door Karl DonvilHoogstraten 2012 . Norway wins the cup.
This 39th Edition of the “Schaal der Kempen” was another success although it did not equal the record of last year and didn’t pass the 2000 dogs. On the contrary there was a 9% loss compared to last year. It is hard to say what the reason is that this year there were “only” 1764 entries (still a very good number). The show was very early this year, hardly more than a week after New Year. Maybe for some people it came too close after one of the most expensive periods of the year. Or maybe some people remembered the very harsh conditions of last show when driving was extremely difficult. Some said it had only to do with the crisis and of course it is also possible that last year’s show was just that little more interesting. Who will tell.
Anyway, many shows would be very glad to welcome 1764 dogs and I think the committee was more than happy. Situated very near to the Dutch border this show has always lots of exhibitors from there and it is almost an Interland –contest. Beside de the 835 Belgian dogs and the 646 Dutch entries there were 147 dogs from Germany, 100 from France, 9 from Poland, 7 from the UK , 9 from Denmark and 4 from Norway and especially those from Norway will not easily forget about this show as the returned with several podium places including the BIS. Alike last year One-Stop-Dog-Shop , grooming and accessory shop, was the main sponsor of the event. It is rather unusual that a national company is found willing to become a sponsor. It is very courageous of them as it is not easy to have enough return to compensate for the sponsorship. I would suggest that at least they would have a kind of promotion stand in the front hall that has most of the rings and where there is activity during the day, a kind of teaser to raise the interest of the public. Their big stand was now nearby the main ring and it was not the most strategic place. It is important for a sponsor that he does not need to return home with mixed feelings. A more central position would be better as now people found the stand only at the very end of the halls.
Again applause for the main ring in carpet tiles, it proved practical and clean again after a few “accidents” during the main ring program. The affected tiles were removed in seconds and the ring looked spotless again. The background behind the podium was once more reflecting and that is a problem for the photos. Better is non-reflecting tissue as this not only looks more even, the messages on it remain fully readable, and that is what they are meant for, isn’t it? The catalog was almost perfect, I only missed a statistical page and an alphabetical lexicon of the dog breeds present. That are two things that are easily distilled from the database nowadays and are most appreciated by the visitors as that is something that they can understand . It is a matter of 4-5 pages more. And on the other hand, as the addresses of the exhibitors/owners are mentioned under the dogs’ names, it can be considered to drop the alphabetical pages of the owners which saves 30 pages. No Cups here, but the usual modern glasswork, that is well appreciated .
8 Belgian judges, some only to fill certain gaps or judging a new breed for the firs time, and 16 others from 10 different is offering the perfect mix for a CACIB show. However, probably due to the unexpected decrease in entries, some judges didn’t have a big number of dogs to judge and judges with big entries were few. From Ireland we had a few judges. Mrs.Laura Cox had the 32 Staffordshires Bull Terriers on Saturday and she ended with 114 dogs over both days. Mr.Gerard Cox judged the 39 American Staffordshires on Saturday and finished with 100 dogs over both days. Mrs.Dorothea Carroll had 40 Newfoundlanders on Sunday when she had a total number of 77 dogs, the 3rd best score of the weekend. On Saturday she had only 33 dogs to judge. Mr.Nodalli Bruno from Italy finished with 132 dogs, on Sunday he judged all the poodles varieties . Mr. Piet Roosenboom is one of the Belgian judges who often fills gaps but who is very popular. He judged Border Collies only on Saturday, good for 42 specimen, more than the Aussies who are more popular on shows. On Sunday he had 54 Bulldogs, the 2nd most popular breed of the show. Mrs. Myriam Vermeire, who is comparable to Mr Roosenboom, was rather busy on Sunday whe she had 34 Rhodesians and a total number of 78 dogs. Her husband Mr Dirk Spruyt had 33 Rottweilers that day, a number that is worth mentioning. Mrs.Julia Lewis from the UK was invited to judge the 59 Labradors only. That was on Saturday. It was a long time ago since there were more Labradors on a Belgian show than Golden Retrievers. Mr.Sand Sverre from Denmark was invited to judge them. For him too, it was the only breed had judged on this show. Best scoring judge of the show was the French judge Mr.Boris Chapiro. He had 69 dogs on Saturday and 73 on Sunday. His compatriot was the day record holder with 81 dogs on Sunday, when he took all the Pinsher and Schnauzer varieties for his account. From Greece came Mr. Dimitris Antonopoulos . He had a total score of 117 o both days , but worth mentioning were the 58 Dachshunds he judged on Sunday, and that is a very nice score for a show of this kind.
Mr.Norman Deschuymere was again on term to choose the Best In Show dog. For the 3rd place he chose the Siberian Husky “Snowmist’s Quidditch Seeker” onwed by Leblanc-Van Gorp. This dog was Best In Show in Kortrijk, remember? This dog was judged by Mrs Myriam Vermeire. He won in Champion Class and won the group also under Mr. Deschuymere. Although there were only a few dogs entered from Norway, they went home again with the two biggest trophies and lots of fantastic memories. On the second place he placed the Pug “Windsome Gold Standard” . This dog was bred in the States by Virginia Flatley but is not owned by Björn Lôkes-Torres who had a finalist in Paris at the World Dog Show. Gold Standard was entered in Champion Class under judge Sjong Kitty. She defeated 19 opponents and persuaded later Mr.Jo Shepers , who judged the group, to try his chances in the finals. And the Best In Show dog was another dog from Norway and another dog that scored well lately, she was one of the selected dogs on the Champion of Champions Show in Brussels. But this time she finally reached the top. Her name is Zanta Av Quantos and she is almost 6 years. She is a dog that is not a caricature of the breed and that is very good. Tor and Zanta floated around the main ring and is you see Tor, he is like a Viking God with his long blond hair. Zanta was the choice of Mr.Deschuymere during the breed judging in the morning, while Mrs.Vermeire gave him the ticket for the Finals. I am almost sure that Tor and Zanta will be back soon in Belgium .
