nieuws - 01/12/2007 Dreams Come True - Verenigde Staten
door Robert HarrisA Golden Retriever was crowned the 2007 National Obedience Champion at the 13th AKC National Obedience Invitational in Long Beach, California. The top obedience dogs from across the United States and Canada converged on the Long Beach Convention Center the first weekend in December for two days of intense competition.
On Saturday, each dog and handler competed in six rings under six different judges. The top four from each of the seven groups earned prizes for placing in their group. These dogs plus the next four highest scoring dogs ("wild cards") advanced to Sunday's one-on-one seeded competition.
On Sunday, the dogs and handlers advanced through a series of five rounds until one team remained. The final round consists of performing all the exercises from the Open and Utility class under the scrutinizing eyes of two judges.
Going into the final round were a Poodle from New Jersey and a Golden Retriever from California. At the start of Sunday's competition, the Poodle was seeded in sixteenth position and the Golden Retriever was seeded third.
The dream of every competitive obedience handler is to have his or her dog named National Obedience Champion. Eighty-six dogs (ninety-six entered, ten absentees) vied for the coveted title "National Obedience Champion." The victorious Golden, owned by Dee Dee and Billy Anderson of Redwood City, California was appropriated named: NOC OTCH Dd's Dreams Do Come True UDX4 RE TDX JH.
The runners-up were Poodle OTCH MACH2 Sanew's Abundance of Energy UDX owned by Shirley Barkan of Cinnaminson, New Jersey; Labrador Retriever OTCH Lakebound's Dancing Poet VCD1 UDX RE JH owned by Renate Van Allen of Littleton, Colorado; and Shetland Sheepdog OTCH Highfield's Gone Flying UDX2 RN NA NAJ owned by Mary Jane Kelley of Ocala, Florida.
Most of the action photographs were taken of the dogs working in rings four and five on Saturday.
