door Karl DonvilHoogstraten 2010 successful despite the horrible weather conditions.
Januari 9 and 10 will be remembered by many as horrible days. Everybody was warned in the news not to go out unless necessary and if possible to leave the car in the garage. Hoogstraten was not cancelled and I was supposed to be there. I must admit that I have wondered by myself if a dogshow was worth risking a car crash or even life. And what if I would be stuck there due to the weather? I decided to take the risk as lots of exhibitors would have done and with some luck I could be there before the big snowfall started. If it would be impossible to drive home in the evening I was prepared to stay there till Sunday morning, and by the end of the weekend the road would certainly be open again (which was the case already Saturday evening). All by all, it was ok to drive and only about 20 % of the dogs were absent on Saturday. I have no figures about Sunday but I suppose it would be less.
I felt sorry for the parking guards and security people who needed to stay outside and could only warm themselves on a small fire. Despite this they had a good temper and were very friendly. They received a warm applause in the evening during the finals and they deserved it.
Inside the halls it was warm and comfortable. With 1845 entries they had almost as much dogs as last year. Unfortunately the catalogue did not have an overview of the nationalities present , but in the main ring there was a Russian lady anyway, which means that the good reputation of Hoogstraten could convince Russian people to make the trip.
Hoogstraten has a new Sponsor “One Stop Dog Shop”, not a food company but a big, international Pet Shop. They provided that committee with a new carpet for the main ring. Prizes as usual at Hoogstraten are glassware items. The catalogue was renewed and still economic. Yes, economic! The ecological footprint of a dog show catalogue is important as it is printed with all the dogs in it, all addresses of the exhibitors etc. Only a few pages are used as exhibitors only take a look at the first pages, the pages of their breeds and that’s it. Visitors use it the same way but look perhaps to more breeds and info. But all by all very few pages of a catalogue are used. If we can reduce the number of pages, it makes a big difference for the environment. I made a comparison between different catalogues. Kortrijk had 2592 dogs and a catalogue with 368 pages or a ratio of 7,043 dogs/page. Brussels had 3245 entries and that catalogue was 414 thick, a ratio of 7,838 dogs/page. Hoogstraten had a ratio of 9,609 and last year it was even better with 10,534 dogs/page. If Kortrijk would use the same kind of type and layout for its catalogue it could reduce the volume to only 246 pages or 122 pages less, a difference of about 1/3th! I have no idea how much this would differ in printing costs but it could be considerably and worth considering!
24 Judges from 13 different European countries were asked to judge on this show. Only 6 of them were Belgians which means that this show can be called very international and correct with regard to its International CACIB title. Most judges had a relatively relaxed weekend, also due to the many absent dogs, but a few were extremely busy. Mr.Jean-Claude Larivière from France had 108 entries on Saturday when he judged Shepherd breeds. On Sunday he had 120 entries, dogs from group 2 and 5 and the Chihuahua’s. With a total number of 228 dogs he was the best investment of the show. The day record was for Mr.Seamus Oates who had only 27 dogs on Saturday but no less the 125 dogs on Sunday of which 64 were Bulldogs. Mr. Van Montfoord judged only on Sunday and could find 117 specimen in his ring, mainly Schnauzers and French Bulldogs. Mr.Filip Johnssons from Sweden only judged on Saturday and had 77 dogs of group 8, 49 of them were Labradors. Mrs.Chwalibog Elzbieta came from Poland to judge 68 Terriers, that she shared with Mr Andras Korozs from Hungary who had also 68 and Mrs.Renée Sporre-Willes who had the remaining 66. On Sunday Mrs.Chwalibog had Companion dogs, 80 in total while Mr.Korosz had only 18 dogs, the Tchiorny and the BostonTerriers and Mrs.Sporre-Willes had 47 companion dogs. Mrs. Myriam Vermeiren from Belgium judged junior handling on Saturday but had the best day-score of the Belgian judges with 72 dogs, 54 of them were Rottweilers.
Best In Show was judged by Mr.Norman Deschuymere. His 3rth place went to the very nice South Russian Shepherd Arakcheev , bred by Gorin and shown and owned by Akhmatova Marija from Russia. I was very fond of this very nice dog. They are rare over here and to see such a nice and sound dog is probably more rare and deserves a winning place. Arakcheev is 3 years old and was entered for Mr.Deschuymere. Mrs.Myriam Vermeire made him win the group. Second place went to a new dog from Delrue-Vandewalle, breeder of the famous “Van ‘t Stokerybos” Bernese Mountain Dogs. It was Heino who is the new star on the horizon. He is two years old and was entered in Champion class under judge Ylä-Mononen satu from Finland. Mrs.Myriam Vermeire made him win the group. His group was judged by Mr.Van Montfoort from the Netherlands.
Mrs.Rita Reyniers, Belgian Judge, was asked to judge group 9 with the winning dog, the Lhasa Apso “Nikita”. Nikita was entered in Championsclass bitches. Mrs. Renée Sporre-Willes from Sweden was the breed judge. They both were very proud that Mr.Deschuymere took their choice for Best In Show. But no-one but Marion Radstok from Holland could be more happy and proud that day as she bred, owns and handles this Champion bitch.
Let us hope that next year it will be less cold and dangerous on the roads as I suppose more owners will enter their dogs. Hoogstraten has a fantastic reputation and this will not change next year.
