nouvelles - 14/11/2015
KORTRIJK EURODOGSHOW 2015 - Belgique
|
par Karl Donvil
Kortrijk 2015
With 3231 entries nothing was alarming for the committee of one of the most successful shows of Belgium. Since years this show attracts over 3000 dogs from all over Europe and a lot from the United Kingdom. This year 23 countries were represented and 202 UK entries were counted. About half of the entries were Belgian dogs, France, nearby, had 842 entries, the Netherlands 368 and Germany 139. Two dogs were entered from Israel while the other countries had entered in general only a few dogs. If the committee would focus more on these countries, it would be possible to attract a thousand entries more. Maybe a special title could help. It is strange that so many countries are represented by only a couple of dogs, even when these countries are not that far away. Kortrijk is within easy reach with an important highway almost crossing the town. But I suppose the committee members have been thinking this over many times and it is probably not easy in a country known for not giving away Championship titles for free.
In the committee many things have changed, although not visible for the exhibitor. Mr.Jose Misselyn died . He was the last founding member of this glorious club and show. Bruno Misselyn, his grandson, stepped aside as president due to his job, but he remains in the committee. The new president is Mr. Joël Vanlerberghe who always was the driving spirit of the Show itself. The whole committee has always been very special as the majority are related to each other in a direct or more remote way. Mr.Vanlerberghe is very proud on his show and new things will appear for sure in the coming years. Kortrijk has often been a pioneer in cynology and that was the case again this edition. All results were collected and transferred by tablet directly from the rings and immediately put online. And it worked perfectly. But also the results of the finals in the main ring were online almost in real time. There was also a new entry gate for the visitors that use to visit the show in big numbers. Regarding visitors Kortrijk is the best known and most frequented show in Belgium. Visitors don't come only from the neighborhood but from all parts of the country, from France and from other countries too. The Eurodogshow is also one of the most popular and best known Continental shows in Britain and alike continentals dream to visit Crufts, UK dog people dream to participate in Kortrijk. Many visitors means many trade stands, 67! All these stand holders are glad to come and in general they all go home satisfied, happy to come back next year. This is the result of the popularity of this show and it's many visitors. Visitors are so important and too often forgotten. They contribute in the success of a show. Shows are meant to promote pure bred dogs. Exhibitors don't need to be introduced to pure bred dogs, it's the common unfamiliar visitors that need to be attracted. Kortrijk is serving this purpose anyway!
The big main ring was animated all day long with several demonstrations and side competitions like Fly Ball, Frisbee, Doggy Dance and Assistance dogs for disabled people. New was a demonstration of Hiatsu for dogs, a relaxing and pain relieving therapy. Due to a double booking part of the usual halls was not available and for this reason 6 rings were placed in hall XXL. Besides some exhibitors who were confused in finding these halls it caused no serious problems. Maybe the visitors were missing a part of the show because of this, but probably without being aware of it. It will be OK again next year.
Kortrijk's international reputation is also projected in its international judging panel. 38 Judges were invited from no less than 17 different countries. Only 5 of them were Belgian judges. 38 is a lot but considering that 23 of them only judged one day of the weekend explains a lot. Together with the 15 judges who officiated both days, we have 53 equivalents to divide the 3231 entries , resulting in an average of 60,9 dogs /judge/day, which is very good. Leuven had 85,5 entries/judge/day, which was outstanding, Luxembourg Autumn 64,65 and Libramont only 38. 60 Dogs/judge/day is well in the comfort zone. On Saturday Mme Anne Marie Class from France had a very nice entry of 86 dogs. She is specialized in big Molossers and breeder of Mastiifs herself, but here it were the 46 Dogues de Bordeaux who made the biggest contribution to her success. Mr.Van Hummelen from Belgium had 47 Leonberger , a very nice number. The second best score of Saturday came from Mr. Oskar Kelemen from Serbia. 45 Boxers , 53 Rottweilers, a number longtime not seen in Belgium, and a few other breeds made him finish the day after 128 judgings. With another 49 entries on Sunday he finished 4th in the weekend ranking. Mrs.Adrian Griffa from Italy was third with a total of 181. On Saturday she had no less than 138 dogs, the highest day-score of the weekend. Mr.Milan Krinke from the Czech Republic had an impressive number of Great Danes, 101. He was the best scoring judge of the weekend because Sunday gave him no time to relax with another 93 dogs to judge. A good result also for Mr.Goran Bodegärd from Sweden who had 124 dogs in total of which 75 on Saturday. Mr.Volker Shön from Germany judged Malamutes, Akitas and Shibas and that was good for 87 entries. Mrs.Marja Talviite from Finland helped him judge Group 5 breeds. She had 134 entries on Saturday and 56 on Sunday. The 41 Miniature Spitzes were certainly responsible for these nice scores. Mr.Zeferino Silva from Portugal had the popular Chinese Cresteds, 48 , and 51 Pugs and finished his weekend after inspecting 151 dogs. Mrs.Gitty Schwab from Luxembourg judged all the dachshunds, 70 in total. Mr.Guy Kips,also from Luxembourg, who judged on Sunday only, had 83 entries thanks to 66 Border Collies. All the Poodles were for Mr. Mikael Nilsson from Sweden. He had 73 in total. His compatriot Mrs. Brigitta Hasselgren judged all the Pinshers and Schnauzers and she had 75. Mrs.Nancy Liebes was invited from the States to judge 56 American Staffordshires. Tom Hehir from Ireland was given the Staffordshire Bull Terriers. He had 84 and along with a few other breeds he had the best score of Sunday, 109 entries. Derek Teylor from England, was asked to judge the Golden Retrievers. He had a good entry of 81. Mr. Thomasz Kuszyk from Poland had also 81 entries, his 52 whippets helped him to get this good score. A last remarkable score was for Mr.Roland Dierendonck from Belgium who managed to get 47 German Shepherd to Kortrijk and that is an unusually high number for a regular-all-breed -non-German-Shepherd-specialty-show.
Mrs.Liliane De Ridder, Belgian all rounder, was on term to judge Best In Show of this prestigious big show. She had 61 Chihuahuas on Saturday and another 69 dogs on Sunday. A good average and relaxing enough to focus on her big task, judging the finals. All ten dogs were placed and all Saturday winners returned on Sunday to compete. All 3 best placed winners were winning dogs from Saturday that returned on Sunday for the finals. A Chihuahua shorthair took the 3rd place. It was "J-Megan My Pride And Joy", a 5 year old Belgian bred bitch that was entered in Champion Class, where she defeated 24 opponents. Thus, Mrs. De Ridder gave the chance to Mr.Dirk Spruyt to make her Best of Group. J-Megan was undoubtedly one of Mrs.De Ridder's favorites. Mr.Rigaux is the proud owner. "Minioso's Bear Balinor At Worthysway" is an American Akita Champion, UK bred and owned by Mr.Worthington, but living in Belgium and handled by Mrs.Nancy Daponte. This 3 year old Champion Male had concurrence from 19 competitors, but Mr.Grunheid Jean-Louis from France gave him the ticket to go through and win his group under Mr.Vincent O'Brien from Ireland. And that left us with our winner, a Dachshund! Indeed, a decision that enjoyed many, as Dachshunds are often put somewhere behind, while Dachshunds are a breed that cannot hide faults under a big coat and that have an anomaly, short legs. Although Dachshunds have lots of fans, they have no glamorous appearance compared to many other breeds. And all this makes this win so nice, even courageous. His name "Ch.Gennarino Della Costa D'Amalfi" betrays its origin, being one of the few entries from Italy. He is 2 1/2 years old, bred by Julie Ruel and owned by De Taddeo Pascal. He is a Standard Rauhaar and it was Mrs.Gitty Schwab who judged him and also gave him the ticket of Best of Group. This win proves that even for a Dachshund it is worth coming back for the finals.
Edition 53 of this show will be on 19&20 of November 2016. Follow all the news on www.eurodogshow.be and see you then.
Text and photos: KARL DONVIL
Results: EURODOGSHOW and KARL DONVIL
|
|
|
|
