par Karl DonvilWhile last years edition showed a slight decrease in numbers of entries, Brabo was much more successful this year with a gain of 113 dogs, ending up with 1613 dogs in show. And while last year Saturday was rather poor with only around 400 dogs this year Saturday was the day with most entries, 878. With the remaining 735 dogs on Sunday and thus extra time for the BIS judging, the show was much more in balance.
The show is held since years in the “Bouwcentrum”, the expo halls of Antwerp, which are easily accessible and situated nearby the main ring. Antwerp is one of the biggest cities in Belgium, but should pay a little more attention to the parking facilities. It really is a problem for visitors to find a place to park the cars as most of the parking places are already taken by the exhibitors early in the morning. That is probably the most important reason why this show doesn't attract a lot of visitors, compared to the number of inhabitants, which is a pity of course and cannot be blamed but to the infrastructure of the halls. This also affects the turnover of many trade stands. While last year there were still 28 stand holders, this year there were only 18 left. The price per square metre has significantly increased and if the turnover is often only enough to cover the expensed, stand holders withdraw. And this can be reconsidered by the committee, as this is not in relation to the public success of the show.
The Bouwcentrum has 4 halls of which only two were in use. A third one served for the 2nd Antwerp Grooming competition and for the restaurant of the judges. The catalogue is very good and almost complete, I only miss the numbers of exhibitors per nationality which is why I am not able to tell you how international this show is. With the computer it must be a small effort to generate such a list and publish it in the catalogue next year.
What made me happy was that the panel of judges was much more international this year, and probably added to the higher entry number. In my opinion this is a must if a show qualifies for a CACIB. A total of 26 judges were invited, composed of 11 nationalities and only 10 were Belgians. Saturday was the more relaxed one of the two days as 20 judges officiated. Mr.Rita Reyniers from Belgium had the highest score with 93 dogs out of group 5, plus all the colour varieties fo the Great Danes. Mr.Andre Degroote, also from Belgium, had 80 dogs of which 40 Leonbergers and 30 Newfoundlanders. Mrs. AM Pogessit from Italy judged companion dogs on Sunday and had 120 dogs in her ring, 36 of them were French Bulldogs, a breed that has become very popular over here. She was the best scoring judge judge of this show. Mr.R.McCoy from the United Kingdom had 103 dogs in his ring, all Terriers. Most judges had more comfortable numbers of dogs to judge.
The main ring is better situated since a few years, more central and with trade stands around, but here, in my opinion, is still some work to do, although there is some improvement. I can well understand that a main sponsor is common use and deserves extra attention and more publicity space, but it can become so dominant that it takes away all the attention from the dogs and winners, especially and in this case literally, with regard to the winners podium. All winners were given a large sized cheque, a towel and a big travel bag, plus the regular trophy. Certain breeds were almost completely covered and impossible to photograph in a proper way. When the photographers asked to remove certain items, they were told that the principal sponsor had paid for these trophies and publicity and had to be respected. Only after a while and more protest it was agreed that certain items could be removed or replaced.
The podium was new, but too high and not stable enough to hold large dogs and on certain moments I held my breath as it was wobbling and very close to collapsing when large breeds were posed upon it. And if this wasn't enough, behind the podium were two large reflecting panels with the sponsor's logo on it. Everything was bathing is a dark blue dominant colour.
I know that some will blame me for mentioning this again as they did last year. But look at the photos and judge yourselves! Compare to Luxembourg, where one of the nicest podia is used, made of very cheap and simple materials. Put the logo of the sponsor in the background, along with some flowers, a few spotlights and all in bright colours! Put the logo of the sponsor a few times discretely in the background. It will do much more credit to the sponsor! And don't let one dark colour dominate everything! I'm sorry to mention this again, but things will not change if everyone remains silent. See it as a challenge for next year, instead of being frustrated.
The main ring started and ended well in time. Mrs Monique Van Brempt was chosen to pick out the Best In Show on Sunday. All Best of Groups of Saturday were invited to compete with all Best of Groups of Sunday. The 3 podium winners were all Top Dogs from Belgium. 3Th Place went to the Beagle, Florreke from Lighthouse Family, the current top winning dog of this kennel and owned by Dielens-Abrams. Florreke is not even two years old and was entered in Intermediate Class under Mrs. A.M.Pogessi from Italy. Mrs. Van Brempt made him late Best of Group.
2nd Place was for the Irish Setter, Ardan of Funny Home, owned by Smits Joannes. This seven year old dog, was entered in champions class and chosen Best of Breed by Mrs. A.Pokom from Slovenia and won the group under judge Mr.G.Riva from France. He has already an impressive number of titles.
Best In Show went to one of Belgium's top winning dogs of the moment, the Bernese Mountaindog “Emmerson van 't Stokerijbos”. Emmerson will become 3 years at the end of this year, but has won numerous shows and titles. He won Best of Breed at Crufts, Best in Show at Kortrijk and is Luxembourg Champion. It was Mr.P.Baelen who made him Best of Breed in Antwerp and Mr.A.De Groote who made him Best of Group.
Next edition of the Brabo Dogshow will be held on 4 & 5 April 2009. I can only hope that the committee will not take my critique on the podium as an insult, as it isn't meant to be so. This critique counts for some other shows as well. A podium is the place where the winners are honoured and according to this function it must show off glamour and bring the winning dogs to the foreground, not to the background.
