5-11-2022 John Higgins

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Show Report
Show: Nederlands Kampioenschap 's-Gravenpolder
Date: 5-11-2022
Class: Beginners, Class A, Class C
Judge: John Higgins

Wow wow wow a super top draw show. This was the annual Dutch Obedience Society’s (DOS) Championship Show. It was super organised, held in a large sports hall that had been specially carpeted for the occasion. In the morning the C and B classes were undertaken followed by Pre-beginner, Beginner, Novice and A in the afternoon. This show is the equivalent of the DOS Crufts for UK obedience. The rules and exercises are the same as the UK Kennel Club regulations. I do feel it warrants being able to award a UK ticket such was the standard and organisational excellence. The small committee under Monique van Urk’s leadership worked very hard to make this a show to remember for all competitors. The standard in all classes was high. It was great to see so many motivated dogs displaying their obedience chops with such joy and panache. I hope you all enjoyed our judging efforts.

A very big thank you to the DOS for the invitation to judge the Championships. I felt very privileged given the previous years’ judges. It is certainly the highlight of my judging career to date. We were provided with a hotel to stay for the weekend. We decided to come via Eurostar which was very comfortable and got to know the Dutch rail system over the course of the weekend. The day was finished off with a celebratory meal at our hotel. Thanks to Daniel Thompson who agreed to be my fellow judge and travelling companion over the weekend. A big thankyou to Linda Portch who used her great skills to make the sendaway, retrieve articles and good luck cards for me. You more than fulfilled my requirements. Also, thanks to Daniel for stewarding the C and Guus stewarding the A and Beginners. Both carried out their duties excellently with a modicum of humour to relax the handlers and make the judging even more enjoyable. Finally, thanks to Angela Kroon and Monique for managing the score board so well.

The DOS are building back up post covid and really want to have more UK judges next year for their regular shows. If you get an invite my advice is to take it. You will be very well looked after. I think we should do everything we can to support the DOS commitment to running UK obedience shows.

Results.

Championship C

Judge: John Higgins

Steward: Daniel Thompson

The order of exercises was: Heelwork, Retrieve, DC, Sendaway followed by Scent at the end of the class. I wanted to put on a testing round, requiring handler concentration, but flowing heelwork pattern. The first position was the sit which was undertaken on the right-handed circle. Handlers were tested on all paces on the two large circles. Daniel did a brilliant job stewarding the handlers around the course. I must thank Isabella for walking the round the evening before and on the day, which greatly helped to get it right for all competitors on the day.

1st Guus Scholten “Halligali Moviestar” WS. A super round of sheer class by Guus and Coco. Well worthy of a ticket in the UK. This girl’s illustrious breeding and Guus’s training and handling skills produced the stand out round of the day. Coco holds a great position and is motivated to produce a round with enthusiasm and a high degree of technical proficiency. Guus handles very neatly to enable Coco to show off her ability, when he listens to the steward that is. Minor faults on the other exercises demonstrated that this girl should have OB Ch before her name. She was everything and more that I was looking for. Well done.

2nd Trudy Groenenboom “Dutch Navy Seal” Cross. A lovely motivated round from this young dog, who is fresh from been campaigned in the UK thereby qualifying to work UK ticket. This dog and Trudy make a great team. Seal has more to give as he further develops his experience. The best is yet to come. Having said that he worked very well today and more than warranted the reserve place. He ate up with ease the heelwork round, but for a missed position in heelwork and DC he could have made top honours. You should be very proud of what you have achieved to date Trudy and as I say the best is yet to come. Enjoy the journey, you deserve much success along the way. Well done.

3rd Naterlie Knaack-Enkelmann “Independent Spirit’s Kentucky” Malinois. All the way from Germany. I awarded Tucky the Sealight Wimp Memorial Shield, which is awarded to the dog the judge considers the most stylish. Tucky displayed full power and enthusiasm throughout the round. A real favourite of mine who has only got better as he has matured. Naterlie attacked the round, which Tucky responded to with verve and precision. He has been soundly trained and had no difficulty taking the round apart. I think he thought my retrieve article was too girly for a big strong malinois so spat it out on his return. This impacted greatly on his mark. You can be well pleased with his round Naterlie, your dedication has paid off. Well done.

4th Monique van Urk “Molly’nRio’s Special JonT WS. This was a very nice flowing round that Monique handled well. A missed position did not help his mark. Another one who did not like the retrieve article. Very good DC helped cement this place. Monique and JonT were awarded the Charlie Wyant Trophy for winning the most C’s in the course of the year. A great achievement to produce such consistency. The trophy was donated by the great master of obedience Charlie Wyant who really helped promote the sport in the Netherlands.

5th Rineke Smit “Smantha van Bergentheim” WS. A very keen girl who had recurring faults on the heelwork in part due to her keenness. She did the best retrieve of the day, nice and fast. Well done.

6th Bernou ter Voorde “Whitemoorborders Moon Twinkle” BC. Bernou has a very nice neat handling style. I felt Twinkle was not on form today, which can happen to the best. There were some recurring inconsistencies on heelwork. She ran first and this probably did not help. I am sure she will shine on another day. Well done.

Test A

Judge: John Higgins

Steward: Guus Scholten

Thank you to Guus for stewarding both this class and the beginners. Both were very enjoyable classes to judge with a very strong A class, that bodes well for the future.

1st Natalie Knaack-Enkelmann “I am the One von Malihattan” Malinois. This was a super round of power and a high level of technical ability accompanied with Naterlie’s uncompromising handling. One attacked the round showing us his sound training and commitment to the job in hand. He has been very well trained and should have no trouble progressing through the classes. Naterlie to train both dogs to such a high-level warrants admiration you are certainly producing the goods. Well done.

2nd Lisette van de Wetering “Groogy Garnet of Eager Spirit Parker” This was another super round, which on another day could have won. He displayed sound heelwork with a good level of confidence and commitment. Lisette handles very well to complete a very good overall picture. I see you have cracked the scent exercise since May so well done. Not easy when he started off in other dog sports. I hope you are progressing your B and C work since you will need it soon. The retrieve had the greatest level of weakness so work on this should produce dividends. Well done.

3rd Kristel Boonstra “Ozzy” Alt Deutsche-hutehund. I really liked this round. He was handled very well and cleanly allowing the dog to show what he can do. Kristel’s pace suited this big dog. I liked your approach which was very sympathetic to Ozzy but workman like in terms of just getting on with the job. Ozzy is very accurate and well motivated. The area to develop further is the retrieve but he certainly is well able of winning this class. Well done.

4th Lianne van der Linde “Ruby” GR. Ruby was very nicely motivated. She has a pleasing style. There were some recurring faults on retrieve which requires some consolidation which you are more than able to improve to produce a winning round. Well done.

5th Brigitte van Gestel “Dreaming of you unconditional love” BC. This girl had a very nice upright style which I feel will strengthen as she matures. She is still young and did well in this strong class. She lost half her marks on scent, due to inexperience, which shows how good the ring work was. Brigitte handled very smartly to complete a very pleasing picture. I hope you continue develop this girl’s obedience alongside your HtM. You have made a very good start and she can go all the way. Well done

6th Jacqueline van Vlimmeren “ Ronya-Kiki van Rooverehof” Tervuerence herder. This is a lovely keen dog. I awarded him the most promising young dog in this class alongside his place. He needs more time to transfer his training into the competitive ring but he has great potential. To get placed in this class is a great achievement so seek out the help to extend your training such that you will be at the other end of the line-up soon. He is certainly capable. Well done.

Test Beginners

Judge: John Higgins

Steward: Guus Scholten

Another very nice class with many of the dogs showing potential to progress which demonstrates the strength of Dutch Obedience. At the top end of the class there was little to separate the dogs. These are the dogs and handlers who will take the sport forward. All showed promise.

1st Marion Huter “Ebby vom Hirtental” Duitse Herder. This looked like a GSD and was lovely and keen. Some refinement on her heelwork position required but keep her lovely attitude, which I really liked. Her set exercises were very good showing they have been well trained. Well done.

2nd Cor van den Hooven “Qulified for gold of silent storm” BC. This was a very nice round that could easily have won. There was little difference in 1st and 2nd place marks. He is well trained and really the retrieve made the difference. I would like to see you build his keenness but he has good basics which should do him well for his future competitive career. Well done

3rd Marian van den Dalen “Flozy Flitzke” Nederladse Schapendoes. Marian gained this place after winning the run off. This is a small dog who showed patches of lovely work but found it difficult to maintain it. In particular he/she found it difficult to get started on the heelwork but once he/she got going it was very nice. The runoff was better than the original round so maybe had settled by then. Some help with transferring your training into the competitive ring would greatly improve your placing. Very nice recall showing how much drive is there to build on. Well done.

4th Yvon Provoost “Casa hoya’s dream big or go home. Portuguese waterhond. A favourite breed of mine and this one has great potential. Again, he had some very good patches and other parts of the round he found difficult to combine his lovely keenness with the technical side of the work. Nicely and sympathetically handled. His retrieve and recall were very good. Well done.

5th Angela Korver “Jessie” Staffordshire bull terrier. I awarded this dog best young dog alongside his place. He is a lovely dog who has a good relationship with his owner. He needs to build up his understanding of heelwork but had very nice retrieve and recall. Well done.

John Higgins