A beautiful morning in Yorkshire, still plenty of snow on the ground, and very cold with bright sunshine, blue skies, wonderful sea with white crested waves. Perfect dog walking weather, and the dogs were out in force on the beach. It is hard to believe that four weeks ago I was in Orlando in 25 degrees and enjoying my judging at the AKC National with other shows, breed speciality and group shows, held in the same location. This is the biggest all-breed show in the USA, and many of the dogs from across the States meet head-on, having avoided each other as their campaigns were routed in far-flung states.
My journey was delayed through my oversight of my ESTA number, which was still in date but attached to my old passport, replaced 2 months ago, hence I could not travel. On the appointed flight. A Lesson I will not forget!!! What followed was a most stressful day at the airport and necessitating a new booking for the next day and a night in an airport hotel. Once I reached the USA, immigration ran smoothly, and I was able to relax and enjoy the weekend.
On the first day, I had some gundog breeds, with excellent entries and had to lose some of the contracted breeds. I was kept busy all day and sadly did not get time to take any photographs of my winners, but I will post these when I receive the official photographs. I started with Chesapeakes, which were strong, especially in the males, and my winner ended up as Group 3 Grand Champion NEXT GENERATIONS ACCELERATE. I gather that he was for some time second in the all-breed rankings. Flatcoats had over 30 specials (champions) in competition, and from the star, the one male that took my eye, whilst there were two bitches which were in close competition. I was delighted to find out on the photo rostrum that the BOB dog was bred in the UK, and what a great credit to his breeder, Kelly Holland; GR CH FLATCHARM LI COOL HAYES AT STORMWATCH. His correct size and racy quality, combined with good construction and great movement, made him a standout. I gather that the two top bitches were frequent rivals for the top spot. And on the day the award went to GRCH TIMBERBLACS SOUND OF MUSIC, Italian Spinones were good and the top males very close. I had two, which were really typical, both standing and moving. The winner GRCH COLLINA D’ORO BIG SKIES YELLOWSTONE just scored in head qualities to take BOB.
Curlycoated Retrievers have improved since my last visit, and I had a lovely BOB who stood out from the first circuit of the ring with his wonderful movement. I think he is probably the best mover I have ever seen in the breed, where rear movement is often the downfall of good dogs. He had great drive, getting the hocks well underneath him with good width between the hocks and very good reach in front. It was no surprise to discover that GRCH PIZZAZZ KURLYKREEK RAISE A RUCKUS is top in the breed and a frequent group and Best in Show winner.
I was a little apprehensive to take on the Weimaraners as In the past I have been faced by very different types with exaggerated forechest and rear angulation, but here there was little of those failings to be seen My BOB was the male CH VON LUCHBACH SON OF A PREACHERMAN whose construction and movement and maturity of body along with his good colour put him at the top. Best Opposite was a 2-year-old bitch of beautiful type GR CH NANI CROSSWIND PRISM GRAUSCHATN ROMANCE THE STONE, not as firm in topline as the male in the run of, but she pressed hard. I heard later that she had won the National at 16 months, and she is just returning to the ring after a layoff for maturing.
I then had a very good entry of Bassett hounds, and I was a little apprehensive as the breed standard is different from ours in terms of eye shape and eyelids, and the amount of skin which is acceptable. However, I need not have worried, as there were some excellent dogs and bitches and some very good movers who covered the ground well. The two top dogs were very close, but the winner was wonderful on the move, free from exaggeration with quality and type through GRCH REVEILLES BUJOS RIDE IN STYLE. A heavily blanketed tri, he has won the breed National and had a placing in the group at Westminster, and I could see why. Bitches were less numerous, but I had a lovely tan and white with her Bolivian owner-breeder handling her. I must also mention the Best of Winners- the dog who took the points towards his champion title on the day, OL’SOUTHS CRAIGWOOD BECLOVE CHANCES ARE, an openly marked tri of great proportions and movement, and he pressed the two top dogs hard.
However, I DO have some photos of my hound winners from the following day… when I was judging for The Hound Association of Central Florida hosted its group show with five judges sharing the breeds.
I started with Greyhounds and a good entry, higher than we get in the UK, probably because the Greyhound National had been judged two days before with a very large entry and many had stayed over Whilst the classes were quite sparse, being topped by puppies, the specials were numerous with more quality in the bitches and my winner was a standout, a red fawn of beautiful flowing lines, a blend of elegance and athletic power. I discovered that she was from the famous Sobers kennel based in Italy, and she reminded me very much of the bitch who had won under me at the European show a year ago, this one named GCH SOBERS HAZELYN. She is owned in Florida, so she was really in her home territory. I found out later that she had been BIS at the National under Desi Murphy and had been Select Bitch (Runner up) the following day under Espen Engh, so a good weekend for her.
Following this, I had the Afghan, and my winner was the red bitch from the Chilean kennel von Hausmann of Ramon Podesta. She has been at the top of the breed and in the top all-breed rankings for some years, and UK exhibitors might recall her winning second place in the group at Crufts last year under Moa Persson. The year before, she had won Best in Show under me at the Santa Barbara show. She is a wonderful example of the breed from head to tail, and her movement and carriage are truly “style of high order” as required by the standard. Amongst her other wins have been Best in Show at the World Show in Croatia and the winner of the World Challenge at the Helsinki World Show. She also won the main group at the AKC show on Saturday, but I thought she looked a little tired in the best in show competition after her busy three days. In the breed I also liked the best, opposite a black and tan dog with wonderful movement, GCH VINDALOO HELLO LOVE.
Whippets are one of my favourite breeds to judge, being all about symmetry and movement and the combination of elegance with athleticism. In the classes, I liked very much my two Winners from the classes who had great quality and type. The dog KARASARS EMBARK a brindle and white, which I put over a lovely bitch SURREYHILLS BEST EVER DAY AT CITY VIEW for best of winners, and later I put him above the male specials and made him Best Opposite. I believe he became a champion on the day, and he won well here. However, in the Specials, bitches were more numerous than the males and with a lot of quality. I worked three top bitches all of whom would have been worthy of topping the breed. I finally opted for the brindle bitch who had taken my eye from the start, GCH ALBELARM GODDESS OF NIGHT, a beautiful curvy bitch, top of the size range for me, but feminine throughout and with great daisycutting strides and never losing her shape. She later won the owner-handled group at the show, which is a fiercely contested class in the USA where many of the dogs – and most of the top winning dogs- are professionally handled. The other two bitches were the select bitch CH WENRICKS’ PINNACLE CAN’T STOP WON ‘T STOP and chasing her another brindle and white GCH TEXANO ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, both top quality and their size appealed to me, but the curves and stride of the winner just gave her the edge for me on the day. What a treat to have bitches of this quality, and there were plenty more behind them. I think perhaps that the Whippet bitches had the greatest depth of quality for me throughout the weekend, but of course, we are also accustomed to this depth of quality in the breed in the UK.
Then, to finish the day, I had the Ibizan Hounds, 9 of them present, but only one male amongst them. I thought a standout winner was the bitch GCHCH DC ABBAIO BUSH BABY MC. Her photograph captures her elegance and quality, the correct depth of brisket and the angulation specific to the breed, which gives her a markedly light, hovering front action. She was later runner-up to the Afghan in the group.
The AKC National is shown live on National television in the USA and can be seen in the UK. It has spectacular staging; the main ring and the stands are smaller than Crufts, but the Americans are more vociferous in showing their appreciation of their favourites. The Best in Show judge and the group judges are “miked”, and the group placings are announced by the judge in reverse order, as are the reserve best in show and best in show placings.
On this occasion, the winner was the breeder who handled Lhasa GR CH TA SEN WESTGATE JINGLE JUICE, who picked up a massive cash prize, with reserve to the Gordon Setter GR CH TAMARACK VALLEY VIEW RIVER OF DREAMS.
The end of a wonderful show weekend hosted by the AKC and sponsored very generously by Royal Canin. Around the show hall and on the television, their adverts carried the caption PRESERVING AND PROTECTING OUR BREEDS. Nice one!