news - 17/10/2003
First ever "double" for Greece! - Greece
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by Maria Winsor-Ginala
Even before the Olympic Games, there was a “Marathon run” for dog people in the very same, ancient place-Marathon itself: for the organisers it felt like a gold medal already when they saw the success of their efforts and that all run well in their particular sport (our “doggy” sport), after a long “race” of preparations; celebrating ten years of successful activities, Athens Canine Society (O.K.A), the first all-breed Club in the country's capital to become affiliated with the Kennel Club of Greece and the F.C.I back in 1993, held the first-ever double International in Athens, the Society’s 14th & 15th, culminating in about 1200 entries in a single weekend.
Dogs from 17 other countries and some very distinguished protagonists from across Europe made this a very multinational event indeed. The panel of judges included well-respected names like Joyce W. Mann from Scotland (Mrs Mann will judge BIS at Crufts 2004), popular Dutch all-rounder Mr. Hans v.d. Berg, experts Annika Ulltveit-Moe and Paul Stanton from Sweden, Soile Bister and Johan Juslin from Finland as well as the Greek judges Mr. Kostopoulos, Mr. Zoumboulidis, Mr. Makaritis, Mesdames Winsor-Ginala and Kiourtzis, Messrs Vasileiou, Kalantzis and Katsikis, a total of fourteen judges sharing about 600 entries per day.
The attraction of 2 x CACIBs plus three Breed Club Specialties (for Bulldogs-judged by English connoisseur Mrs Sheila Cartright of "Tyegarth" fame, French Bulldogs-judged by Mr. Makaritis and Hellenic Sheepdogs-judged by the Club's chairman Mr. Drivas) drew many top-contenders to the lush-green grass rings of Marathon Land, a beautiful privately-owned showground neighboring the famous ancient site of Marathon, where many events of next year's Olympic games will take place in the new sea-sports facilities nearby.
The President of the Dutch Kennel Club, Mr. Cor Last, visiting the shows, was very enthusiastic in his comments about the well-run organization of the event and several well-known foreign visitors, such as Ana Mesto & Carlos Salas from Spain, Mrs Tiina Palosaari from Finland and others commented on the warm, welcoming atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the people that made the main-ring finals so special. Mr. Simpson of "Triglyph" Boxers came all the way from England to watch his favorite breed and Mrs Ann Bradley, well-known Dobermann breeder and judge from the UK joined the Greek Kennel Club officers who attended to wish "happy-birthday" and continuing success to the active Athenian Society.
There was indeed a "Birthday Party" held on the site after BIS on Sunday, complete with cake (decorated with the Society's logo: two ancient Greek hounds sillouetted within an outline of Acropolis temple) and bottles of champagne. Several commercial and club stands shared the tastefully decorated grounds and a recently launched book about the old native breeds of Greek animals (including dogs of course) received much of the public attention. From these native dog breeds, the most recently recognised by the country’s Kennel Club, the Cretan Hound (a primitive harehound from the island of Crete) won the trophy for the best exhibit among the local breeds and attracted a lot of viewers especially among the foreign visitors who have never seen one of these rare creatures before.
On Saturday it was Mr. Van De Berg (Netherlands) who elected B.I.S from the ten group finalists (including several International, World, European and multi-National Champions) and he gave the top spot to none other than the impressive "Carlos", the American Staffordshire Terrier Int. EurW-03 MILWAUKEE DE NGORONG NGORONG, bred in Spain and owned in Croatia, who came to Greece fresh from his triumph over 10.000 dogs in the FCI European Championship Show held in Bratislava two weeks before. RBIS to a striking and much-travelled Whippet from Italy, Can. Ch. Airescot Gold Field, bred in Sweden and a Champion in Canada, owned by Annalisa Rovani & Cartney J.M.C. & Sakson S. and BIS-3 to one of the top Poodles in Finland, the dwarf black super-moving female Fin. Swed. Ch. Canmoy's Hug's And Kisses, bred and owned by Tiina Palosaari.
From an equally distinguished field (with "Carlos" again representing the Terrier group), Mrs Joyce W. Mann from Scotland elected yet another American breed, but this time a shining black American Cocker Spaniel dog, Gr. Ch. MOONLIGHT SHOW LUCKY TICKET, bred in Russia and owned locally, for BIS. The decision drew enormous cheers. RBIS went to the handsome Dalmatian Ch. Lacrima Cristi Coppola from Croatia also and BIS-3 to the showy dwarf poodle from Finland again. And this immediately signaled the celebrations, after a weekend that was exhausting for the organizing committee but worthwhile for all the friends of the Society, old and new.
Already the Society is working ahead for next year’s shows, its 16th and 17th Internationals respectively (to be held on May 22-23 and October 2-3, 2004). Full results and fotos from October 2003's weekend already in the club’s webpages (which include interesting info on the native breeds):
http://okathens.8m.com/
Inquiries about the future shows welcome at tel/fax no ++30 210 5227388 or via e-mail:
okathens@hotmail.com
Postal address: Athens Canine Society (OKA) P.O. Box 34004, Athens 100 29 Greece.
(foto credits: Eva Myrmiridou, MWG / OKA)
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