberghe, was rather unhappy when I met him. “Why for God sake is the World Dog Show only one week away from our show and why are there 3 shows in one weekend in Geneva. It has cost us 750 entries compared to
last year.”
For this 54th edition of this show there were “only” 2519 entries from 21 different countries, half of them from. The number of British entries was this year 211 and they represented 8, 4% of all entries. For him it’s a goal to attract as much British entries as possible, the Eurodogshow must be the best-known show of the continent for any British exhibitor, the first to participate. For the first time, this show was held in combination with a Catshow. That was a good initiative as it had a positive effect on the number of visitors. Another novelty were the workshops in a sidehall where visitors could have a tour around the halls and become informed about how a show is run, or watch videos about Rescue Dogs, history of FCI etc. On Sunday Belgium’s newest World Champion Dog Dancing, Elke Boxoen was celebrated. She won the title in Leipzig. The Best In Show went to Great Britain, (just like the Best In Show Junior title that went to the Kerry Blue Terrier “Gailgorm Alone in the Dark with Lynnsto” from Dale Mitch). Little Bichon a poil Frisée “Manoir Hooray Henry” did not well understand what happened when he was helped on the podium by his happy mistress Pauline Johns. This 3-year-old boy was entered in Champion Class for Mr. Dupas and won the group under Mr. Dirk Spruyt.
Brussels Dog Show 2017
Another double show, the 4rd in 2017! The Saturday Show was called the “Brussels Trophy”, the Sunday edition, the “Brussels Dog Show”, where the CAC counted double. It was also a Crufts Qualifier. On Sunday the winner of both was chosen and became the title of Supreme Winner. There were a few big shows the week prior to Brussels, like Helsinki in Finland that could affect the Russian and Scandinavian entries and the Amsterdam winner (also double CAC and Crufts Qualifier) certainly would affect the Dutch entries. And the very same weekend as Brussels there were the shows of Gorinchem in the Netherlands, Stockholm in Sweden, Vilnius in Lithuania and Verona in Italy. They all more or less effected the entries. The Saturday show had 1994 entries and the Sunday show 2203 dogs. What can you expect? More and more shows become double shows, but most people’s budget stays the same. In my opinion, the result is that the cake is not bigger, it is only split up in smaller parts. Mrs. Myriam Vermeire was granted the honor to chose the BIS on the Saturday show. Her hearth was stolen by the Yorkshire Terrier “Hunderwood Jet Set” from Mr. Eric Bernard from France. Only 4 were entered for Mr. Van Brempt, Jet Set in Open Class. He is 3 years old and co-owned by Mrs. Nanta Tansacha. Best in Show on Sunday went to the 22-month-old Poodle “Yamit Muskat Korea Min Su” coming from Russia, entered by Polina Kurbatskaya to be judged by Mrs. Dagmar Klein from Romania. The group was judged by Mr. Zlojutro from Hungary. The Supreme Junior Winner and Supreme Winner were both judged by Mr. Theo Leenen, president of the Belgian Kennel Club. The
Newfoundlander “New Angel’s Pacific Black Pearl” was his Supreme Junior winner, the Yorkshire “Hunderwood Jet Set” his Supreme Champion.
Weelde 2018
After the big success of last year with 2083 entries, the number dropped dramatically to 1371! And that is really undeserved! The halls are so fantastic, large, free parking, enough space, what more do we need for a show? Some say it was because entering was very expensive, however contrary to most other shows the parking was included.
The first weekend after new year is right after a very expensive period that has a serious impact on the family budget. And there was Brussels, only 3 weeks earlier and Santa Claus, Amsterdam Winner, Christmas, New Year and Weelde…no wonder you make choices.
Weelde is a small place right to the border of the Netherlands. The halls are a little bit remote from everything. This out of use Nato base offers lots of opportunities, but heating and sanitary facilities need to be rented. It was, however, rather chilly inside but not extreme.
Mrs. Myriam Vermeire was BIS-judge. Her winning dog was a Shih Tzu named “Saffron Sherhy Dustin” owned by Dorien Van Slycken from Belgium. Saffron is a Russian import, bred by Irina Cherkasova and is a little over 3 years old. He was entered in Intermediate class for judge Siret Lepasaar from Estonia to compete with 18 others. Mr. Dirk Spruyt, husband of Mrs. Vermeire was the group judge.
The next show will be in March, the weekend of the 16th-17th and one week after Crufts.
Mouscron 2018
For its 45th edition Mouscron can look back with pride, they had 1941 entries, only a little less than the previous year.
Since two years these people are now able to walk around because there are now passages protected with fences, dividing grooming areas from the passages and places to be used by the handlers. It is still very crowded but now you can move and walk around and there is much less tension and stress. Another positive factor is the buffet. For a very democratic price you can eat, frites, hamburger, cakes all kind, sandwiches… Small details make often a big difference, it creates the general atmosphere and it determines of someone comes back for sure, maybe or never.
On Saturday there were 922 dogs entered, on Sunday there were 1019. From across the Chanel came 52 dogs from the United Kingdom and 6
from Ireland.
Best In Show was offered to Mr. Francisco Salvador Janeiro from Portugal. For the finals, only 3 dogs were placed! Fantastic! An example to many other shows that place all dogs. And for the BIS Mr. Francisco had to place only one dog! His winning dog was a real surprise! It was a Sloughi, a breed that rarely scores so high. This was the second time in history I was told but I cannot check it. Kosmas Kristina entered her Champion for Mr. Hlebarov’s judgment. He was also the group judge “Malala Schuru-Esch-Schamps”, is a German-bred dog of a little over 4 years old.
Gent 2018
From one show every two years to a double show now and this every year. The show will probably move to May. 1504 Dogs were entered on Saturday, 1470 on Sunday. A big part were entered on both shows, especially the foreign dogs. At the last single show Gent had 1966 entries, now they had almost 3000 dogs for the two shows. But compared to both shows individually they lost nearly 25% of
the entries.
Mr. Markku Mähönen from Finland was asked to judge the Best In Show on Saturday. Winning dog was the American Staffordshire Terrier “Carmichael’s Liar Liar Pants On Fire”. This bitch was entered in Champion Class by Olaf Verhorevoet who bred her and owns her along with Benny Cheek. She lives in the Netherlands. Last year this bitch was 3 times Best In Show. She’s 3 years now! On Sunday Mrs. Liliane De Ridder from Belgium was on term to judge Best In Show. And who won the Best In Show this time? Yes, believe it or not, the very same dog as Saturday. Liar Liar writes history for sure, being one of the most crowned Amstaffs in the Benelux and double Best In Show winner on one weekend. I saw a lot of Saturday podium places come back on Sunday. A good thing was that only 3 dogs were placed in the groups. Unfortunately, all dogs had to be placed for the Best In Show, maybe that will change soon too.
Genk Ambiorixtrofee 2018
Bad luck affected this show as a heavy snowstorm prevented British and Irish judges to come over to Belgium.
As this could not be foreseen it was a big problem for the committee as they were forced to look for judges who could replace them in the very last moment. Mr. Wade, Mr. Stearle, both from Ireland and Mr. Chapman from the UK were forced to stay home. After lots of stress, phone calls and puzzling the judging panel could be repaired by 6 Belgian. We have to take into account that the average dogs/judging day rate was extremely high with 72 dogs and I don’t need to tell that the impact is huge if a judge needs to be replaced, let stand 3 judges. “Chapeau” for the committee!
The total amount of dogs was 1513 and that is very, very good, taken into account that it is a CAC show, not a CACIB! And it proves that a single show has more competition to offer than a double show, and often attracts more rare breeds too.
Mr. Aleksoski was asked to judge Best In Show. It was the winner of group 2 who won Best In Show, a Mastino Napoletano, named “Pirelli Luigi”, bred and owned by Sonja Smidova from Belgium. Luigi is 2 years old and was entered in Champion Class along with 2 others and was judged by Mr. Schogol who was the Group Judge as well.
Brabo Show 2018
It was the 52nd edition of this famous show in Flanders capital. It is, fortunately, a single CACIB show and a rather good one with 1826 entries. Last year there were 2152 entries. Affected by the new rage of double shows ? The show was on the very same weekend as the famous and very popular 10-miles run in Antwerp.
Best In Show judge was Mrs. Monique Van Brempt, world famous and originating from Antwerp herself. Mrs. Van Brempt is one of our few all-rounders and a keen Terrier specialist. Best In Show went to the Toy Poodle “Yamit Muskat Boomer”. Judge Vanaken Jean-François from Belgium is his proud owner. Yamit is Russian bred and was entered in Junior Class male to be judged by Mrs. Van Raamsdonk-Blatter who made him Best Of Breed, made him also Best Junior dog of Saturday and along with her husband Best Junior In Show. Mrs. Hectors gave him BOG. Judge Vanaken was obviously delighted to see his dog be awarded by so many of his colleagues and take away so many trophies and titles.
Let us hope that Brabo will face the concurrence of the many double shows and stand out as one of the big shows in Belgium.
Wieze 2018
Notwithstanding rumors that it would be the last edition of this show, nothing was the case. As often troubles can arise within an organization and as often rumors go around and start a life of their own. That was what happened in this committee too. Without going into details, the new committee took over with great enthusiasm. There was a new layout of the rings and main ring. It was much more comfortable, easy walking and talking and gathering around the 3 indoor cafés, food-stands and commercial boots. It was more “breathable” as usual.
1259 dog were showed this year, over hundred more than other years. For a CAC show it is a good result. There were also 20 dogs from the United Kingdom and 5 from Ireland entered. The show did end each day at a very reasonable hour and that makes that there is public around the ring until the very end and applause for the final lining up and Best In Show winner.
Best In Show judge was Mr.Stefan Sinko from Slovenia. Best in Show went to the Kleinspitz Orange “Dan-Star-Kom Griffon Boy”. The breed was judged by Mr.Van Den Bosch from Belgium. Griffon Boy is Russian bred and 4 years old. He lives with Vanvaerenbergh-Van Den Brant Julie from Belgium. The group was judged by Mr. Nodalli from Italy.
Lommel 2018
It was pouring rain in several areas of Belgium and Lommel was at risk. But the showers were very local. Halfway from my place to the show I had to drive through 20 to 30cm of water as the road was flooded over about 5km. Fortunately, Lommel was not affected, but there was always a chance as a lot can happen in a weekend’s time. But they were lucky as it was warm, not too hot and no accumulation of heath in the sports hall where the show takes place. About the same number of dogs as last year were entered, 1131. A printed catalog could be ordered for 5 EURO extra if not you had a free digital version online. Alike last year I loved the speakers team! One was asking questions while the other one explained alike in a radio and TV shows. Mrs. Mieremieczyk from Poland, a well-known judge, was granted the honor of choosing the best dog in show. Her winner was the particolor American Cocker Spaniel “Royalty Inc.Beat It”. This male was entered in Veteran Class and won that class in the main ring. Later on he won the group and ended Best In Show, nice! He is 8 years old! Mr. Pawel Osak was his judge for the breed judging and again, he was the group judge too. It was quite impressive to see the numbers of trophies handler/breeder Jessica Van den Boom could take home. The owner of the dog is Mr. Rui Da Silva. One tip: rent a bungalow in the Center Park 1 km away and make it a long, relaxing weekend in combination with the show.
Genk LKV 2018
Again a single CACIB show, the LKV show of Genk with 1613 entries. The weather was very warm that weekend and we all crossed our fingers that there would be no stupid exhibitors or visitors leaving dogs unattended in closed cars. Fortunately, there was not a single incident. Inside the halls, the temperature was pretty OK and everybody seemed to be very relax.
Mr. Miguel Angel Martinez is a famous and popular judge and as a member of the board of the FCI he needs to come over from time to time to Belgium where the FCI has its seat. The Toy Poodle “Christmas Spirit Superior World” was the ultimate choice of Mr. Martinez. This little black poodle was entered in Open Class males and won it from 10 other competitors. Judge was Mr. Jean-François Vanaken from Belgium. His Group judge was Mr. Vidal Montero Jose from Spain.
Liège 2018 Golden Dog Trophy
There was a dropdown in entries for this show too. Last year there were 3341 entries, this year 2607. For a double show this is not much, 1324 entries for the Saturday Show and 1283 for the Sunday edition. One of the reasons was probably the World Dog Show of Amsterdam 3 weekends away and last year this show was a Crufts qualifier and not this year I have compared the number of entries of the last years of this show. In 2013 1945 dogs were entered, 2035 in 2014, 1879 in 2015, 2275 in 2016, last year, the first double edition, 1721 and 1620, this year 1324 and 1283.
The Golden Dog Trophy has always been the pearl of Wallonia, the best organized and most colorful show. There is much to see and much to do and there are a lot of competitions like the Golden Lead for the handling competition, the Golden Groomer , a very famous international grooming competition, the Masters Trophy, a champion-of-champions style competition along with a gala dinner, and the “Dogs in art”exposition in the Foyer. Liège keeps its status of being one of the most international shows in.
Best In Show judge on Saturday was Mrs. Monique Van Brempt from Belgium. Mrs. Verstovsek was the judge of the Toypoodles and found 13 in her ring. She made “Yamit Muskat Little Pride of Art of Life” as her Best Of Breed. This 5-year-old boy was entered in Open Classe and is owned by Kurbatskaya Polina from Russia. Mr. Neofytou from Cyprus agreed with that choice and send him to the finals to represent group IX. And that was how he became finally Best In Show. On Sunday it was Mrs. Kelveri Philipou from Cyprus who had the honor to judge Best In Show. The Best In Show winner was the Miniature Dachshund “Magic Rainbow Verino Roberto Gold” coming from St. Petersburg with his master Ivanova-Chudinovskaja Victoria. The dog is 4 years and was entered in Champion class that was judged by Mr. Victor Lobakin from Azerbaijan, and Mr. Lobakin was the group judge too. Verino won the group on Saturday too but it was a nice surprise to see a Dachshund win Best In Show as too often they are placed behind in the lineup.
Mechelen 2018,
UK Victory!
I was wrong, contrary to last year it was again a single show, but next year will be a double version again. Notwithstanding the World Dog Show of Amsterdam just behind, there was a rather good entry of 1456. The organizers were not disappointed but of course, they all paid for more. But remember that last year there were only 1228 entries on the first show and 1242 on the second. The committee has been flirting with bankrupt not long ago and they crossed their fingers that this show would not mean the end. It would be a pity if this would be the last show in a long row, but there is good hope that next year the 40th (and 41th) edition can be celebrated.
It was Mr. Christopher Habig, who was granted the honor to pick out the Best In Show. The winner of Best In Show went to one the Rottweiler “Minaeleas Black Mambo”, a choice of Mr. John Bond from Ireland, and again the same judge for the group. Black Mambo was entered in Champion Class being 8 years old, imagine! He is bred and owned by Robert Taylor for the United Kingdom! Is it just a coincidence or can I suspect Mr. Habig from being chauvinistic as all 3 breeds are German Breeds? Nice victories anyway, a veteran winning Best In Show and a breed that is usually placed low in the line-up of the groups winning Reserve Best
In Specialty!
La Louvière Wallonia Dog Show 2018
The Wallonia Dog Show Last year was the last edition in the old Expo halls of Charleroi. The old building was being demolished and the club had to find a temporary solution. That was found in La Louvière. Since a few years the town is proud to have a completely new modern Expo centre with a big “whaw” factor. However, space was a major concern of the RCCH or the Royal Club Canin of Hainaut, organizers of the Charleroi show. La Louvière is not that far from Charleroi and offered a good solution. There was plenty of parking space around and had easy access to the highway. This main ring was not used during the day while It was large enough to make 2 or 3, even up to 4 extra rings and offering space around for trade stands while now it took 1/5 to 1/6 of the total space of the halls. Of course, a new hall means re-scheduling everything and the first time shows all the shortcomings. Compared to last year when they had an entry of 1444 dogs, this year they welcomed 1503, 818 on Saturday and 685 on Sunday, a very good result. Best In Show judge was Mr. Jean-Francois Vanaken. The title of Best In Show was spend on the Tibetan Terrier “Ti La Shu Broadway Babe” owned by Sabine Katja Rauhut from Germany. Seven were in competition for Best of Breed, judged by Mr. Aleksoski who again judged also the Group. Broadway Babe is a bitch, entered in Champion class, 3 years old, and again bred by
the owner.
Lovanium Trofee 2018
Is it as a consequence of the (too) many double CACIB shows or just coincidence? Fact is that from 1772 entries in 2016 the number dropped to 1639 in 2017 and 1533 this year. The Lovanium trofee is a splendid show, a to-the-point shows without glitter and glamour. There is plenty of parking and the halls are at 1km down the exit Haasrode on the highway E40 between Brussels and Liège, so easy accessible! The organization adheres to its habit to offer prizes in kind to the winners, something that is much appreciated. There are not many shows that still have a handling competition, but over here it is. The weekend of the show one of the main ground handling companies at Brussels Airport decided to have a strike, for them a very strategic date, for Lovanium, as well as for many travelers, a real nightmare. Fortunately, most judges were not affected and all arrived in time. Top judge of the weekend was without any doubt Mrs. Janelle W. Robins from the United Kingdom. Not only had she a very good score as best scoring judge of the weekend, but she was also the Best of Breed judge. The winning dog was the Standard Dachshund shorthair “Kurt Kentwood Excellmagic”. This male was entered in Champion Class too and won it from 8 concurrents. His breed and group was judged by Mrs. Roxana Opris. Kurt was imported from Russia and is living with Heidi Droogmans from Belgium. He is two years now and has still a long career in front of him, next year is a jubilee year, the 30th editions! That will happen on 26th and 27th October. Next year the Belgian Kennel Club has promised to bring down the number of double shows, so there is good hope that this 30th edition will have a significant raise in entries.
Luxembourg Spring 2018
There was a serious drop down in numbers of entries. Last year the spring edition had 4551 entries, this year it dropped to 4038. Luxembourg will always remain popular as it is relatively easy to become Champion of Luxembourg, notwithstanding the fact that there is strong competition. Winning here is always worth the title because there are lots of good dogs to beat, lots of good entries from many different countries and that means something!
Last year this show faced bad publicity due to a few dogs that were trapped in close cars on the parking. But I know that this show is doing many efforts to prevent this. This year they had even more people checking cars and again some dogs were found in cars. Urgent messaged were send via the intercom and windows had to be smashed. In every hall, on every exit, on every eye-catching spot posters were hung, warning against the danger of leaving dogs unattended in cars, even in the shade with windows open, but still, there are always people who are convinced that it is enough. In Luxembourg they will no longer be welcome. The FCI should make up a list of such handlers and exhibitors if proven that they neglected their dogs.
The show of this year is a very special one. Mrs. and Mr. Schwab, presidents of the show and of the Luxembourg Kennel Club, decided to retire and this show would be their last show. How long exactly that they were at the helm of this show and this organization is not know, but it must certainly be more than 30 years. It is amazing how they turned their semestrial show to a level that many other clubs can only dream of. Belgium never had a show with more than 5000 entries. Luxembourg had 5529 in 2009! For all the FCI judges it is one of the greatest honors to be invited to judge and enjoy the splendid hospitality and stay in the Hotel Royal, the most prestigious hotel in town. The prestige and glamour that this show enjoys is without any doubt due to this couple. I am almost sure that they will still come and help and advice the new board where they can.
Everything on this show runs so smoothly that one can call it “little Crufts”. There is a big screen where one can follow the show via 4 different cameras, it is also video streamed over the internet, the carpet in the main ring is perfect, the podium and trophy table impressive, the music and commentary of a professional level, only…it lasts much too long. The program is overloaded and nothing changes.
Minor puppies, puppies, veterans and juniors are judged in the main ring by sexe and from the winner of both the best one is chosen. The show ends largely over 7PM and that is too long for the audience. Maybe the new board will reconsider this for the future so that this show will end at a reasonable time, before 6 PM, like most
shows do.
Barbara Müller from Switzerland was the lucky lady responsible for choosing Best In Show The Scottish Terrier was the ultimate winner of this edition of the Luxembourg show. Mrs.Valentina Popova from Russia was allowed to take the beautiful BIS trophies home. It was “Filisite Brash Beauty Never Lies”, a female, not 3 years old yet and bred by Valentina herself. A nice entry of 36 showed up for Mr.Paul Stanton from Sweden who was also the Group judge. It is also one of the favorite breeds of Mrs.Schwab who is a Terrier specialist judge. A nice tribute to her and
her husband.
Next edition was planned for 1 and 2 September of this year. It will be the first time that the show would be organized under the authority of Mr.Raymond Jung who follows in the footsteps of the Schwabs and that is not a comfortable start knowing that the Schwabs brought this show to one of the highest standards in Europe.
Unfortunately for him the government of Luxembourg interfered after the previous incidents and forbade the Kennel Club to organize its September edition notwithstanding the efforts of the Kennel Club who did all they could to prevent future problems and checked and rechecked the parking areas, but due to the works around the halls that seem to take many years, there is a constant problem to find parking. And as always and everywhere, there will be people with no scruples, who are more involved with money than with the dogs, travel around with vans full of dogs and don’t properly take care of them. But while they don’t stand for the big majority of the exhibitors they are on the basis that all dog-show-lovers and the clubs are affected. We will see what the future will bring for Luxembourg and cross our fingers.
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