Another year another dog show weekend for CACIB Ljubljana & CACIB Tromostovje 2009. From the start there needs to be a clarification. I largely agree with Jure on the subject of dog shows. Most dogs there are very cool, many people aren’t. It may sound harsh but I never understood how anyone could possibly care how much time and effort has been put into grooming, trimming, spraying, waxing, polishing, powdering, whitening etc. of dogs hair, nails, teeth and whatever else they can come up with.

Things like this shouldn’t happen:

Identity of the poor dog intentionally left unknown. This is one of three FCI approved show trims for a poodle.

Unfortunately though, dog shows are an inevitable part of breeding. Entirely understandable from the perspective of keeping a breed within desired parameters. I just don’t get how hair acrobatics is a part of those parameters.

Moving on…

Hanibal observing the procedure of the show & judge Satu Ylä-Mononen

This year we tricked Hanibal into his very first dog show appearance (came with his first proper shower as well) and although he did well he didn’t do really well. He just doesn’t feel comfortable being shown off for the judges. Oh well, I guess he’s not obsessing over it. Neither are we :)

weimaraner & pointer

Altogether Hanibal got himself the titles of SKVPM club champion, 3x CAC* SLO & 2x CACIB**

Dina only got to show her stuff on Saturday and she got SKVPM club champion, CAC SLO & BOB*** which means she walked out as the winner of the mother vs. son showdown for the best of breed title in the club special.

CAC = Certificate d´Aptitude au Championat
CACIB = Certificate d´Aptitude au Championat International de Beaute
BOB = best of breed

Judge’s comments for Hanibal

Otto Schimpf(AUT) breeder of Dogo Argentino

• Nice dog
• good head
• good colors
• doesn’t have ring training
• good front
• good line of the body
• correct type
• eye color acceptable depending on the hair color

Excellent grade

Béla Siklósi (HUN) breeder of Newfoundlands

• 1.5 years old
• elegant type
• correct size, bones
• nice head
• correct white
• correct front
• strong topline
• need more angulation behind
• nice movement

Excellent grade

Judge’s comments for Dina

Béla Siklósi (HUN)

• 5 years old
• correct size, bones
• little too long
• nice head
• correct
• little soft topline
• correct angulation
• correct movement

Excellent grade

Satu Ylä-Mononen (FIN), breeder of Berner Sennenhunde, only gave verbal comments at the club special. Since I didn’t hear them in person I can only report she had praise for both of them. Dina won over Hanibal because of her more relaxed character.

This year I took a slightly different approach to photographing dogs at the show. In previous visits I mostly used wide angle lenses to show the dogs interacting with their owners/handlers. Sometimes it came out well, sometimes it didn’t. Somehow people feel like they need to present the dog as if I was a judge. The problem is that I couldn’t care less about all the show poses it can do. I see them as beautiful and entertaining dogs, not as fashion accessories and beauty objects. So this year I switched tactics a little bit.

Using a borrowed 50/1.8 lens I could simply isolate the dog from its immediate surrounding and focus on expression. I didn’t forget to include the owners whenever there was an opportunity though.

dachshund (?)

afghan hound

many more photos in the gallery

The H-Gang is well into their second year so I guess it’s about time for some teenage photos as well. Over the past few months we visited all of them to see how they’re doing and naturally took some photos. Some owners keep sending us their own photos (which I love looking at) with occasional “status reports” and I’m happy to say the dogs are doing just fine wherever they are.

I took the liberty of editing the photos a bit to keep everyone anonymous. Hopefully nobody objects to this treatment. Copyright of course stays with whoever took the individual photo and I uploaded a few extra in the gallery as well.

Dina @ F1.8

and here exact clone

Heidi Hiwakea

Hana Haiku

Hawkeye Hooch & Dina

Helvetica Hirti

Heli Hachiko

Havana Hina

Homer Heineken

and finally…

Hanibal Hayabusa looking at Eiger & Mönch

Pezi guard

I’ve been working on this ongoing project for a while now and although it hasn’t finished exactly the way I expected I feel I have something decent enough to show and describe.

The curious thing about dogs on Ikaria is that a lot, if not most of them, end up tied to about 2m of rope, in the middle of nowhere. Quite often without water and food. They last, for as long as they do, roasting in the sun with minimal shade and get replaced by another poor canine soul.

Pezi guard

The purpose of all this nonsense (to the common outsider) is supposedly to keep the goats away from roads and villages. Whether a dog can effectively do this, tied down as it is, is something I’ll let everyone decide for themselves.

Ag. Isidoros guard

I have talked to one of the shepherds about this practice, specifically I wondered why they refuse to use dogs proactively for guarding, herding, driving and other similar duties that resulted in such wonderful breeds as appenzellers, collies, kelpies and other sheep/cattle dogs. (see dogbreedinfo > flock guardians & herding dogs). I didn’t get a definitive answer but I did manage to raise some interest and ended up describing how dogs work with animals elsewhere. So maybe there’s hope. Maybe it’s not just a case of lack of interest, time and energy but more a case of lack of information.

Kalamos guard

Whatever it is, it constantly amazes me how incredibly friendly all these dogs are, despite their miserable existence and ultimate fate. They will greet you enthusiastically and most will assume a submissive position if you approach, then start playing if you feel so inclined. Quite unlike what I’d expect…

Ag. Dimitrios guard