A Group
Show
With
DOGS
BY BO BENGTSON | PHOTOS BY ALAN WALKER
T
Top: The County
Showground in
Stafford. Above:
Best in Show at
Houndshow 2016,
Whippet Ch.
Nothing Compares To You at
Crosscop.
56
his summer, I traveled to
England to judge at Houndshow 2016 and, guided by
Mark Cocozza, a frequent visitor
to US shows, I visited the new
building that houses The Kennel
Club, founded in 1873, just 11
years before the AKC. I also talked to the KC Chairman Simon Luxmoore (an interview with him will
be published in a future issue of
Dogs in Review).
The Houndshow is by far the
largest Group show for Hounds
anywhere in the world, hosted by
The Hound Association. It was
held on August 6 at the County
Showground in Stafford in the
West Midlands of England. The
judges panel almost entirely consisted of foreign visitors
from 15 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark,
Finland, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and the United States were
represented. Frank Kane, a past Crufts BIS judge, was the
only Brit officiating; Saluki specialist Francis Broadway and
I were the only Americans. The entry of almost 2,000 dogs
(1,985 to be precise) was an increase of about 300 from
last year.
Even though I was judging Best in Show and Best Puppy,
there were no restrictions for me to move around during the
day, socialize with exhibitors and watch breed judging. This
would not have been the case everywhere, but I checked with
DOGSinREVIEW.com
a KC representative and was told, “We are not a police state!
Just use common sense.” I found this rather refreshing after
being exposed to a much more restrictive attitude in some
other countries.
Entry Numbers at the Houndshow
Breed judging took place outdoors in large, beautiful grass
rings. Some breeds that we see in the US (Coonhounds,
for example) were nowhere to be seen, while others that
we don’t have at AKC shows attracted quite large entries.
There were 41 Bassets Fauve de Bretagne, 29 Grands Bassets Griffons Vendéens and 17 Swedish Hamiltonstövare.
There were also 19 entries in the “Imported Register”
class: seven Azawakhs, five Bassets Bleu de Gascogne,
five Griffons Fauve de Bretagne and two Bavarian Mountain Hounds.
The biggest breed entry, as usual, was Whippets with
266 entries and two judges, one for dogs and one for bitches. They could not agree for BOB, and because I was judging BIS, I was called in to referee, as is the custom in such
cases. Other breeds with good figures included Afghan
Hounds (143 dogs entered), Basenjis (57), Basset Hounds
(69), Beagles (121), Borzoi (84), Scottish Deeerhounds
(78), Irish Wolfhounds (71), Norwegian Elkhounds (49),
PBGV (47), Rhodesian Ridgebacks (102) and Salukis (70).
Dachshunds almost deserve their own chapter — they accounted for 461 dogs, which means that more than one
dog in five at the show was a Dachshund! Miniatures and
Standards compete as separate varieties; there were 57
Standard Longhairs and 107 Mini Longhairs, 67 Standard
Smooths and 117 Mini Smooths, 59 Standard Wires and 58
Mini Wires.