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ND now for the big two days for which everyone has been pointing except for those who left for the Northern climes of which there were many! Saturday started out not so brightly (actually terribly foggy) but the weather cleared up by noontime--and terribly early as for some unforeseen reason judging in certain rings began at 7:30am!! 8am is bad enough but 7:30 A.M. is absolutely uncivilized and in my opinion unnecessary since most breed judging was finished by 3pm and the few breeds still going should easily have been over by 4pm or so I thought anyways. There were very few what I would call real upsets, if any, in the BOB awards and I must say that on both days I found the competitions within most classes to be really high. The National Championship catalogue is a treasure trove of information-both historical and informative for the present as well as for the past and the Message from AKC signed by Ron Menaker and Dennis Sprung a terrific overview of what was going to happen during the two days of the event. The attendance has been announced as 20,000 spectators but I doubt that meant ‘Paying spectators’ as Sunday seemed to have little if any gate whilst Saturdays crowd looked to me to be primarily the usual people one sees at a dog show. In that regard I am not too sure how overly effective Meet the Breeds is for a city such as Orlando--Dallas, LA, Denver, Chicago-even Boston sure thing I say but with Eastern now going to Springfield I am told the Boston scene is shot to hell, for me anyways. Meet the Breeds in Orlando is sort of like preaching to the choir--you think? Do those who come to see that spectacle come looking to buy a dog-maybe but I think not in Orlando, anyways. And then of course there is the matter of the Eukanuba World Show Competition. It is sheerly incredible to think that Eukanuba Europe or World picks up the tab for all 40 dogs and their owners representing most FCI winners of various competitions plus other categories of winners from the UK, the USA and perhaps other competitions as well. From the moment these dogs and their owners leave their homes until they arrive back home it does not cost them a single penny!!! That’s quite a come on--additionally I may add and at the risk of sounding jingoistic some of the competitors should perhaps be weeded out prior to being invited if you get the gist of what I am saying. Proudly and for the second year in a row the AKC representative was from America-this year the incredible London taking home the bacon for us all!! The judging panels for the breed judging I thought were adequate enough although I wondered why certain people were given breeds for which I thought more experienced and knowledgeable individuals and American judges at that could have been found. Most of the foreign judges I thought acquitted themselves decently even in breeds which were of a different type than they would see in their own country. For me the most exciting and I may add interesting judging I saw in the breed ring was on Sunday by a Russian adjudicator and the breed was the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Mr. Klishas performed as a judge, little fanfare, much excitement and was easy to follow. I had never seen him judge before and I single him out primarily because of that fact-ALL the other foreign judges on the panel I had seen before and was well acquainted with their talents. I was disappointed in the overall Group judging of Saturday evening as I thought two of the four winners were not up to snuff-but that’s me and not the judge’s opinion obviously. I will add further that this business of Judges dressing in formal wear both in the evening and daytime has reached the height of absurdity. The Garden is one thing but at the AKC show where we are attempting to put across an image of inclusivity rather than exclusivity I think dressing up (or down for the occasion depending on the attire) is absurd.
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142 Dog News