news - 10/10/2003 TKC and SA Ladies Kennel Club shows - South Africa
by Joan WhittinghamThe TKC Kennel Club and South African Ladies Kennel Association (SALKA), with their panels of overseas judges, from Wales, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, Philippines, and Canada, managed to garner the highest entries of the year for their shows early in October! Entries being in excess of 1100 dogs per show. Both the shows were held at the Goldfields Showgrounds in Bedfordview, Johannesburg. This is always an action packed weekend, with an Inter-Provincial competition and a Supreme Champion competition taking place after the Best in Show on the Saturday and a Junior Dog of the Year competition taking place on the Sunday after the judging of Best in Show.
The TKC Kennel Club, proud of their record entry, had a Best in Show ring adorned with masses of flowers which made the ring most attractive and even the heat of the day couldn’t dampen the prettiness of the flowers. Best in Show was judged by Claire Coxall from the United Kingdom. Interestingly enough she chose for her Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show two American imports! Best in Show was Steve Landon’s Pointer, Ch Bookstor Nicholas Nickleby of Terradoney who is having a great run since his Dog of the Year win at Goldfields in August and Reserve was the Maltese Ch C and M’s Secret Garden bred by Day and Bowen in the USA and owned by Heidi Rolfes.
After the completion of the BIS judging, the Supreme Champion competition was judged by Lesley Chalmers from New Zealand. To qualify for this competition, the dog needs to have won a BIS between June the previous year and June the current year. Unfortunately there was a slight glitch this year and a dog was allowed into the ring who had not qualified in the specified period and being a beautiful Saluki, won the competition! After some complaints, a few days later the Supreme Champion title was revoked and the runner up was awarded the title, so the Supreme Champion for the 2003 year is a stunning Shih Tzu which was campaigned in the US and Canada to both titles, Ch (USA/Can/SA) Midnightdream Simply The Best, owned and bred by Martin and Riekie Erwee.
The Inter-Provincial competition followed the Supreme Champion competition. Five provinces had selected their top dogs, on a point system, in each of the seven groups to compete for the Inter-Provincial title. Albeit a serious event, this annual event evokes immense spirit and all the teams pick a theme and dress accordingly. This year the competition was judged by Lynn Harwood from Australia. She chose the team which came from the Western Gauteng Province and who were dressed as “Witches and Wizards” as the winning team.
The next day brought the SALKA championship show, thankfully somewhat cooler than the previous day. The colourful flowers were gone from the main ring and replaced with blue and white ribbons and proteas, the national flower of South Africa. Best in Show, judged by Jorge Nallem from Uruguay, was awarded to a Siberian Husky, Ch Koobear Chicago (Cargo), who is owned and bred by Nicole Hartig from two USA imports, Ch Alcinta’s Rave Review and Ch Kaila’s Spice Girl. Cargo follows in the footsteps of his BIS sisters Ch (SA/USA) Koobear Viva Las Vegas and Ch (USA) Koobear Kaila Jubilee.
After the completion of the Best in Show judging, all exhibitors who had qualified for the Junior Dog of the Year competition were issued with yellow bibs emblazoned with the sponsors logo. The dogs and bitches who had attained the highest number of Best Puppy in the breed certificates during the year were invited to partake in this competition. Competition was steep and judge Lynn Harwood from Australia chose an Argentinean bred American Cocker Spaniel import, Cilso de la Gran Aldea owned by Caroline Gilmour, as the dog to earn the title of Junior Dog of the Year 2003.
