The old year of 2014 is nearing its end so it is time to look back and reflect but also it is time to look to the future and wonder what 2015 has in store for us in the ìsport of dogsî?
I wrote in the last issue that i planned to write about the Indian breeds but as standards are being changed and fought over and the subject is much more complex than i could ever imagine i have decided to write about in in the next issue.
So what do I write about now?, well as it is the season to be kind and friendly I have decided I would take a personal look back on my year as I think it is one of the best ìdog yearsî I have had.
I still enjoy my judging immensely, standing in the ring and hoping for that ìdream dogî, NO, what I mean is that dog that is near perfect to the standard which has a typical temperament for the breed and is presented in a breed typical way, I know you are thinking ìboringî but after 40 years of judging (yes I was very young when i first awarded CC.s in the UK) I know what I want, like and can accept that is correct to how I interpret a breed standard! I can name many ìdream dogsî that take your breath away with their soundness, temperament and glamour and usually with a brilliant handler but are they always of correct breed type? Why does it seem to be so hard to combine both? We hear so much about classic style and modern style on many breeds but they still look like the same breeds then my ìfavourite pet hatesî like English Springer Spaniels or Golden Retrievers that have changed so much in breed type that i truly believe they should be made in to new breeds? A breed develops positively or negatively by adding a little more neck, coat, hind angulation or length of legs, just small things that slowly develop from being a positive attribute to being so overdone that correct type has nearly disappeared and a new changed type emerges that seems to impress many judges and new breeders alike! Could an overangulated Setter or Pointing dog (English, German or Hungarian) breed hunt all day? I really do not think so!
Did I find a perfect dog this year? No, but I judged many dogs of highest quality but it is the shows that I remember more this year than the dogs. I usually judge around 30-35 shows a year but this year I had purposely cut down the numbers so I could show our new breed the Thai Bangkaew Dog of which we have 6 at home of whom 4 are Thai imports and 2 (litter brother & sister) are homebred and happily now all 6 are Swedish Champions but I also have another time consuming passion and that is gardening & flowers from ìdecadentî orchids to the humble pelargonium (geranium). Living in the cold North our gardening season is a short but intensive 7 months in which most plants grow but I am always praying for no late frosts in May or early frosts in September and this was the reason why I only judged 21 weekends this year but my planning was not too good as from May to August i only wanted 1 or max 2 shows each weekend, May & July worked out fine with just 2 shows but June & August I had 8 shows in the 9 weekends! What I did appreciate with judging less shows was that I had more time to enjoy long walks with the dogs in the national park and around the 4 lakes we have all close by.
As I said I judged 21 weekends and for once I consider all to have been worthwhile, challenging or gratifying. You have read before that i along with many other foreign judges are not overly impressed with ìSwedish hospitalityî and there is one show in particular that I have heard many complaints about from foreign judges and that is the South SkÂne KC (Syd SkÂnska KK) show held in Malmˆ in March so I was rather apprehensive with my appointment there but with some new board members working perfectly with some of the older members the show was a great success even for the judges. The judges hotel was now in the centre of the city, Friday dinner was relaxed with excellent food and wine, yes wine and not just one glass and Saturdays dinner was also of high quality with plenty of wine for those that wanted it. The committee were very friendly and helpful and in my speech as BIS judge I mentioned the earlier complaints from foreign judges I had received but I could now happily give the club top marks and even happier that I can now recommend this show to anyone who gets an invitation to judge here although March in Sweden can still be very cold but the halls and hospitality are now warm.
I have also judged at two other all breed shows in Sweden this year where one was a 3 x Int. shows the weekend before the WDS in Helsinki but unfortunately for the club the entry was only 7000 dogs for the three days against the 9000 dogs which the budget was made for. I think this must show that exhibitors are not made of money and not all can take so much free time. The third show was in the north in G‰llivare where it was still light 24 hours a day which was good as we started judging at 07.30 on Sunday as the last plane back to Stockholm was at 16.00. I also judged at three club shows, the Eurasier Club where i judged some lovely males, the French Bulldog club where i had around 90 females of varying quality and the Miniature Schnauzer club show which was most interesting with some super exhibits and size was not a problem here, the day after i judged at the Schnauzer & Pinscher club show some other breeds and it was the Black Schnauzer (standard) that impressed me the most from being a punishment having to judge them many years ago, it was now a great pleasure. You do not realize that 6 shows in Sweden is for me a lot as i prefer while I still can to travel abroad to judge because I love visiting new countries or cities or returning to old ones where I have great memories or friends.
I am so impressed with the CKU (China Kennel Union), their shows are so well organized, hospitality is great & the staff are so friendly and helpful and always fun to be with. I have now a good connection with the CKU due to my work and interest in Tibetan Mastiffs and I am so happy and relieved that the CKU want to keep the FCI standard for the breed and what we in Europe consider to be ìtrue Tibetan typeî At my second show in China this year i was honoured to be asked to examine 30 Tibetan Mastiffs and grade them but no placings and of those that received ìExcellentî to pick out the ones i considered to be really typical specimens, so I chose five, a red puppy and four adults who all received lovely glass trophies as a memory of the event. These dogs I picked out will be the basis for the CKU to work with on the breed and hopefully keeping it free from Chinese (Tibetan) Mastiff influence which we know have other breeds crossed in to give more coat, bone etc., What pleased me the most that the four adults I chose were from the same breeder who was also equally delighted. If you are not aware of the fact that now all of the Tibetan breeds will have China as their country of origin but only the Tibetan Mastiff standard belongs to the FCI, the others belong to the KC but what the CKU and FCI will decide on in the future remains to be seen but the CKU have assured me that they are not interested in changing standards and are in fact very grateful to the FCI & the UK KC for ìlooking after and developing these breedsî! I do not mention the AKC as they have another Chinese KC that they work together with who surely use AKC standards so that is why FCI judges are NOT allowed to judge in China other than at the CKU shows.
I have very happy memories from judging appointments in Norway, Finland, Poland & Italy but it is two appointments from two of the smaller KC.s that I will always remember, in July I judged in Sarajevo the capital of Bosnia & Herzegovina, this was my third appointment in BiH the other two being in the beautiful city of Mostar. This visit to Sarajevo was from start to finish a historical, geographical but most of all a cultural and culinary journey through this beautiful and fascinating city which luckily the war did not destroy completely and many of the beautiful buildings were left nearly untouched while others wee destroyed. President Refet Hadzic took the greatest care of us from the minute we arrived to the time we sadly flew home quite a few kilos heavier from all the good food and delicious cakes and deserts. The three show days well evenings were busy with club shows as well as all breed Int. shows. There were many foreign exhibitors who showed here then continued to Split for the famous 4 Nights Summer shows starting the following Thursday. I really enjoyed the cozy atmosphere of the shows and my stewards were really efficient and friendly but I must also mention Nedim Suta who besides making sure everything ran smoothly in the rings, was a very interested student also the excellent speaker, it is good that Refet has such a reliable ìsidekickî. Monday after the show Refet showed us his really beautiful boarding kennels high up in the hills overlooking the city and the two beautiful houses and garden he has on the property surrounded by woods and here I felt I could happily live with my Bangkaews in one of the cottages.
My other so memorable show weekend was in November in Moldava¥s capital Chisinau, this was my first visit to Europeís second poorest country but I saw nothing of any poverty as i arrived late on Friday to be driven to the most beautiful hotel I have stayed at and where my huge room was fitted with all conveniences and a beautifully decorated thick wall to wall carpeting but what gave me my biggest thrill was that the tv, handbasin, toilet and bath were all covered in fresh rose petals! I was unlucky to arrive to late to go with the other judges to visit the famous huge underground wine cellars with the other judges but they assured me it was a great experience (sigh). The food at the hotel was superb as was the sparkling Moldovan wine. The two one day shows plus some specialties were held in a modern exhibition hall with good sized carpeted rings also these shows had many ìlittle extrasî missing at Swedish shows but one thing I love about shows in Eastern Europe are the big banners with logos and photos as a backdrop for the BIS/BIG placed dogs to be photographed against and here the banners were huge and very beautiful. The entry was down at these shows because the usual 250-300 Russian dogs did not enter as Russian exhibitors have to drive through Ukraine, this is such a shame for them and especially the Moldovan KC that our dog sport is being affected by Russian aggression in Ukraine. The entry may have been down but the atmosphere around the breed and final ring was really enthusiastic with friendly exhibitors who showed great interest in the judging. The rosettes in the main ring were huge as were the trophies and the magnums of wines. After the show on Sunday it was party time with Yolanda Nagel, Hans v d Berg and myself being ìbulliedî in to dancing, well Hans was a willing offer and only Jˆrgen Hindse managed to stay at the table. I must say people in Eastern Europe really know how to enjoy themselves by singing and dancing and not the need to get drunk either. The Moldovan KC is so lucky to have Serghei Volinets as its President and his wife Olga Romanova as its Vice President, these two lovely people along with a group of hard working and friendly people made sure our stay was so memorable and all our wishes were met even Yolandas!
I must mention the UKU main show in Kiev in the beginning of December which also had lost a lot of Russian entries but the atmosphere was super around the rings and the whole show was excellently planned and arranged. In the speaches at the dinners it was mentioned the ìwar in the Eastî which I had completely forgotten about while judging but this did give me something to think about! On Sunday the judges were presented with UKU medals to thank us for supporting the UKU and being brave enough to visit Kiev, actually I never thought about being brave and we certainly saw no signs of extra security at the show, hotel or airport. I asked why no Russian judges were invited and was told to my horror that they were, all the time but the RKF (Russian Kennel Federation) did not allow them to judge in Ukraine? So sad as our sport is supposed to be without politics?
I must finish 2014 by applauding the WDS in Helsinki, the Finnish KC as expected organized a magnificent and perfectly organized show but they are so used to arranging shows of 7000 plus dogs per day, the days were long but oh so enjoyable and all the group final judges had a treat waiting them after the pre-judging as there was a beautiful lounge with treats to eat and drink plus a make-up artist to ìfreshen us upî before entering the main ring and the tv cameras and I am sure I was not the only male judge who took advantage of this? The EDS held in the Czech city of Brno had many ìdoubtersî, could the Czech KC arrange such a large event well and the answer was YES they could and this time I was an exhibitor so I was looking at other things that make a well run show. The parking was easy and close by and you paid on the way out which was extremely smart idea, easy to get the dogs in to and out of the halls and without long queues for vets papers to be checked. We showed 2 Bangkaews at three shows, the first was at a club for German Spitz breeds which kindly allowed the Thai Bangkaew Dog to participate, this was a lovely show with a cosy atmosphere and the most beautiful big rosettes without sponsors name everywhere. For the EDS show we were in the main hall which was big and light with very good sized rings. My only complaint was the finals ring where first the lighting in the hall was turned off nearly completely so we needed a torch, the collecting ring was too dark with only a few spotlights but what i objected most to was a live band in one corner and a giant tv screen in another corner flashing psychedelic lighting and did this affect many dogs, yes some mine included! The third day we showed at the National show which went well although more crowded and smaller rings but an excellent atmosphere the only thing exhibitors complained about was that there were no BIS or group finals due to the fact that the KC could not cope with the logistics. The staff in and around the halls were amazingly helpful and friendly as were the KC staff who gave out W-14 diplomas and only 20 Euros for a Czech Ch diploma. Showing for us was made so much easier and more fun because we had Michaela Semerakova of Jednicka Siberians who has a Bangkaew from us and she took the greatest care of us and her other friends from Cyprus, Slovakian and Thailand and made our stay in the Czech Republic so much more special and i know we in Scandinavia know and appreciate Czech beers but that their white wines (never touch reds) were so good that I had no idea about or the delicious food especially their dumplings! We flew home with many happy memories of successful shows, great times with friends and 2 EU W-14 titles and 2 new Czech Ch.s.
So what does 2015 have in store for us? Well of course there is the WDS in Milan and I was a judge at the previous one so I know the judges will be very well looked after but it will be interesting to see how it is to be an exhibitor at this next WDS? The EDS in Oslo will be an expensive affair for foreign exhibitors and visitors as Norwayís prices are ìsky highî for everything! 2014 the Norwegian KC had a ìgeneral rehearsalî so I am sure the problems that arose at this show will be ìironed outî. Fridays Norwegian Winners one day show was ridiculously crowded with crates, tables and chairs clogging the non existent walkways, parking was not perfect if you were not there very early but those with motor homes definitely had it the best. The Nordic Winners show was spread over two days so much more room for dogs and definitely more comfortable for exhibitors and visitors. One thing i can guarantee is that you will be given a warm welcome by the friendly Norwegians!
I do believe that in 2015 or the very near future we are going to see some new changes by the FCI because if not member KC.s are going to start demanding changes as countries/continents are drifting apart but more on that in the next issue.
