toughest competition of the day was in the Champion bitch
class. I knew right away that my BOB would come from this
class, but there were three, and especially two that battled
it out until the end: in prime condition, with beautiful type,
handled to perfection. I also learned that each had whelped
a litter just six months before. I would be honored to have
either of them in my yard.
When I judge Tibetan Mastiff breed specialties, I bring a
judge’s gift for my BOB and BOS, this time the traditional
Tibetan red yak-hair collars, “kekhors,” pictured on my winner. My Best of Breed/CACIB was the lovely 3-year-old blackand-tan bitch, Mastifway Zagadochnaya Kaylas, bred by M.S.
Koryakin and owned by O. Andreejeva of Russia. Exquisite in
type, balance, movement and presentation, she did not place
a foot wrong and could not be denied, despite being seriously
challenged by the 2015 WDS Milan BOB, who went RCAC
Bitch to her. Best Opposite Sex/CACIB went to a 3-year-old
black-and-tan male that was a sound, well-presented moderate dog with beautiful type, expression and conditioning,
Dakotta Clab Rinchinsenge, bred by Olga and Viktoria Sotnikova, and owned by Viktoria Sotnikova of Russia.
My sincere thanks to Alexey Belkin for his supportive efforts in making my judging dream assignment a reality, and to
Boris Glukharev and Kaire Meristo for capturing the moments
in their fantastic photos. Thanks for the memories!
Above: Bill
Shelton with his
Tibetan Mastiff
BOB and BOS
Junior Winners.
Left: Richard
Eichhorn and
his BOB/CACIB,
Mastifway
Zagadochnaya
Kaylas, who is
wearing one of
the traditional
yak-hair collars
Mr. Eichhorn
brought as gifts
to present to the
winners.
Photos on this page by Boris Glukharev
William P. Shelton
The FCI World Dog Show, which was held in Moscow this
year, was spectacular. It was a dog show that could only have
been offered on this grand scale. The venue is rivaled by few
in the world. It was huge, modern and meticulously maintained. The Russian people are very hospitable, and treated
the visiting community to an experience we will not soon forget. The event was highlighted by grand opening and closing
ceremonies, the likes of which we never see here in the US
or in most parts of the world.
As you know, the weeks leading up to the event were met
with some difficulty. Once at the event, however, everything
appeared seamless and ran to perfection without any obvious problems. The exhibitors were no different than they are
anywhere else; they are passionate and showed either their
delight or dislike for judges’ choices. I did hear audible booing for some judges’ choices, which appears to be acceptable
at their events. Quality in some breeds can only be seen at
events like this one. The FCI recognizes many more breeds
than we do in the US, so what an opportunity this was to
observe breeds we never see here. On a scale from one to
10? I would have to say I was impressed by most everything
associated with the execution of this monumental undertaking, so I give it a 10.
To my delight, the breeding community enjoys high status
there. The progeny and couples classes were well supported
by breeders, and the Groups for these classes was a spectacular event to witness. I will add that the exhibits were
handled in most all cases by younger people. There were
more young participants than older, and they were out in
large numbers.
My judging invitation began with the honor of evaluating
the bitches in my own breed, Pembroke Welsh Corgis. I was
not disappointed in the top winners. It’s interesting that they
were descendants of either American, English, Australian or
New Zealand lines. The regional breeders do an excellent job
of preserving and presenting the breed.
I was also delighted to judge about 100 of the 400 or so Siberian Huskies, 100 of the beautiful 200-plus Tibetan Mastiffs
with US breed specialist Richard Eichhorn and a Newfoundland specialty as well. We did a little sightseeing and wish we
had had more time; we did enough to know we would like to
go back again one day. DIR
September 2016 Dogs In Review
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