Page 228 - ShowSight - January 2020
P. 228

                  Kortrijk Eurodogshow 2019
BY KARL DONVIL continued
    take their own photos. That together with the ring steward who writes down the ring numbers with his back in between the dogs and the photographers is very annoying. There is such a very limited time to take a proper photo and if this time is consumed with things that can easily be solved in another way. As six dogs are selected, why not write the numbers of these dogs at the very moment that they are selected. Later the placement can simply be written behind the dog’s number. No losing time anymore, no distraction for the dogs and nicer pic- tures taken in seconds by professional pho- tographers only and we get a more relaxed time schedule in the end. And sorry to repeat it, but why place four dogs and not just three, and ten dogs for the minor pup- pies, puppies, and junior dogs? And why placing all ten finalists in the end and one, two three and all the rest four ex-aequo?
The dogs traveled from 20 different countries for this famous show. There were even two dogs entered from as far as Japan! 98 Dogs were entered from the UK and that is two more than the entries of Ger- many. But compared to other years, the UK entries have dropped seriously! Usually, they are around 200 and more! Has it to with Brexit? Hard to tell, but maybe it has to with the double shows too as especially for the English double shows are interest- ing as they need to book a hotel anyway and if that counts for a double show it is easier to become the Championship titles. In fact that counts not only for the English exhibi- tors only but for all exhibitors that come from more remote areas. For those exhibi- tors, double shows are a blessing, but never- theless, it is the only advantage!
Looking at the judges’ schedule, it was the weirdest schedule I ever saw! 39 judges were invited and 27 of them were officiating one day only!? Most unusual! Notwithstanding the low number of Eng- lish entries no less than eleven judges were British and another four came from Ireland, while only nine Belgian judges were invited. What I can conclude is that a lot of the one-day-judges were breed
specialists and/or invited for the Terrier Specialty. Fortunately, in general the dogs/ judging day rate was not bad with a 49 score. On Saturday Mrs. Marie Thorpe from Ire- land had a good score of 77 dogs and that was mostly thanks to the 51 Chihuahuas who turned up for her. Mrs Pine-Haynes from the UK was involved with the Poodles, good for 70 specimens. And Mr. Vanaken from Belgium had also a good score with 72 entries. I need also to mention the 50 Bulldogs for Mrs. Maria Taylor from the UK, the only breed she judged. On Sunday Mr. Jentgen had 77 dogs to judge and what was remarkable was that 32 of them were German Shepherds. It is a number that one doesn’t see very often at a regular all-breeds show as German Shepherds have their own breed shows that are immensely popular, but that alienates them from the rest of the cynological world and that is a pity. 74 dogs were entered for Mrs. Anja Gregoire from Belgium and that included 54 Australian Shepherds. Mr. Marius Nedelcu was invited to judge the 53 Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the 26 American Staffordshires. Mr. Norman Deschuymere and Mrs. Viviane Boesmans were invited to judge less com- mon breeds out of group 7 and group 8 respectively and they ended up with a lot of them, 85 entries for Mr. Deschuymere and 76 for Mrs. Boesmans.
I remember Mr. Joel Vanlerberghe, pres- ident of the club, telling me last year that he would emphasize more on Breed specialists and avoiding the too often used all-round- ers. And this is the result of his promise. It is an expensive investment but, as we know the Eurodogshow of Kortrijk as being prob- ably the most British oriented dog show of the continent, he could exploit his top-con- nections with the British and Irish judges, which are relatively cheap to invite due to the good and cheap connections between the countries.
Best In Show judge was Mr. Paul Stan- ton, who lives in Sweden but is British too in fact. He had the second-highest day score on Saturday with 76 entries and the same on Sunday when he had 79. And as
he judged both days, he had the best overall score of the weekend with 155 dogs. For his BIS judging, he had to line up all 10 Group winners. I stick to my 3 places only. His third place went to the Labrador Retriever “Woefdram’s Abercrombie” owned by Sander Nugteren from the Netherlands. This dog had to beat a large number of con- currents, 43 were entered for Mrs. Pam Blay from the UK. Woefdram’s was entered in open class at two years of age! It was Mr. Jos Decuyper from Belgium and who is very familiar with the breed, that picked him out as Best of Group. The second place went to the Bracco Italiano “Anzani Di Regione Montagnozo”, UK bred and owned by Scarlet and Mark Burnside from Northern Ireland. Only two were entered, Anzani in Champion Class for Mr. Deschuymere and later for Mr. Paul Jentgen for the Group Judging. Winner and Best In Show went to a breed that is too often missing the spot- lights. It was the Swiss Mountain Dog “Oby van ‘t Maroyke” bred by Ronny Moreau and owned by Mr.Freddy De Smet from Bel- gium. Four were entered for Mrs. Cornelia Schwesinger from Germany, but replaced by Mr.Kappetijn. Unfortunately I don’t know the reason, but it might have meant Oby’s luck as he was picked out and sent to be judged in the group by Mrs. Marie Thorpe from Ireland who gave this four- year-old male the ticket for the finals. The way he ran in the main ring, showing all his qualities, impressed many, but Mr. Stanton in the first place as he crowned him winner of the 56th edition of the famous Eurodog- show of Kortrijk.
As said in the beginning, it will take a couple of years to have several shows fully recovered from the craze of double shows, but having confidence is the only way and as new generations of show dogs come up fast, seeking for qualifications, there is a bright future waiting again. Next year Kor- trijk will have more dogs again, I can tell you! Moreover as Kortrijk is a trendsetter and Europe’s little Crufts! Let us hope that Brexit will not trouble the good connections on show level with the continent.
 220 • ShowSight Magazine, January 2020
   























































































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