door Karl DonvilThe Kortrijk EURODOGSHOW re-designed.
COMPLETE RESULTS CLICK ON "SEE THE PICTURES" and then "QUICK SEARCH"
VOLLEDIGE RESULTATEN CLIK OP "BEKIJK DE FOTO'S" EN DAN OP "SNEL ZOEKEN"
RESULTATS COMPLETS CLIQUEZ SUR "REGARDER LES PHOTOS" ET ENSUITE SUR "RECHERCHE RAPIDE"
A complete report and 2200 photos.!!!!!
The crisis affects us all in some way and it is no surprise that we see this too in the number of entries of our shows. People drop certain shows when it is not sure whether or not they make a fair chance to win. We saw the same phenomenon here in Kortrijk. The entry number for the shows dropped from 2920 last year to 2592 this year. The total number of dogs (all competitions included) dropped from 4000 to 3700. Still, it is an impressive number. 20 Countries were represented but we saw less foreign dogs. Belgium had 1370 dogs entered (1536 in 2008!), France, our closest neighbor, had 588, 28 more than last year and the Netherlands 327, a big loss as last year there were 409. The United Kingdom had 86 dogs in competition here, 21 less than in 2008, Ireland had 5, Russia 7, a serious drop compared to the 23 of 2008, Sweden 4, Portugal 1, Rumania 2 and Lithuania 2. We will see if this trend will go on.
Although it is not easy to say what makes a good weekend for the trade stands, it is very important if the stands are on strategic points. The halls have been re-designed. The former main entrance disappeared and was moved to the northern side at the very end of the new Rambla that was enlarged and connects all the halls now. This is more convenient as it is easier to move around now. At the entrance there is a big area where the children can play and jump on the air-castles or have their faces painted. But in my opinion the Rambla could be used better. Now it served mainly as a corridor to the halls, but the Stands could be moved to here or it could be used as the grooming area. The main hall (hall 6) was now reserved for the main ring (that almost doubled in size and is really impressive now), and most trade stands. During the day it was very quiet there notwithstanding the Doggy Dance competition there. In the other halls the trade stands were all visited very well. In the evening, when the judging was finished the exhibitors with a mission in the main ring all moved to hall 6 and the rest went back home. Thus, the majority of the exhibitors hardly paid a visit to hall 6 as they had no reason to go there, and that is of course not good for business. The Pedigree stand was always a very crowded stand but now they hardly had visitors. A new formula must be found to make the exhibitors and the many visitors go round more. If the trade stands would move more to the Rambla and/or there would be something that attracts the attention to the main hall (like a big flatscreen showing the competition in the main ring) it could create a better flow of the spectators. Anyway, the way it is now is not ideal and should be reconsidered. The entrance is no longer central like before, but at the very opposite end of the halls while the main hall with the main ring is at the other end. If visitors spend too much time in the first halls they will skip the last hall or pay only a quick visit.
It is not easy to find a new solution when confronted with a totally new concept. The future will tell. The committee is very self-critical and will certainly have had the same feeling that something must be done. I look forward to see how they will have solved the problem.
Most foreign people know the Kortrijk Eurodogshow as one of Belgiums biggest shows, but it is a total spectacle with many other national competitions happening at the same time. There is enough space to hold it all. There was the 25th Grand Prix Agility, the 23rd International Junior Handling competition, the 9th Senior Handling Competition, the 28th Grand Prix Obedience and the 22nd Fancy Dress competition for Children. And as if this was not enough, in the main ring we had the Doggy Dance competition, the Belgian Sighthound Club and the Belgian Shepherd Club had their clubmatches on Saturday in hall 4 and there were regularly demonstrations of Guard-and Defence dogs, Dogs for the blind and disabled, hunting demonstrations and the very popular Fly-ball competitions.
All this attracts a lot of visitors, usually around 30.000. Kortrijk makes big efforts to announce its show. Hundreds of signs were placed on the big roads of Flanders, interviews were on the radio and local television and in the city of Kortrijk the main roads had flags of the show. No surprise that Kortrijk usually attracts a lot of visitors from all over Belgium, France, Holland and even the United Kingdom.
No less than 60 judges were invited from 18 different countries to bring this all to a good end. This includes of course also the judges for the different competitions going on. For the show 18 judges officiated. No less than 10 were British judges, more than the Belgian judges (7). No judges were overloaded and had a comfortable schedule. On Saturday Mr.Timothy Finney from Ireland had the most with 82 dogs, all group 9 dogs. On Sunday he judged Afgan Hounds only, but with 50 specimen, he was busy enough, I suppose. Mrs.Van Herle from Belgium, had a nice entry of 56 Newfoundlanders and 3 Landseers. She only judged on Saturday. The Danish judge Lens Utke Ranzing had an impressive number of 51 Bernese Mountaindogs and Mrs.Sue Garside from the United Kingdom had 58 English Bulldogs. Her compatriot who judged the Cavaliers and the King Charles Spaniels, Mrs.Shealagh Waters, had reason to be happy too as she finished with 62 all together. On Sunday Mrs.Ruth Wagner from Luxemburg was very succesfull as she had a total number of dogs of 70, 37 Collies and 33 Shelties. Mrs.Vics Beverly from the United States was invited for the Australian Shepherds only but had a nice entry of 39. Also surprisingly well was the number of 37 Beaucerons that turned up to be judged by Mrs.Berlinde Derycke from Belgium. Mrs.Margaret Brown and Mrs.Margaret Woods, both from the United Kingdom, were also invited to judge only one breed, but they had very good entries, with 50 Labradors and 92 Golden Retrievers respectively, turning Mrs.Woods into record holder of the weekend and the Goldens into the most successful breed. Mr.Peter Bailey, also from the UK, completed the successes of the British judges with 46 Border Collies, also his only breed to judge. Two other judges officiated on Sunday alone and had a pleasing number of dogs in their rings. First there is Mr.Daniel Thibaut, the Belgian judge who judged the German Shepherds. He had 24 and this is very good for this breed. The German Shepherd is the most popular breed in the world but the owners use to have their own specialty shows and are hardly interested to compete on regular dogshows, a pity for the breed. It is an achievement if a judge has more than 10 in his ring, but Mr. Thibaut has a special international reputation in this breed. Secondly there is Mrs. Pamela Perdue who came all over from the States to judge 69 American Staffordshire Terriërs. She proved to be a good investment for the show.
Mr. Harry O’Donoghue from Ireland was honored to judge the BIS on this very prestigious Belgium Show. A memorable day for him I suppose. All group winners of Saturday came back on Sunday to compete. Little red devil “Love Generation Von Taischan”, a 3 year old German bred male Pomeranian that is owned by Nehls Olaf from Denmark won the 3rd place. He was entered in Champion-class under judge Jean-François Grunheid from France and won the group under Mr.Jens Utke Ramsing, his compatriot. The 2nd place was for Champion Ivette Imperium Star, a Weimaraner bitch imported and owned by Lenaerts Edwin& Kristina, our famous national Weimaraner breeders. Ivette was judged by Mrs.Hilda Parkinson from Britain and Mrs.Renee Sporre-Willes was probably happy with this choice as she made her Best of Group 7. Mr.O’Donoghue must have been very pleased with a nice Kerry Bleu Terrier “Ch.Dandy Black and Blue Rokoko” in his final competition, one of his national breeds. Dandy was bred by Angela Ban and is co-owned by Davani, Ban, Poulovan, O’Bbrien Cara, Anela, Jarka and Philip, a whole list leading us from Czech Republic over the British Islands and Ireland. It is an impressive male with a most typical color and that was recognized and appreciated by Mr.Andras Korozs from Hungary and approved later by Mr. Peter Lauber from Switzerland. Mr.O’Donoghue must have been very happy with their choice and as he is a real Terrier man and the Kerry Blue is a Irish Breed, it is a credit to both Mr.Korozs and Mr.Lauber for recognizing such a top quality dog. I presume Mr.O’donoghue returned home pleased and satisfied to see such a nice Irish Breed entering his ring, a dog nice enough to win Best In Show. Who would doubt his decision?
I don’t know if Mr.O’donoghue will be back next year or if Dandy will be there. I will be there anyway as I want to see how the committee dealt with the new problems of this year. They will improve it, wanna bet? See you there on 20 and 21 November 2010.
