TERRIER TOPS AGAIN

Photo by HOTdog
All photos by
Natalia Feofanova and Oleg Bochkov . HD.
terrier tops again
116 HOTdog
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
2 / 2016
Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
Crufts 125. March 1013, 2016 Birmingham, UK
Heelwork
to Music
Competition
Winner
Photo by HOTdog
TE RRIER TOPS
AGAIN
It hardly seems a year
since we were all at
Crufts in 2015. Last year
was dramatic in many
ways, so we all hoped
for a Crufts without the
media hype of poisoned
dogs, ‘Tailgate’ or whatever this time around.
Always following swiftly on
the heels of Westminster,
Crufts maintains its position as the world leader, the
iconic dog show, the most
famous and cer tainly the
best attended dog show on
the planet.
This year a record number
of visitors attended over the
four days at the National Exhibition Centre on the outskirts of Birmingham, often
referred to as the UK’s second city. Over 160,000 people packed into the venue to
witness great dogs, shocks
in certain breeds, superb
canine entertainment, all
aspects of educational material on dogs and health
plus the inevitable shopping
for all things doggie and
many other items as well.
If you have never been,
well it should be on your
bucket list...if you have
been, you will know exactly
what I mean when I say the
whole thing is a blitz where
you have to pack in your
breed watching, socialising,
shopping and getting down
to the massive main arena
each evening for the groups.
In short, it’s like a military
campaign to make sure you
don’t miss anything!
And no shocks at BIS time
this year...tailgate did not
rear up again! However a
Terrier did scoop the main
prize out of 22,000 dogs en-
TERRIER TOPS AGAIN
Al w a ys f ol l ow i ng s w i ft l y o n t he heel s of
We s tm i n s te r , Crufts m ai nt ai ns i ts pos i ti o n
a s th e w o r l d l eader, t he i c o ni c do g s ho w ,
th e m os t f a m ous and c ert ai nl y the bes t at te n d e d d og s h ow o n t he pl anet.
• Vince Hogan
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Crufts 2016
NEC. Birmingham /UK/
National Exhibition Centre. 6 a.m.
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
Kari Järvinen /Finland/, Natalia Feofanova and Polina Shelkovskaya /
Russia/
Paul Cech /Austria/
Veronika Vinogradova /Russia/
Roberto Velez Pico, Rafael De Santiago / San Juan, Puerto Rico/
Crufts official show guides
HOTdog 119
Crufts 2016
Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
120 HOTdog
tered, this time it was a white
one after the Scotties triumph last year piloted by Rebecca Cross (USA). This year
it was ‘Devon’ a 20 month old
Westie that caught BIS Judge
Derek Smith’s eye. More on
that later...
Crufts 2016
• A SPECIAL YEAR
From an organisational
point of view, this year’s
show ran with its usual
smoothness, everything went
well, from the press office,
the overseas visitors lounge,
special events and to the
breed judging right through
to the Groups. The advantage
of course that Crufts has over
say a world show is that it is
run by the same people in the
same venue year after year.
That way you do not have
to reinvent the wheel...the
Crufts
Committee
chaired
by Gerald King and the staff
headed up by Vanessa McAlpine and Catherine Guiver are
a constant. They have run
more Crufts shows than you
would care to count so they
know every nook and cranny
so to speak.
Gerald King, Crufts Chairman said: “We are delighted
that entries to Crufts’ 125th
anniversary
show
remain
strong and steady. We feel
honoured to welcome dogs
from such a wide variety of
breeds, representing all corners of the globe. The fact
that people travel far and
wide to enter this prestigious event is testament to the
place it continues to hold in
people’s hearts and we intend
to keep going from strength
to strength.
This year however was special in that it was the 125th
anniversary of the show
which was marked by special
graphics as you entered the
hall and a super historical
backdrop in the press room.
There had been a lot of
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
2 / 2016
anticipation because of the
125th, not least amongst
what the Brits term as the
‘overseas entries’ which this
year had increased by 13%
over 2015. 3396 dogs came
from 47 different countries,
both record statistics.
Emphasising the links with
the international scene, this
year the Kennel Club had invited the President of the FCI
Rafael de Santiago (Puerto
Rico) and the Vice President
Gerard Jipping (Holland) to
make the official presentations to certain group winners. It was good to see international
cooperation
in
action. A number of other
well known FCI and European
faces were to be seen in the
‘posh seats’ at BIS time.
The show is a massive international meeting ground
for dog people from many
nations. One Italian owner
handler told me, “It is always
thrilling waiting for it to arrive and when the moment
has come it goes too fast.
The greatest dog show in
the world attracts thousands
of dogs worldwide; someone
comes with the expectation to
win, someone comes to spend
precious time with faraway
friends. However all eyes are
always focussed on Birmingham and a million people wait
to hear the results of the day
and get connected on live
streaming to watch the finals.
This year it was the anniversary of 125 years of Crufts,
and all we can say is “what
a beautiful tradition it is”. I
think we all love Crufts because it is in the British and
European dog culture. Four
days of intensive canine activities going from agility,
fly ball, dog dancing, junior
handling, dog showing and
so much more. What other
shows in the world collects all
of this in the same place, in
the same time? Just one, the
first or second weekend of
March, in Birmingham, celebrating happy, healthy dogs!”
Well what more can you say.
Also keenly contested is the
International Junior Handling
competition which attracted
over 40 representatives from
around the world, with the
winner coming from Holland,
judged by Barbara Muller
from Switzerland.
Throw in the massive Discover Dogs area (like meet the
breeds) and see the droves of
general public heading there
to find their favourites, take
in the shopping with over 400
stands and you begin to see
why sometimes four days is
simply not enough time....
yet too much for the feet to
endure!
• NO TAILGATE THIS
TIME!
Downsides? Well no mad
poisoning stories this year or
‘tailgate’ as I said, but the
general media jumped on the
performance of the GSD in
the main ring which re ignited the ‘Germanic type v old
fashioned type’. The best of
breed winner appeared to go
to pieces in the main ring and
did not stride out as Shepherds do when gaiting round
their breed rings. The poor
animal seemed to have its
legs turn to jelly which looked
really bad on national TV. The
handler blamed the distractions of the lights, the noise
as factors in the dog being
very upset and nervous.
The Gundog Group winner had a link back to the
group judge...her sister was
the breeder. But the judge
had not seen the dog since it
had been a puppy and had to
judge the dogs before her in
the ring. The Gordon Setter
was one of the most top winning dogs in the group and
only minutes before had been
given the stakes class of Vulnerable Breeds by last year’s
Crufts 2016
Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
Attila Márton /Hungary/, Natalia Feofanova /Russia/
Crufts 2016 Press Center
Jose M. Doval /Spain/
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Carla Molinari /Portugal/
Princess Michael of Kent (Marie-Christine von Reibnitz) /UK/
Crufts 2016
Prince Michael of Kent /UK/,
Olga Shilova /Russia/
Maria Gvozdieva /Ukraine/
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
BIS judge Ronnie Irving.
Some people said that the
owner/handler should have
done a lap of honour instead.
A lot of storms in tea cups
perhaps.
• THE WINNERS STORY
So to the main ring on
the last day. The lights,
the razzmatazz, the live TV
broadcast, the Mary Ray fabulous dog dancing display so
much part of the tradition
of the show and the fanfare
of trumpeters. It’s quite a
sight, quite British and certainly brilliantly staged with
the perfect announcers voice,
Mr Nick Brookes Ward...every
inch the English gent...setting the scene. Nicks next
major job is staging the celebrations for the Queens 90th
birthday here in the UK!
It was a big moment for the
BIS judge Mr Derek Smith a
popular all rounder and a dog
man through and through.
With Derek’s judging this year
we had a fresh winner, not a
big hitter on the international
scene or a well known handler but someone who took
her first CC and Best of Breed
at Crufts this year and then
went all the way to the top!
So perhaps, as a change from
who did what in the line up or
how many CC’s each one had
won, here is an insight into
how ‘Devon’ the Westie got to
top spot in the words of owner and handler Marie Burns,
from the North of England:
“I have always had pet dogs
at home. When I was a Teenager we had a Rottweiler
called Buster and I used to
attend obedience classes with
him and entered a fun dog
show one weekend. On the
day we won best conditioned
dog, best pedigree dog, and
best puppy. So off home I
went with 3 rosettes and the
biggest smile on my face, so
very proud of my boy. I loved
the experience so much that
we start to attend the more
serious dog shows. We decided we would look for a Westie puppy that we could show.
Our first one did not make it
into the show ring but opened
the doors for us to meet other
exhibitors and find out more
about dog showing. In 1991
we purchased 2 more Westies a female (Deana) and a
male (Solo). In 1993 Deana
produced our first home bred
champion who gained her title in 1997 and in 1994 Solo
became our first champion.
We were very lucky right from
the start. To date we have
had 9 UK champions.
Although Devon has had
great show success in 2015
we still did not expect to
win at Crufts. I took 4 dogs
to show at Crufts so arrived
very early to get them all settled. I had also agreed to
do a grooming demonstration at the show so I knew
I would be busy. I was looking forward to the day with
my dogs and friends; where
some people go to the pub to
relax or on weekends breaks,
we go to dog shows! This is
the first CC & BOB I have won
at Crufts, so after the breed
judging I was over the moon
The most memorable thing
outside the ring - whilst I was
in the benching area at the
breed ring a lady came over
to ask for advice about hand
stripping her pet Westie. I
spent no more than 10-15
minutes talking to her and
the following day she sent me
an email to thank me for my
time and how glad she was
that I took time out of my
busy day to talk to her, I was
really touched by this.
I was also very touched by
the good wishes from everyone after winning the group,
I felt like everyone was rooting for me to win, their kind
words really made my day.
Going into the group I really
didn’t expect anything, I just
felt honoured to be there in
such top quality company. I
just could not believe it when
I was placed first, total shock!
In the BIS ring I wasn’t
nervous at all like I thought
I would be, I didn’t think I
would win so decided to enjoy my time in there. It was
a great honour for me to be
down to the last 7 dogs out of
over 22,000. A dream come
true for a small breeder like
me. When the judge started
to walk my way I let him take
an extra step before I looked
up, then all I saw was the
gentleman with the biggest
smile I ever seen on a judge’s
face. I will never forget this.
He seemed just as thrilled
as me to be picking me out.
After the show we attended
the after party were we were
wined and dined in style, and
the Kennel club looked after
all of us so well.
As you can imagine things
went mad when I got home,
the local media were at my
door both at home and at
work (my grooming shop).
We have done a couple of
TV interviews and spoke to
the news papers. I have received hundreds and I mean
hundreds of messages of
congratulations, cards, flowers, gifts, even Devon has received treats & toys. I was
overwhelmed by the response
of the world of dogs and the
general public.
I have been asked if dog
showing will ever be the same
and the answer to this is yes
it definitely will be because
we will still go for the same
reasons, to spend the day
with our dogs and our fellow
exhibitors and enjoy our day
out. If I could go back and
change anything it would be
for that day to be in slow motion so I could take it all in, it
happened so quickly!
The moral of the story is if
I can do it then you can too!
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Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
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Tatjana Urek and Gerard Jipping /Netherlands/
Our Dogs Booth. Kerry Rushby /UK/
Crufts 2016
Victor Alexander Van Raamsdonk
/Netherlands/
Laurent Pichard and Martial Robin
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
Naomi van Mourik /Netherlands/
Nicolas Pineiro /Russia/
Karina Graciova
Svetlana Valoueva /Lithuania/
Judge: Vale Carvoeiro-Rui Oliveira-Zeferino Silva /Portugal/
Alice Varchi /Italy/
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Crufts 2016
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126 HOTdog
You know you cannot say
fairer than that; that’s a win
for the normal dog person
who puts in the miles like any
other exhibitor in any other
part of the world, week in
and week out. The week after
the show Marie had a rousing
reception at her local training
and ring craft club....great to
see success coming from the
roots of dogdom!
Our group photos show you
the other main winners. It
would appear that Crufts had
another success on its hands
despite the best efforts of
some media to find a controversy.
As I said this time in 2015,
we all have our special memories and moments from
Crufts....nothing has changed
from last year!
Vince Hogan
OD Editor in Chief
Crufts 2016
www.ourdogs.co.uk
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
2 / 2016
Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
Number of Dogs
Number of Exhibitors
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
Australia
1
3
5
-
1
-
1
3
-
Austria
46
33
46
29
37
10
7
8
13
Belarus
4
2
6
2
-
1
2
-
-
Belgium
198
192
167
163
110
76
58
83
69
-
Bermuda
3
-
1
-
3
1
-
-
Bulgaria
3
1
3
-
3
-
-
1
-
Bosnia
2
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
1
Canada
2
5
3
3
11
2
7
4
4
Chile
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
-
Croatia
13
13
10
15
14
5
4
3
3
Cyprus
-
-
-
1
1
-
-
2
2
Czech Republic
72
73
76
65
52
37
38
34
43
Denmark
114
109
97
66
65
52
54
44
39
Estonia
5
26
6
2
4
2
10
4
6
Finland
90
59
54
43
44
36
23
50
31
France
428
377
310
231
162
110
133
107
129
Germany
298
303
229
190
203
90
69
72
83
Gibraltar
-
-
-
1
-
1
2
-
2
Greece
17
10
3
6
6
4
7
7
3
Hungary
39
26
48
37
48
24
25
18
18
Ireland
301
264
303
231
240
160
180
151
166
Israel
15
7
5
3
4
1
-
-
-
Italy
382
325
241
182
165
110
99
80
101
Japan
9
6
9
5
-
-
3
3
2
Latvia
15
12
7
3
7
2
10
3
5
Lithuania
13
7
7
3
1
1
3
3
8
Luxembourg
-
1
1
-
2
2
-
-
-
Malta
13
7
3
8
22
9
6
6
4
Mexico
1
-
-
-
-
1
-
-
-
Netherlands
347
299
258
251
235
153
121
162
144
Norway
76
71
60
70
41
39
35
44
40
Poland
157
129
61
63
51
28
26
14
12
Portugal
20
14
13
13
15
4
8
7
9
Romania
11
13
13
10
8
4
4
3
2
52
Russia
200
159
218
169
168
104
69
88
San Marino
3
3
1
-
-
-
1
-
-
Slovakia
31
24
17
14
18
7
9
11
12
Slovenia
13
9
6
2
3
5
3
6
6
Spain
95
84
84
54
50
42
36
37
33
Sweden
209
226
200
129
112
63
59
87
69
Switzerland
41
32
34
27
27
22
12
15
15
Ukraine
10
17
9
3
5
4
4
1
-
USA
47
34
29
24
37
19
27
25
39
ENTRIES
Prior to 2012, the
number of exhibitors
was counted. From 2012
onwards this changed to
the number of dogs.
Difference between
2015 and 2016:
• Increase of 409 dogs
from 2015. (13%)
• Four new countries
for this Year.
• Two new breeds
competed in their own
breed classes, the
Lagotto Ramagnolo and
the Cimeco Dell’Etna.
Total for 2007 – 957
Exh. from 32 countries
Total for 2006 – 902
Exh. from 32 countries
Total for 2005 – 723
Exh. from 26 countries
Total for 2004 – 618
Exh. from 21 countries
Total for 2003 – 529
Exh. from 19 countries
Total for 2002 – 343
Exh.
Total for 2001 – 93
Exh.
Total Exhibitors 3396 2987 2655 2131 1977 1231 1155 1186 1165
No of Countries
47
43
45
41
38
36
35
34
33
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Crufts 2016
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Naomi van Mourik and Pieter van Mourik /Netherlands/
Sabina Chiesa-folbrecht /Austria/
Crufts 2016
Olga Baranova /Russia/
Tatiana Koulakhmetieva /Russia/
Vale Carvoeiro-Rui Oliveira-Zeferino Silva and Zeferino Silva /Portugal/
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
Sylvia Garcia-Andrade /Spain/
Silvia Proietti and Alice Varchi /Italy/
Ivan Calleja /Malta/
Polina Shelkovskaya /Russia/
Lisa Croft-Elliott /UK/
Nelly Gelders. EDS 2016 and Belgium Kennel Club official booth.
Barbara Müller /Switzerland/
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Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
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Marina Lazareva /Russia/
Crufts 2016
Ekaterina Kvadritsius
/Tajikistan/
Carla Molinari /Portugal/, Patrizio Palliani /Italy/
Main Topic • Crufts 2016
Svetlana Kovaleva /Russia/
Crufts 2016
Crufts 2016 • Main Topic
Alan Seymour /UK/
Maria Sinitsyna /Russia/
Polina Shelkovskaya /Russia/
Nicolas Pineiro, Barbara Muller /Switzerland/
Vasilisa Gudyma, Anastasia
Goncharova /Russia/
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