par Karl DonvilIt was the end the summer holidays in a lot of countries and this means that the mean season for dogshows can start again. For Luxemburg, being the first, it is perhaps not the ideal date as at the same time the national fair takes place only 5 minutes from the showground and a lot of people were coming home from their holidays.
The weather was also very nice and ideal to finish the holidays with an outdoor weekend. For all these reasons the public interest for the autumn edition is usually not so big. But exhibitors, on the other hand, don?t mind and each year their number increases. It is only since a few years that the autumn edition exists. This was a decision of the FCI because before it was a little bit too easy to win the Luxemburg title of Champion. At first the committee feared for a lack of interest but this proved to be false. The autumn edition still remains less popular but this has probably to do with the fact that still too many exhibitors know that there is a autumn edition too now. With 2737 subscriptions we are still far from the spring edition, but I?m pretty confident that it won?t take years anymore before we will come very close to the number of the spring edition.
The international interest is good as usual. No less then 24 countries were presented with the surrounding countries on top. France had 779 dogs entered followed by Belgium with 607, Germany with 568 and Holland with 389. Luxemburg was good for 123 entries. There were 4 dogs from the US, one even from as far as Australia, 7 from the UK and even 28 from Russia. The judging team was spectacular again as usual, with 34 judges from all over Europe except for the BIS judge, Mrs Ingeborg Kincaid who is from Panama, but was in Europe for a few months. This was an ideal opportunity to invite her and save on the expenses. While looking in the catalogue I could find some interesting numbers. Mr. Carlos Salas from Spain had 77 Standard and Miniature schnauzers and no less then 80 Golden Retrievers to judge. Mr Daniel Moreaux had 46 Dobers and Mrs.Liesbeth Mach a very nice entry of 76 Newfoundlanders. It was her Best of Breed who turned into Best In Show. Mr.Giannone from Belgium had 64 Deutsche Doggen and 42 Labradors turned up to be judged by Mr.Paul Jentgen from Luxemburg. Mr.Van de Belt from Holland had also a nice collection of 62 English Cocker Spaniels to choose from and an impressive number of 57 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels was present for Mr.John Evans from the UK. Except for these remarkable numbers there was also a wide variety of breeds, some which are rare to see on a regular show.
Again Luxemburg proves to be able to organise a big show and defend its reputation to be one of the most international shows of Western Europe. The list of judges was again composed with expertise, offering the right balance for a CACIB show. A show of this level always has the attention from exhibitors from the most various countries. Only few organisations are able to get this level and this is only the result of experience and small changes. Never change a winning team, Luxemburg keep up with your excellent work!
