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'Championnat de France 2017'
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news - 03/06/2017
Championnat de France 2017  -  France

dogs breeders dog pictures by Karl Donvil
Championnat de France 2017: relatively many foreign wins including the BIS! We know that France can organize big shows since they organized the biggest one ever on the continent, the World Dog Show of 2011 in Paris. This reputation came from organizing the yearly Championnats de France. The past years it was organized in different cities of France like Angers, Dijon, Metz and now Nantes, capital of Bretagne and situated as a harbor near the Loire. The area is well populated, the main area close to 1,000,000. A city like this must have an expo centre . Yes, a nice a big one, the Parc de la Beaujoire Nantes. It is so big that only half of it was used for the show that had 6914 entries over two days. The expo area borders a rather big lake formed by the river Erdre , a perfect spot to organize the first European Championship for rescue on the water in combination with the show. That was a nice treat for the visitors, especially as the weather was really nice over the weekend. There were not that many dogs to compete but it was very impressive. One exercise was to bring a live buoy to a person in need, once attached the dog had to swim further to a second person who was immobilized. He had to take the person by the arm and bring both together to the shore. Really impressive and it took them a lot of efforts to do this. In front, in the central area between the halls , there was a large lawn where one could follow some demonstrations of Mundio ring, a guard and defense discipline, and every day around two there was a demonstration of the famous Meutes de Chasse, with horses and "Trompes et Chants " by the Sonneurs du Bien Allé de Nantes. The "Trompes et Chants "are the hunting horns that go along with the "Meutes" or Pacs of hounds. The "Piqueux", the huntsman, knows all his dogs individually and calls them by the name. He is even able to recognize by the voice of the dog which one has caught the game at first. Before the dogs were brand marked, but since that is no longer permitted the huntsman is trimmed every month by hand on the flanks of the dogs. This was a pack of Anglo-Français, all black and white with some tan on the heads and belonging to the "Equipage de vénerie du Rallye Araize". It was a lovely sight to see the dogs running loose but staying in the pack. When the Piquer saw a dog go aside, he called him by the name and ordered him back with the command "meute!". Impressive!During the day there were also a few demonstrations in the main ring in the big hall. There was obedience and a very nice act of Doggy Dance where a old farmer's wife performed a funny and original act.

The "Société Centrale Canine" is probably the largest members of the FCI. The SCC belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture which makes it more or les particular. It is in fact the society that groups 111 Specialized Breed Associations , 55 Regional Canine Societies and 1222 Utility Clubs. As said, this National Championship was organized every year in a different city of France, but due to logistic difficulties, it will from next year on, probably always be held in Paris. So Nantes will probably be the last city in the row. It was its "Association Canine Territoriale Saint Hubert de l'Ouest" that had the honor to be the guest for this event. The halls were nice and comfortably cool despite the warmth outside. Everything was kept very clean and there was much light inside. The podium was nice and very well lit. The ring was covered with a blue carpet and stairs at one side for the public. Opposite the seats for the judges and VIP's was the stand of the SCC. In the stand was an office where every dog was welcome to have DNA samples taken and they had a lot of work to do. The stand of the SCC formed a kind of street along with the other commercial booths. There were some more booths outside and in the "Grand Palais" the second largest hall of the venue. This hall was opposite the main hall across the lawn. One had to go outside to reach it. Attached to the Grand Palais were 3 more small halls. There was enough parking around .

The catalog did not have any statistics, although that would have been interesting to know how much foreign participants were here. A look on a few pages of the addresses chapter learns me that probably more than 95% must be French exhibitors. That is something the SCC would like to change in order to give it a more international appearance. I also miss a listing of the breeds and numbers per judge. In the catalog you find the breeds per group, with the number of participating dogs and a second list gives again all the breeds per group but this time with the judge. So, if you want to know how much dogs a certain judge had, you need to consult both lists. And even a third list if you wanted to know in which ring and palace the judge could be found. So, the catalog is very complete, but for a few items not very practical. Another point for improvement are the ring stewards. Some judges were lucky to have a good team to help them and were very enthusiastic, but I saw also rings where the judge had to put the numbers and the cards himself and call the next group in, while one ring steward was working on the table filling out forms and the other sitting at the entrance of the ring, just holding up a small blackboard with the next numbers to come. There should be more uniformity and courses for ring stewards are a big help for that.

France is one of the countries that has a very large range of dog breeds and some are very rare and hardly seen outside France. Group VI, the Hounds, is the group that has the most rare breeds and here you could see 18 Poitevins, 32 Français tricolores, 18 Français black and White, 14 Grand Gascon Saintongeois and 9 Petits, 12 Anglo Français de Petite Venerie, 22 Ariegois, 16 Porcelaines and 26 Briquets Griffons Vendéens. In Group VII there are also a few rare breeds outside of France like the Braque de l'Ariège and the Braque d'Auvergne, the Braques Français type Gascogne et type Pyrenées, the Epagneuls Bleu de Picardie, Epagneuls Picard et Pont d'AUdemer and the Epagneul Français. Interesting at least are the judging of the breeds that are not (yet) recognized by the FCI. There were 24 Miniature American Shepherds (Aussies), 4 Barbado Da Terceira, 6 Briquet de Provence, 23 Continental Bulldogs, 9 Cursinus, 8 Prague Ratdogs, a Particolor a Poil Frisé nain and a Toy (in fact non recognized colors by the FCI) and one Epagneul de Saint-Usuge.

61 Judges were invited for the show. And although 14 different countries were represented, 42 of the judges were Frenchmen. Maybe this ratio will change from the moment the show will attract more foreign dogs. France is a big country and is centrally located in Europe. It must be possible to attract much more dogs from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and Holland and why not the UK as it is very easy to cross the channel now. When the World Show took place in Paris there were many different countries present. It is strange that once the show was done the stream of foreign entries stopped too. There is no reason for that. The very few foreigners went home with lots of trophies. French people very open minded and not too chauvinistic to let only French dogs win. They are known for their hospitality and as France is a very touristic country, it is always a good opportunity to combine the shows with a few days extra.

The finals started well in time. There speakers were very good and all the judges were judging more or less in the same way with regard to preselecting and the runway for the dogs. Probably due to the nice weather there seemed not to be too much public on the stairs to follow the finals. There was no local television either and that usually helps a lot to attract visitors and this affects the turnover of the stand holders in a positive way, although they didn't complain. There were flowers all over and the podium was very nice. The main ring was large enough to hold all the dogs, even the couples and groups, while not too large. It was a nice view to see all the Meutes coming in on Sunday, some consisting of rare French breeds, some brought in attached on a long stick by two handlers so the dogs could not fight each other. Next year don't forget to enter your dog in time. It will be in Paris. And remember, winning a title on a very big show is very exciting. The Championnat de France is such a big show, one of the biggest in Europe, combine it with a few days in Paris with your loved ones, your partner, kids and your dog(s).



Text and Photos: Karl DONVIL

Results: SCC





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