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Nederlands niet beschikbaar !
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Beschikbare talen:
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nieuws - 29/07/2006
Bulgaria - One Week, Four Titles - Bulgarije
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door Yossi Guy
The adventures, surprises and trials experienced by participants of a week's dog shows in Bulgaria only come to show what we all know dog people are definitely nuts! Two shows that ended at 2AM (not a typo!), accommodations fit for a summer camp from the 50's, judges that only speak the local language instead of a recipe for disaster the participants agreed they would definitely come again.
The moonless summer night was dimly lit by three street lamps and two sets of car headlights. At an hour when most people are already in bed, 2AM to be precise, the announcer said "and the Best In Show goes to
the Yorkshire Terrier!" The exhausted handful of spectators gave a weary round of applause and crawled to their rooms, dragging their paraphernalia behind them.
That was the beginning of a week of dog shows organized by the Bulgarian Kennel Club at the Black Sea resort of Kamchia. The premise was quite attractive: a seaside resort that accepts dogs, low cost food, beautiful scenery and dog shows galore. The organizers promised three Bulgarian all-breed shows, a Macedonian and a Serbian show, all in the same location and within one week. For champions from other countries that added up to three national titles to be won in that time-span, no laughing matter.
Many found the events on the Internet, including Miroslaw Misztal of Poland, who arrived with his Italian Greyhounds by car. Other people had heard about it from their Bulgarian friends.
Since Bulgaria is a relatively small country with a small community of dog breeders, the chances of obtaining a local title are quite good, as noted by a Hungarian participant: "We came because the shows here have smaller entries that in Hungary and that increases our chances of winning. The stay is also relatively cheap."
Carmen and David from Rumania, traveled the 300 kilometers from Bucharest with their two Afghan Hounds to enjoy the seaside and take as many titles as possible.
A total of about 450 dogs were entered for the shows by exhibitors from 19 different countries. The furthest came from St. Petersburg, Russia, others drove several days from France, Poland and Russia while a German couple drove 36 hours straight.
The actual dog shows took place on a large asphalt paved parking lot. Although surrounded by tall oak trees, the asphalt was relatively exposed and the hot summer sun made it almost impossible for the dogs to stand still when the sun was at its peak. Therefore, the organizers decided to begin judging in the afternoon, to spare the dogs and handlers.
However, that posed another problem. The unexpectedly high number of dogs proved too much for the four judges, who tried their best to keep up with the setting sun. By 9 PM it was completely dark and the three street lamps did not provide the light needed to judge the dozens of remaining dogs. Local ingenuity quickly devised a solution two cars were brought into position and lit the rings with enough light to allow judging to proceed.
Judging in the ring of honor began at about 1 AM, with junior handling in two age groups, then came a senior handling competition, and after that the braces, breeder's groups, groups, best junior, best veteran and finally Best In Show a Yorkshire Terrier from Russia - announced at 2:10 AM.
The absolutely exhausted crowd that had braved the late hours was told the next show would also take place in the afternoon. Sure enough, two days later another show began approximately at the same time and ended exactly at the same time 2 AM this time with a local German Shepherd taking top honors.
At the next two all-breed shows a Lhasa Apso from Sweden, Stings Warm'n Tender, bred by Ingela Lofgren and owned by Lauryna Rubikaite; and an American Akita went Best In Show, respectively.
To top it all off, the last day ended with a Champion of Champions competition, open to all Bulgarian champions. The winners, one from each FCI group, received a 14" TV set.
In the course of the latter competition, a moving humanitarian gesture was highlighted when Bulgarian breeders Kostadin and Anelia Shamcovi donated a Labrador puppy from their Shankov's Empire kennel to a blind Serbian girl, Sveta Nicolaeva Barocova, and two Bulgarian trainers, Lilijana and Slobodan Vucelic, donated their expertise to train the puppy as a seeing-eye dog.
One would have thought the participants would complain or gripe, but it was more an object of congenial mockery. The locals were doing their best to accommodate the large task they had undertaken. They added spotlights and the following days some gazebos appeared, too. The teamwork they displayed was exemplary, undertaking all jobs including preparing the rings, stewarding, carrying sacks of dog food for prizes, and doing it all with great enthusiasm and in high spirits who can be mad at such lovely people?
One of the perks at these shows was the plethora of titles. As mentioned, champions from other countries could obtain the Bulgarian championship and Macedonian championship, after the Serbians bailed out at the last moment. In addition, dogs that won at two Bulgarian shows received the title of Grand Bulgarian champion and those who won the Bulgarian and Macedonian titles were eligible to the title of Balkan champion four titles in all. All championship certificates were issued immediately after the judging, but they each cost between 20 to 40 Euros (approximately 25 to 50 dollars) to be paid in cash.
The idea was generated in the minds of the Bulgarian Kennel Club committee. Stefan Popov, the vice president, noted that this was the third year of this "circuit". "Two years ago we had about 120 dogs from 4 countries," he recalls. "Last year more than 200 dogs from 10 countries and this year we had an entry of over 450 dogs from 19 countries."
The organizers were very happy with this result and hope to see the entries grow even more in coming years.
Local accommodations were very Spartan indeed. Prefabricated huts with very basic amenities such as beds, cabinets, tables and chairs. The bathroom had hot and cold running water but the shower was in the middle of the small room. The kitchenette had a sink and cupboard but no kettle or refrigerator. We also found some unwelcome visitors in the form of rats, giant cockroaches and enormous slugs. However, the extremely laid back atmosphere, tall oaks and good, cheap food softened the blow and made it all very bearable.
Furthermore, for the more adventurous, Bulgaria is a beautiful country with lovely scenery and exciting ancient cities, castles, churches and monasteries definitely worth a touristic visit.
"We were not so happy with the late hours," said Katalin Boczek, who came with her Bearded Collies from Hungary, when asked to sum up the shows.
A Bulgarian participant noted other shows in Bulgaria were better organized.
"We enjoyed the weather, meeting other dog people and the professional judging," added Miroslaw Misztal.
"We will definitely come again next year and recommend it to our friends," said Patricia Pradel, who had traveled 4 days from France to attend the shows with her Irish Wolfhounds.
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