Page 25 - News Letter

be awarded and go into the Group judging. Pam said it had helped the
situation where in the past dogs could look the part and get Best of
Breed but in fact they weren’t able to move well. Soundness has
improved but some vets are not well informed about what to look for in
the Mastiff breed.
From our discussions, it was clear that conditions for the breed vary
from country to country. In Norway, they no longer have a breed
specific club which has led to some indiscriminate breeding. In Germany,
their Kennel Club limits who can breed and which dogs can be used. In
most countries, Kennel Clubs and Mastiff Clubs encourage certain
conditions around breeding such as testing for health and temperament
but it isn’t enforced as yet. The group felt that too many rules could ruin
a breed as easily as having no rules.
We broke for lunch and what a lunch! Cheese pastries, salad and meat
loaf, chicken and vegetables, bread and cheeses, desserts, and wine – of
course! That took a couple of hours, followed by a group photo then a
decision as a group to set up a worldwide Mastiff Fellowship, with
members from as many countries as possible. The aim will be to work
together to protect and improve our breed understanding. We look
forward to further discussions and ways of protecting our breed.
After a dinner meal later in the day, also taking some time to eat and
enjoy, we eventually drove back to our little cabin in the dark around
11.00 pm, a bit tricky on narrow, unlit and unfamiliar roads.
The next morning it was the day we had been waiting for, the Mastiff
World Cup. The weather didn’t play the game, being grey and cold with
occasional showers. However, the Mastiff lovers from around Europe
were there, along with around 148 Mastiffs.
Some were staying in our camping ground and we’d already seen them.
Others were staying elsewhere. The show was held next to our camp
ground, with two rings set up and a gazebo in between for officials and
guests, such as us. We were glad of the shelter when the rain came
down. Around this time, we met up with Paul Renall and Kathleen
Reynolds who, like us, had come all the way from New Zealand for this
show and to join their friends Gabrielle Simmonds, and Wilhelm Graf and
Corinna Reich (Von Der Villa Graf Mastiffs). We compared notes on
driving in France – not easy!
The judges were Christopher Habig (Germany), judging dogs and John
Walsh Jr (Ireland) judging bitches. This was reversed the following day. It
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