news - 26/07/2009 Liège Golden Dog Trophy 2009 - Belgium
by Karl DonvilLiège Golden Dog Trophy 2009, little David lets his friend Goliath win for once!
Despite the impact of the crisis, Liège managed to have exactly the same amount of entries this year as last year, 1774. Of course they have their reputation of being the best organized show of Wallony and lots of extra’s like the Golden Lead and Golden Groomer, animation all day and the only show that has a competition for beauty and performance in the sighthounds.
The weather promised to be very nice and comfortable, not like other years when it is usually very hot inside the halls. This show can have one year lots of visitors and other years hardly any. This year it was OK especially on Saturday. This is important for some trade stand holders who have merchandise that is not specific for dogs only. The Golden Groomer is now in its 6th edition and becomes more and more famous over the Belgian borders as there were not only participants from France and the Netherlands, but also from Ireland. The Golden Lead is another competition linked to Liège. It was Liège who started with senior handling in Belgium and in the meantime Handling competition is no longer a favorite sport for teenagers but it is a very popular pastime for adults and seniors too. This edition welcomed participants from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and of course from the UK. It has become one of the most international competitions of this kind except for the one at Crufts, the European and the World Show of course. This show is for Wallony what Kortrijk is for Flanders. Unfortunately this year there was no main sponsor and that was financially not easy for the club. The sponsor of last year was no longer a candidate and when this came to the ears of the organization it was already too late to find another one. It is always risky to chose for the highest bidder instead of relying on the fidelity of long term sponsors, even if the amount the offer is less. Anyway , public and exhibitors didn’t notice the difference. There is always something to see for them or to do. Children and adults enjoyed the splendid performance of the clown, his owl and his acrobatic dog, the handling competition, the grooming, the art exhibition, the heelwork to music , etc. The catalogue was very complete, including statistics. I like very much the list with addresses of the breeder/members. This contributes to the goal of a dog show to inform the public where to find quality dogs.
There were dogs entered from no less than 14 different European countries. The judges, 22 all together, came from no less than 15 different countries! Mrs Shiboleth was invited from Israel. She is world famous for her Kanaandog breeding program and her contact with the Bedouins. Here she judged breeds from group I and V on Saturday. Unfortunately she didn’t have any Kanaandog in her ring at all. With 73 dogs Saturday was her most busy day as on Sunday she only had 59 dogs, Flats, Goldens and American Cockers. Mr.Hjorth from Norway had Shepherd breeds too on Saturday, 48 dogs in total. On Sunday he had 85 dogs. This high score is due to a few very popular breeds like the Bulldog (31) and the Bernese Mountaindogs (28). He was the highest scoring judge with 133 dogs on both days, one more than Mrs.Shiboleth. Mrs.Soleckyj from Poland had breeds out of group 5 and ended on Saturday with 76 dogs to judge, mainly thanks to the 35 Siberian Huskies. On Sunday she judged amongst others the Staffordshires and the Amstaffs , a total of 54 dogs. Mr.Leenen from Belgium had 71 dogs on Saturday, all out of group 5, except for the Dalmatians who were pretty numerous (25). On Sunday he judged all the Dachshunds, 48 in total. Mr.Ostrowski from Poland was invited to judge on Saturday only, but he ended with no less than 77 dogs to judge, amongst them 29 Shih-Tzu’s and 13 Pekingese. Mr.Spruyt from Belgium was the best scoring judge on one day. He judged on Saturday only but ended with 91 dogs. He had a spectacular entry of 62 French Bulldogs to judge! Mr.Krcal from Austria was operational on Sunday only. He was invited to judge a number of popular Terrier breeds and ended up with 76 dogs.
Best in Show judge was Mr.Ann Ingram from Ireland. On Saturday she judged the all the Poodle varieties and the Belgian Griffons. She had 50 to judge. On Sunday she had 49, all group 7 breeds. But besides that the committee chose her to select the Best In Show dog. On Saturday her winning dog was the Pomeranian CR Point Taken from Bettina Nolte from Germany. This little male was entered in Open Class, judged by Mr.Theo Leenen from Belgium, while Mr.Germundsson from Sweden found him the best of group 5. On Sunday he had to come back to compete with the best of that day. Now it was the St Bernard “Essenza van ‘t Hof ten Eynder” who was chosen as his opponent. Essenza is a 4 year old bitch , bred and handled by Franky De Tandt. She was entered in Champions Class under judgeM.L.R. Hjorth from Norway. The group was judged by Mrs.V.M.Soleckyj-Szpunar from Poland. Mrs.Ann Ingram had the choice between little David and the gentle giant Goliath. She finally chose for Essenza. Breeding a top class and sound giant is probably a little more difficult compared to a small breed, but I don’t know if this was the reason for her final choice. I just think that little David blinked an eye to her to say that he would not mind if she let Goliath win for one.
We look forward to next edition on 24 and 25 July in 2010. I hope the committee is prepared then as If the crisis is behind us then, we can probably expect close to 2000 dogs and probably more.
