Page 85 - K9News_Issue13_October2020_download_Neat

CORONAVIRUS SNIPPET NO. 2 owned by Bernard le Courtois and Christopher
Do you think it could be a good idea to handle
your dog with antiviral gel on your hands, so that
when you do get back to the show ring, they
don’t back off from the judges, as happened
a lot at Crufts? Just to get them used to it and
maybe try a couple of different types as they
obviously don’t all smell the same.
I caught up with John Steele (Saltcountry)
and his wife Sue around the Mastiff ring for
an informal chat about what lay ahead for his
day and somehow managed to track him down
afterwards to ask how his day had been. In his
own words:
“I have judged dogs over the last forty years,
during which time I have judged most breeds
at open show level and almost at every
championship show in the UK as well as
Germany, Holland and the USA. The greatest
honour though is to be invited to judge at Crufts.
I must admit I was wondering if the day would
ever happen with the shadow of Covid 19 fast
approaching.
However the show was to go ahead, so I was to
judge the Mastiffs with an entry of 64. There is
always pressure at Crufts to keep a good pace
on so I did my job as quickly and thoroughly
as possible. As there were a lot of entries from
abroad these sometimes needed guidance in
our procedures.
There was a good entry of dogs but I could
not stray from the winner of Open, Champion
Faynad Frankincense, owned by George Zadeh,
a magnificent brindle and this was his 44th CC,
all gained under different judges. I later awarded
him Best of Breed and to top that, he was pulled
out in the Working Group. My Reserve DCC
went to the winner of Limit Kumormai Grand
Theft Auto belonging to Elaine Knight.
In the bitch classes I was impressed by some of
the younger classes and awarded the CC to the
winner of the large Junior class Peaches and
Cream Brullemail, a beautiful fawn French bitch
K9 NEWS DIGITAL / OCTOBER 2020
King. The Reserve CC went to the winner of
Open, Champion Mulaloo Midwinter Spirit
owned by Mr and Mrs Harding.
My Best Puppy went to the dog Genghis Kahn
of Seven Oaks at Cwmtysswg an import from
Germany bred by leading German breeder
Isolde Schmidt and owned by Mr and Mrs
Gittins, the dog was mature and of magnificent
stature for his age. Best Veteran was a ten year
old bitch Fenrir Du Ranc de Bannes owned by
Mr J. Allen.
It was an enjoyable day and evening, which we
spent watching the group and that was the end
of Dog Shows as we know them with the onset
of Covid 19.”
John added that being put up in one of the
better hotels wasn’t all sweetness and light.
There were people running up and down the
corridors at 1 o’clock in the morning. A couple
with a Border Collie really going for it and one
swung a bag at the other, narrowly missing their
dog. I do hope that this couple had made up or
at least settled their differences by the time the
dog was shown, for, as we all know, doing any
form of showing or training when irate or upset,
affects the dog badly. Perhaps someone could
let me know?
Please exhibitors, don’t get irate with your
dog/s when trying to load them onto the buses
from the car parks to the NEC buildings. The
excitement of doing something new and feeling
the stress from their owners must be immense.
If I could feel it, imagine what they were going
through. Had you taken them on buses before?
No? Then why should you expect them to
behave perfectly when they probably haven’t
even see one before? Or should they know it’s
Crufts, feel the atmosphere and behave, just
because………?
Chivalry has not yet died completely! A young
man on the E1-4 bus first helped a lady on
to the bus with her trolley, then offered his
seat to two ladies who were standing. They
85