door Karl DonvilLommel 2015, small but with a many British entries.
It is maybe one of Belgium's smallest shows, but one of the coziest. The sports center is surrounded by green and trees and you are half inside, half outside. You don't have the feeling of being in a hall. Inside its bright, although the contrast with outside is significant when the sun is shining, which was the case. the whole weekend long. As long as I can remember this show always has nice weather. And this year was no difference. 1180 Dogs were entered this year. Not a top year maybe, but that has to do with the World Dog Show that started on Wednesday right after this show, and with the shows in Dijon in France and Oss in the Netherlands the very same weekend.. The show has no sponsor any longer but that didn't withheld them to invest in a huge background for the podium. Due to the geographical situation of Lommel, a border city to the Netherlands it is no surprise that the majority of foreign dogs came from the Netherlands. However, Lommel is not that far away from Germany, certainly compared to France and the United Kingdom, but there were more British entries than French, and there were very few Germans. Remarkable to is that most of them were on Saturday. A few dogs came from Spain, Russia, Italy, Romania and Denmark.
The main ring started right in time and each judge had a limited time to finish his judging. That gave the impression that everything went so smoothly and fast and few shows finish as early as this one. 17 Judges were here. Eight of them were Belgians and from those eight four were judging only one day. That means that a lot judges were invited from other countries like Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary and Germany. On Saturday we had two remarkable scores. One was from Mrs.Malgorzata Wieremiejczyk from Poland who had 65 Spitzes. The other score was from Mr. Augustin Ionescu from Romania. He had 94 dogs, included were 31 Bernese Mountain Dogs. He was also the best scoring judge with 137 entries in total.On Sunday Mrs. Signorini from Bulgaria had 66 dogs, including 27 Cavalie King Charles Spaniels. The Chinese Cresteds were for Mr.Vanaken, 31 in total. The 31 Chihuahuas and 27 Pugs were all for Mr.Rainer Jacobs from Germany. Best scoring jduge on Sunday was Mr. Jef Verrees, former president of the club. He judged on Sunday only but had 25 Labradors, 21 Flats and 36 Golden Retrievers or 82 dogs all together.
Best in Show judge was Mr. Vanaken from Belgium. It was his first Best In Show judging in his young career. For his 3rd place he chose the Lhasa Apso of Mr. Marion Radstok from the Netherlands. The four Lhasas were judged by Mr. Vanaken himself. He also judged the group. The dog with a confusing name "Marion to Radstok" is a 5 year old male bred by Mrs. Radstock herself. Bart Scheerens entered his whippet "La Belle Helène Da Rosiera Brava" to be judged by Mr. Tesics Györy from Hungary. This 3 year old bitch had more competition. She won it from 10 other competitors. Mr.Tesics was also the Group judge. The Best In Show dog was the Harlequin Great Dane "Brisseida Enid Von Haus Das Freude and is living with Roger and Josiane Vanstraelen-Leenen. Brisseida is a 3 year old female, judged by Mr.Van Raamsdonck Victor. Mr.Draganescu judged the group.
A small show with great hospitality, always nice weather in a pleasant environment...fun for you and your dog. See you next year?
