Above : Saturday ’ s judge , the Italian all-rounder Francesco Cochetti , chose the American Cocker Int . Ch . Very Vigie Huluberlulu for Best in Show . Above right : The Smooth Miniature Dachshund Catastofe ’ s Red Dragon was Best in Show on Sunday under judge Paula Heikkinen- Lehkonen .
Miniature Dachshund Catastofe ’ s Red Dragon , owned and bred by Stina Selen . I had never judged this dog before . He had been BOB and BOS on the previous days , but the biggest win of his life before this was certainly last year at the Oslo EDS , where he was BOB . He was born in Finland , but his sire is American , and his dam ’ s pedigree is exotic , too . However , he is not too American-looking for European judges , as he has done well under both specialists and all-rounders . Stina started breeding many years ago with Staffordshire Bull Terriers and then Norfolks , but lately she has concentrated on Miniature Dachshunds and reached the top very quickly .
Second place was the Smooth Fox Terrier Ch . Shoutinghill Little Punk , owned and and bred by Satu Mulari- Karvonen . This is my breed , but he is not at all related to my own dogs . I have seen him winning many times , and he has beaten my own
dogs , but this was the first time I put my hands on him . He placed in his Group on the first two days also , expertly handled by Molli Nyman , the breeder of his sire .
Third was one of our two top Bullmastiff dogs , the Danish Int . Ch . Librrani ’ s High Performance Alonso , with Viivi Alaluusua at the other end of the leash . He was beaten in the breed on the previous days , but now he had his day again . And fourth was the Irish Setter Original No Use in Cryin , owned by Miitta Murtoperä and Pauliina Artiola . His litter sister had the same placing on Friday .
Six other beautiful dogs had to go without placing . They were the Old English Sheepdog Ch . Dizzny ’ s Sotirios Balafas , owned by Helen Karlsson of Sweden ; the Alaskan Malamute Ch . Garcon Power Play , owned by Minna Härmä and bred by Susanna Virtanen ; the GBGV Ch . Minskuhoff ’ s You Only Live Twice , owned and bred by Maria Aaltovirta ; the young Petit Brabancon ( Smooth Brussels Griffon ) Blue Bay ’ s Vol de Nuit , bred by Jarmo Hilpinen and Marko Salmela ; and the Deerhound Int . Ch . Chic Choix Dhulert Arathorn , owned by Susanna Gerkman-Hiltunen .
Finally , the three BIS winners met in the “ Super BIS ” final .
Other Competitions
Every day Best Veteran and Best Breeders ’ team were chosen . On Friday , the best of the oldies was the Skye Terrier Int . Ch . Finnsky Krystal , almost 11 and mother of two litters , but still keeping her topline firm and level . She is owned and bred by Thea Dahlbom and Carina Kitti , mother and daughter . On Saturday , she changed places with Friday ’ s runner-up , the Lhasa Apso Int . Ch . Chic Choix Hope Love , owned by Karoliina Kallela . On Sunday , the famous Afghan Hound Int . Ch . Agha Djari ’ s Urban Cowboy returned to his usual place on the winner ’ s stand . He was BOB , too . On the first two days , he wasn ’ t as lucky and was beaten in the breed .
The top Breeder ’ s Group on Friday was the Adamant ’ s English Springer Spaniels . Their breeder , Tarja Hovila , is the leader of the top breeder list . On the second day , Petri Turunen ’ s Eerondaali Keeshond team got the highest placing . They were second on the first day , so they earned a lot of points to their credit . On Sunday , neither of these took a placing , while Nina Brusin ’ s Memorylane Bearded Collies celebrated their win .
On Saturday , Best Junior was also chosen . This competition is sponsored by Royal Canin and is not automatically in the program of every show . Most promising youngster was the white Japanese Akita Odoroki No Hatsukoi Mayuko , owned by Krista Karjaluoto and Ville Korpela . She is 11 months old and but took her fourth CC already at this show .
Finally , the three BIS winners met in the “ Super BIS ” fi- nal . One of our all-rounders , Saija Juutilainen , was going to judge this competition , but she and some other judges had to leave for the airport before the show was over . My husband , Harri Lehkonen , judged instead . We had driven to the show and were not in a hurry to leave . He chose as supreme winner of the whole cluster the American Cocker Very Vigie Huluberlulu . He wasn ’ t shown otherwise on Sunday , so he was fresh and did his best . The Dachshund who was a little tired in the end was second , and the Lagotto , who had also done many rounds in the ring that day , third . Three great dogs , each one worthy of their placements .
THE NETHERLANDS
Rotterdam Double Show by Paula Heikkinen-Lehkonen
There was a double show weekend at Rotterdam in the beginning of September , consisting of two oneday international shows . There were about 1,400 dogs entered each day , which seemed to satisfy the organizers . Dogs represented 27 different nations . The majority , about
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