by Karl DonvilNational elections hardly affect Lommel’s 33th edition.
It is not the first time that National elections in Belgium are held on the very same day as the show of Lommel. The committee, has faced more difficulties in the past and became inventive when it comes to problems like this. Many times it is also the very same weekend as the World Show. But while this year everything was planned better, two weeks away from the World Dog Show in Denmark, the government in Belgium was dissolved and it was decided to have new elections on the very same weekend as the show.
In Belgium everyone is obliged to vote and this means that you can only leave for a dogshow once you have voted which can be from 8 o’clock in the morning at the earliest. Leaving dogs in the car waiting is risky especially when you need to queue up. In order to enable Belgian participants to vote before coming to the show, the starting hour of the show was delayed with an hour.
Lommel is a show that is held partially in open air and that means that nice weather is a must. That is not always the case but tents were installed to offer shelter in case. Inside that big sports hall there is enough space to have several rings and all together the area could easily hold its over 1000 dogs. Lommel is a one day show with CAC, one of the few left, but if it can take over 1000 dogs on one day, it can take 2000 dogs if it were two days and if that would be the case, it was certainly one of the biggest shows of the country.
Since last edition, the former president resigned and with him a lot of experience disappears. Since the show was held in Mol, years ago, he was in charge. The interim-president , Mr.Ruud Lievens, did a good job despite a few small failures like the catalogue that was printed in reverse order.
23 judges were scheduled, except for a few, they all were from Belgium or Holland (Lommel is a bordertown to Holland), but it was a well balanced choice for this kind of show as is shown by its success. Best scoring Belgian judge was Mr.Van Hoenacker who had 72 entries. Another good score came from Fiszdon Kataryna with 68 dogs. But the top hits were made by John and Colette Muldoon. John had 80 , shepherd dogs and companion dogs, while Colette had the top score with 95 dogs, all Terriers.
Mrs.Liliane De Ridder, who did not judge during the day, was only invited to have the big honour of judging Best In Show. She had to line up all the group winners . The 3rd place went to the shorthaired Standard Dachshund Hattrick of Lady Joan. This dog was entered in working class and is a two year old male, bred by Mr.Holtappels, the famous and very consistent breeder with the affix “of Lady Joan”. Mrs. De Ridder explicitly mentioned the consistent quality of Dachshunds bred by Mr.Holtappels and indeed you can line up a dog of his first generations together with this dog and it will almost be impossible to see any difference or tell them apart.Second place went to the Chihuahua shorthair “Hyacinth of My Pride and Joy”, a two year old bitch entered in open class and on a total of 22 shorthairs under Mr. Jos De Cuyper. It was Mr.Muldoons choice to sent to the BIS competition as a representative for the Companion Group (Group 9). Best In Show was the Shar Pei “Jade East Catch Me if You Can”, a two year old American import, produced by Beddingfield, and owned and handled by Emae Minne , well known Shar Pei breeders from the Netherlands. Jade was judged by Mr.Van Montfoord in Champions Class as well as in the group in the main ring. Jade is a very typical dog, not over typical as seen sometimes in the breed and making an overall sound and healthy impression especially with regard to eyes and skin. He has also an undisturbable character, overlooking everything like an emperor as if it is the most normal thing in the world that he stands on the highest podium.
I wonder which surprise will challenge the committee next year. In fact it is not so important as they seem to withstand it anyway.
