door Karl DonvilLuxemburg broke every record
It is hard to believe but again the Spring edition of the Luxemburg show had an important increase of entries. Last year counted 4329 and now no less then 4778 dogs were on term.
They came from 28 different countries, which makes it one of the most international shows on the European continent. Can you imagine tthis while Luxemburg is one of the smallest countries in Europe.
Best represented were the French with 1336 dogs, followed by Germany with 1113 entries, Belgium with 867 and the Netherlands with 621. Russia had no less then 54 dogs in the show!
Even 5 dogs came from as far as Israel and one from Australia. Amazing numbers!
This resulted of course in well filled rings and some judges were very successful. 9 Judges had over 100 dogs in one day, like Alfons Thovar from Spain who had 119 on Saturday followed very close by Olga Dolysova from the Czech Republic who had 116 entries, all Cavalier King Charles Spaniels! But Recordholders are Peter Harsanyi from Hungary who had no less then 128 dogs to judge on Sunday, all less popular group 5 breeds, and Maritha östlund-Holmsten from Sweden who had 100 dogs on Saturday and 102 on Sunday.
It is obvious that a good choice of judges is most important and significant for the success of a show and the Luxemburg committee seems to master this skill with excellence.
The success of a show reflects also the popularity of certain breeds and here again we find some very fabulous numbers. 116 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, 57 Flat Coated Retrievers, 87 Labradors, 104 Goldens, 113 Cocker Spaniels, 78 Rhodesian Ridgebacks, 66 Aussies, 89 Dobermanns, 82 Miniature Schnauzers (!), 123 Newfoundlanders, 100 Great Danes, 69 Rottweilers, 86 Boxers, 98 American Staffordshires, 76 Whippets and even 32 Irish Wolfhounds. Very significant is the amount of Dachshunds with 177 specimen all varieties! This is a number that you hardly see on a show unless a European or World Show and at least not in the neighbourhoods of Luxembourg. Also remarcable is the high entry of 23 Vlcaks who become pretty popular and is a very uneasy breed to keep. The show had also one specimen of the recently accepted breed the Hravatski Ovcar.
New was the Baby Class for puppies who are not yet allowed in Puppy Class. It seems like this class was very succesfull and often funny to see those sometimes clumzy, sometimes cocky puppies go arounf the rings.
I wonder where all this will ever end? It seems like Luxembourg is the place to be and most interesting to enter a dog. The title of Luxembourg champion was once on discussion as being to easy to get, but if you see all this then I have the impression that the number of entries raises the challenge and the risk of losing your class gets higher every time. Besides that it is a very colourful competition as a lot of good dogs come from all over Europe in sometimes big numbers.
The show is also very streamlined, everyone knows what to do and where to be. In the morning it is always busy at the secretary‘s office. Normal I would say if you see where all those people come from. It automatically means that there a lot of entry fees that are not paid and should be checked and proved. The more entries and countries the more difficult this will get in the future, but there were no serious complaints or difficulties.
BIS was judged by Mr.Owe Germundsson from Sweden. For the 3th place he chose the very nice Fox Terrier Wire “Zessie von der Bismarckquelle”, owned by Weiss Manuela from Germany and bred by Axel Möhrke. The name “von der Bismarckquelle” is synonymous to quality in the breed. “El Minja's Thamina” a Lhasa Apso from the famous El Minja kennel was his choice for 2nd BIS. The dog is bred and owned by Mrs and Mr. Van Tatenhove – Van Roosenbroeck from Holland. This kennel has produced allready numerous winners and Thamina is continuing this tradition.
Best In Show went to a dog from another very famous and reputed kennel from Italy. Who doesn’t know the famous Alaskan Malamute and Shiba Inu Kennel ‘del Biagio”? “Giving-a-New-Royal-Star-de Jungla Negra” is a son of Champion Royal Star del Biagio and is also a Champion. Mr. Biagiotti was extremely happy and proud to win this prestigious show and credits go also to his most beautifull and elegant handler. He certainly has an eye for quality!
Don’t ever say again that becoming a Luxembourg Champion is easy to get. The quality is high, the numbers of entries are big, the judges are very international and less familiar in our
Areas and all this makes hard competitions and prestigious wins. Who wins at this Show can say that he has real quality. If you are really ambitious, come and challenge yourself at the September edition, the 2nd and 3rd.
