by Karl DonvilORDER A CD WITH 2500 PHOTOS OF THE EUROPEAN WINNER HELSINKI 2006 ( 50 EURO) : Mail to karl@123dog.net
Helsinki European Winner Show 2006 Sunday (Finals).
The whole report of this show contains no less then 2500 photos made in the main ring, the Press Photo Corner and during the day. In order to easilyn navigate or find your photos click first on the tab SHOP and then on Help. Read this carefully or print it out. It will help you to retrieve your photos in just a few clicks.
Helsinki European Winner 2006
If it has been raining for several weeks, if the children are still at school, then it is normal that when the holidays finally start and the sun is coming out, people are not thinking in the first place to go to a dog show during a whole day or weekend. That is the main reason why this edition of the European Dogshow did not attract a spectacular number of visitors.
With a total entry of 9755 dogs this show was not bad at all, but the committee obviously had expected a few thousands more. But we may not forget that Finland is for most of us (except for the Russians, Finns and Swedish) a very remote place. You can only go by plane, which is rather expensive with dogs, especially for big breeds, or by car/boat which looks like a small adventure if you need to come from Greece for example and need to pass a lot of borders.
There is another reason which is that the entry fee per dog which was pretty high, going from 68 EURO if you entered before 28 February to 88 EURO if only entered before 21 of April.
This was the same for the first and second dog entered, the price went down only from the 3rd dog. That of course, makes handlers and exhibitors think twice before entering a lot of dogs.
On the other hand, it raises of course the general quality of the dogs as usually you only in that case you only enter those dogs that have a good chance to win a title.
The Finns were a little bit disappointed of course as they had hoped to have much more entries, especially as for the Nordic Winner show, held half a year earlier in the very same exhibition halls, they had no less then 7500 entries on two shows in the same weekend, or 15000 dogs in total.
The showground itself if just fantastic, with the main hotel directly connected to the halls and the second most important one within walking distance. Every few minutes the tram stops in front of the entrance, the railway station is 200metres away and there are plenty of taxis around. There must have been enough space around to park the cars as I did not hear about any complaints. A lot of exhibitors took a few extra holidays in Finland or were in one of the many cosy places and houses for rent, nearby one of Finland’s 1000 lakes, sauna facilities included.
Finland is known for its strive for perfection and this showed also with regard to this show. Everything was well indicated and the catalogue had almost all information you needed. Almost, I say, as I missed an alphabetical list of the exhibitors and an overview with statistical data. I only could find out that 40 countries were represented and that 4200 dogs came from abroad. We all know that Finland is an important FCI country with regard to registerd dogs, but taken this into account and the fact that most foreign dogs came from Russia, Sweden, Estonia, Italy and Latvia, it means that other countries were pretty much under-represented.
O the other hand, we could say that the judges represented a big part of Europe and thus no remarks on this.
The effectiveness of the committee showed very well by the fact that all the results were immediately available after the show, that there was security all around and that every restrictions with regard to the Press, VIP’s and offices was perfectly respected. That means that it was done so good that everything was 100% clear to exhibitors and visitors. The really deserve applause for this.
During the day, as usual there were lots of demonstrations and presentations in the main ring, especially the Junior Handling competition was well attended. The main ring was just beautiful, not overdone, with attractive illumination, all very stylish. The Finns proved that this not necessarily needs to be translated in to a lot of money. En premiere for the first time for a European- or World Dog show the whole main ring finals cold be followed every evening live on internet and on television (Finland only). This causes some extra problems usually due to a very strict time schedule and at certain moments, especially on Saturday as they had 4 groups to go, it was rushing. The ring steward urged the numbers 3 and 4 of the finalists to go already to the press photo corner while the judge didn’t decide yet about number 1 and 2. Again the effectiveness of the committee showed as the people from the press complained about this and on the last day, their complaints were taken into account and all went smoothly. Bravo!
The finals were preceded by a short word of thanks of the Press and the formalities connected to the handing over of the FCI flag to Croatia who will organise the next European Dogshow.
After this the audience was treated to a lovely kind of slow ballet, performed by 4 models in Finish haut-couture, accompanied by attractive music and a light show after which BIS judge Hans Lehtinen was escorted onto the stage by one of Finland’s most famous actress and presenter. Unfortunately I was not able to trace her name in neither the catalogue nor the program. After the Best In Show was chosen two cannons were fired, one on each side of the stage, filled with coloured papers, falling slowly down again like snow. Stylish in one word!
Only 1704 dogs were on turn on Friday, groups 6, 8 and 10. Saturday was reserved for groups 1, 3, 4 and 5 and had an entry of 4172 dogs. Sunday was almost as busy as Friday with 4080 dogs in groups 2, 7 and 9.
Best represented breeds and scoring over 100 specimen were the American Staffordshire Terrier (116), Black Russian Terrier (105), Chinese Crested (110), Dobermann (122), Labrador (129), Golden Retriever (143), Pug (100), Rottweiler (110) and Schnauzer P&S (122). The Dachshunds were all together represented by 437 specimen, the Schnauzers 518 and the Poodles 279. For the Finnish breeds I could count 17 Finnish Spits, 43 Finnish Lapphunds, 27 Finnish Hounds, 14 Lapponian Sheepdogs and 22 Karelian Beer Dogs.
An show like the European Dogshow is always a good occasion to see some more or less rare breeds. One like that was the American Foxhound. Others were the American Waterspaniel (4), the Black and Tan Coonhound (2), the Bleu de Picardy (2), the Braque Francais type Pyrenées (1), the Croatina Sheepdog (2), the Grand Bleu de Gascogne (1), the Drever (7), the Karst Shepherd Dog (6), the Lancashire Heeler (9), the Polis Greyhound (10) and Polish Hound (2), the Portuguese Pointing Dog (1), the Tosa (3) and the Spaniel de Pont-Audemer (2). The Romanian Mioritic Shepherd Dog had no less then 9 specimen on this show. On Saturday 28 Long-haired and 11 Short-haired Russian Terriers were shown.
On Friday a special show for Japanese Breeds was held. All were judged by Japanese Judges. Unfortunately this specialty show took very long until halfway the main ring program.
All by all there is very little to remark on this show, it would be splitting hairs to find some. A big achievement for the Finnish Kennel Club and they can be proud on it! Next year Croatia will be on turn and I am very confident that this show will probably continue the high standard the Finnish Kennel Club has developped.
Text and photos Karl DONVIL
Junior Handler finals
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Marja Talvitie
Finaalitulokset
1. James Hammond, Irlanti / Ireland PHOTO KD22038
2. Adell Brancevich, Latvia PHOTO KD22037
3. Iida Villman, Suomi / Finland PHOTO KD22031
Best braces (Friday)
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Marija Kav?i?
1. espanjanvesikoira - Spanish Waterdog, Zorrazo Jabarrella/Zorrazo Juan Grande (Leino Anna-Kaisa/Erkko Jade, Helsinki)
PHOTO KD20512
2. englanninspringerspanieli - English Springer Spaniel, Saframin Jalomieli/Saframin Jabadabaduu (Nuolikoski Sari, Helsinki)
PHOTO KD20507
3. italianvinttikoira - Italian Greyhound, Batterd'ali Polpettina/Champ Angelo Il Piccolo Azzuro (Gielisse Jennifer, Hollanti)
PHOTO KD20504
4. lagotto romagnolo - Lagotto Romagnolo, Donnarachele/Benito (Federici Fabio, Italia)
PHOTO KD20503
Best braces (Saturday)
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Marija Kav?i?
1. alaskanmalamuutti - Alaskan Malamute, Active Del Biagio/Alexan Del Biagio (Di Biagotti Giuseppe, Italia)
4. amerikancockerspanieli - American Cocker Spaniel, INT & LUX & FR CH Charles Dickens Maddox (Börresen Marie, Ekeby)
PHOTO KD20576
Best veterans (Saturday)
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Giuseppe Alessandra
1. australianterrieri - Australian Terrier, KANS & FIN & POHJ & S & N MVA Bluepepper's Golden Cap (Ahola Marjo & Jääskeläinen Maire, Sotkamo)
PHOTO KD21162
2. australianpaimenkoira - Australian Shepherd, FIN & LV MVA MV-98 V-00-02 Propwash Catera (Cerbule Inga, Riga Region)
PHOTO KD21165
3. puli, muunväriset - Hungarian Puli, other colours, KANS & FIN & S & EST MVA V-02 BALTV-03 V-05 Castlewolf Can Get It All (Roos Benita C/o Roos & Strömberg, Pietarsaari)
PHOTO KD21152
4. kettuterrieri sileäkarvainen - Fox Terrier, Smooth, KANS & FIN & S MVA V-98-99 EUV-99 MV-00 PMV-00 Foxfield That's My Record (Vainio Leena-kaisa & Nyman Molli, Kotalato)
PHOTO KD21151
Best veterans (Sunday)
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Giuseppe Alessandra
1. suursnautseri musta - Giant Schnauzer, Black, FIN MVA V-99-00-01 SV-03-04 BALTV-01 Panomaks Alfa Romeo (Fabergé Frances & Jan, Vihti)
PHOTO KD21638
2. papillon - Papillon, FIN MVA & AVA Irina (Kärkkäinen Merja, Pyhäsalmi)
PHOTO KD21630
3. tanskandoggi keltainen, tiikerijuov. - Great Dane, Fawn & Brindle, KANS & FIN & N & S MVA Love-Dane's Lilli Marlen (Utriainen Katja, Lehmo)
PHOTO KD21629
4. keskikok. villakoira mu/ru/va - Miniature Poodle Black Brown, White, KANS MVA Vanderful Pleas Venesuella (Arhipova O, Toliatti)
PHOTO KD21624
Group 1
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Norman Deschuymere
01 - LAMMAS- JA KARJAKOIRAT - SHEEPDOGS AND CATTLEDOGS
1. bouvier - Bouvier des Flandres, DE & LUX MVA Nike-Dustie V.d. Vanenblikhoeve (Bruintjes-Schaap H, Md Enschede)
4. pitkäkarvainen mäyräkoira – Dachshund, Long-haired, KANS & N & S & FIN & DK & AT MVA N & S KVA Örnberget's Kaspar (Hofmeister Wenche-Lise & Robert, Tromso)
PHOTO KD21463
Group 5
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Marja Talvitie
05 - PYSTYKORVAT JA ALKUKANTAISET KOIRAT - SPITZ AND PRIMITIVE TYPES
1. pomeranian - Pomeranian, FIN & EST & LVA & LTU MVA EST JMVA Linnanhaltijan Kari (Jürgens Linda & Haltia Elma, Pärnu)
PHOTO KD21405
2. amerikanakita - American Akita, INT & LUX & HR & IT & A CH Melodor Catch me if you can (Thoma Gabriela, Berndorf)
PHOTO KD21400
3. akita - Akita, MULTI CH Asayake Go Shun' Yuo Kensha (Exposito Casais Silvia, Urbina Alava)
PHOTO KD21398
4. suomenpystykorva - Finnish Spitz, FIN MVA & KVA V-98-00-01 Katajahaan Riikka (Silomäki Päivi & Arvo, Parkano)
PHOTO KD21393
Group 6
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Kari Järvinen
06 - AJAVAT KOIRAT - SCENTHOUNDS
1. rhodesiankoira - Rhodesian Ridgeback, INT & NORD CH NORDJV-03 EUW-05 SV-05 S VCH Rex Ventors Helinn (Thorén Veronica, Skarpnäck)
PHOTO KD20721/20714
2. grand basset griffon vendeen - Grand Basset Griffon Vendeen, DE & LUX MVA EV-05 Bassbarr Hermitage (Huikeshoven G Ls, Ooskvoorne)
PHOTO KD20717
3. dalmatiankoira - Dalmatian, KANS & FIN & EST MVA BALTV-03 ESTV-05 EUV-05 Kamilkan Väinämöinen (Niemenperä Jonna & Taru, Kirkkonummi)
PHOTO KD20705
4. basset hound - Basset Hound, KANS & IT MVA Dom Pedro IV el Rey (Marelli Fulvio, Milano)
PHOTO KD20711
Group 7
Tuomari - Domare - Judge: Rui Oliveira
07 - SEISOJAT - CONTINENTAL POINTING DOGS
1. bracco italiano - Bracco Italiano, Axel Del Monte Alago (Bitte Ahrens & Salvatore Tripoli, Velletri, Italy)
PHOTO KD21904
2. portugalinseisoja - Portuguese Pointing Dog, PT MVA G' Eluis Do Casal De Palmeiro (Tiago Fortuna, Clara-Coimbra, Portugal)
