SHOW NEWS

Day one. Over 800 dogs entered, 10 Danes, we took Best Dog, Best Bitch and Best Of Breed, Judged by Mr Hans van Den Berg, Holland, with our big boy Zac. Because we entered him as an overseas visitor in the Champion class and he took B.O.B with the C.A.C & C.A.C.I.B, he automatically became a Cyprus Champion. We went on to take BEST IN GROUP under Judge Anna Brankovich, Serbia (23 dogs) and then we took 4th Best In Show under Judge Rodrigues, Fernando Madeira, Portugal. My goodness, we were delighted and he was a dream.

Day two. More entries than Saturday and 12 Danes. We took Best Dog, Best Bitch, Best Of Breed under Judge Alenka Cerne, Slovenia with Zac again. He was then made and Aphrodite Winner Dog along with our Bitch Odette taking Aphrodite Winner Bitch, gaining an extra 5 points each, as both were awarded Excellent on the critique and the Aphrodite Show was a new show which started on Sunday. This also meant that as this was another show, another day, another Judge, Zac qualified once again as Champion and although Cyprus only recognises one Champion certificate as the qualifier, Zac’s achievements were non other than spectacular, to have qualified on two separate days under two separate Judges as a Cyprus Champion on both days, to add to his already Australian Champion and almost completed Greek Champion. Zac went on to take BEST IN GROUP, under Judge Alenka Cerne (23 again) and then with the toughest judge ever in the whole world, Judge Zoran Brankovich, Serbia according to the reports of everybody who had shown under him and met him personally this particular weekend, we were left facing some very STIFF competition. I must say, I found all Judges to be extremely nice, polite, caring, understanding and taking their responsibilities that little bit further by spending a little time with you and pointing out your dogs strenghts and weaknesses, giving you a reason as to why you had been placed in the position you had been placed. For me, that speaks volumes for their approach to the task and Apollodane Great Danes would personally like to salute them and congratulate them on their efforts. We were entered by our group number, then had to stack and run our dogs once round the ring, then we had to run them again this time LEAVING the ring, to which the judge called back the winners.

The Afghan was amazing and left last from the ring to rapturous applause and cheers, the Bulldog was beautiful and popular with everybody and the Bichon Frise that won the day before was a great favourite.

Fourth place went to the German Shepard, Third place to the Golden Retriever, Second place to the Akita (yes our friend Pheytos, well done to him once again for his success) and finally … left stood the Afghan, the Bulldog and the Bichon Frise, poor Zsacharias, I thought, my little STAR, you have done so well, but these dogs really are beautiful, so never mind.

And the Judge, Zoran Brankovich shouts…

AND THE WINNER OF THE FIRST APHRODITE SHOW IN CYPRUS, THE BEST IN SHOW WINNER OF THE 2006 CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL IS….

THE GREAT DANE!

We were over the moon, delighted and so overcome with excitement. Zac was almost human, as if he knew the show was over and he could now play. He jumped in the air, landed on all fours, took my arm in his mouth and proceeded to lead me round the show ring in a lap of honour. The crowd were cheering and laughing, taking photographs, it was wonderful for everybody. Craig for all his hard work, feeding and exercising, loving and caring for them day to day, Grace & Tony for all the help they give during the day with feeding and walking and for looking after them when we are away at shows, although Saturday & Sunday was treat day for them both, as they came to the show to share the glory, then of course, not forgetting the handler, who with his flashy suites, his great Top Line, his Well Placed Tail and his Good Set Eyes, managed to rank one step up from last years great result of RESERVE BEST IN SHOW with Heidie, to this years incredible BEST IN SHOW with Zsacharias.

It’s team effort as we all know and it was this team that pulled it off. So we are now still high on the success of our win, we are looking forward to more shows to come and we hope that others continue to see what we saw when we brought Zsacharias in to our home. It’s his 5th Best In Show Win and on points has achieved Champion five times already, three times in Australia and twice here in Cyprus and he is only just three years of age.

Thanks to all our doggie friends for their support in and around the shows, to our non doggie friends for being so understanding when we have to escape early from functions to care for our dogs and to the show organisers and judges for having the faith in our breed to represent the island of Cyprus as their number one choice this year.

• View the rest of our show photos by clicking on the thumbnails below.

SHOW NEWS

Our first trip overseas away from Cyprus with Zac, since Zac arrived here early in the year. We feel he has settled sufficiently enough now to be able to take this trip on board and it would be so good for him if we were able to gather some points.

We decided to share the trip with our friend Fytos and assisted by his wife Stella, who kindly did all the arrangements for us, we set off on our weekend trip to Athens. Not getting off to a good start, we were called before we left for the airport to say that the flight to Athens had been delayed 3 hours and not to set off with the dogs as they would only get stressed out. That gave us a little more time to put the dogs through their paces, give them a little more exercise before their journey and give them a feeling of fun and enjoyment for the journey ahead.

Arrival at Larnaca saw crowds of people all frustrated and anxious as to when their flights would be called. Our dogs as you can imagine caused a diversion of attentions and before long we were surrounded by crowds of people all wanting their photographs taking with the dogs. It was actually another two hours before we departed, the dogs now fast asleep in their crates and the owners more stressed out than the dogs, typical.

A short 1hr 30mins flight and we were in Athens, dogs were delivered to us with no problems and we headed for the Pet Taxi supplied by Nicos, the only official and fully registered pet taxi in Athens.

The hotel was a very modest, but fully recommended by the kennel club type of place, clean, very friendly and local to all amenities, except that is for the Equestrian Centre, which is where the show was being held.

The only one transportation problem we did encounter was that of our friends, fully groomed and most immaculate Akita. He had spent the day before making sure it was in top condition, only to discover on arrival at Athens, the poor little dog had decided to empty his bowels and his bladder in his crate, so you can only imagine what a mess his coat was in now. These things happen when you travel with dogs and fortunately, we all threw our hand in and helped get him showered, dried and back in tip top condition ready for his show ring the following day.

Day one at the show, saw an early arrival, we found a pitch to stay with our crates and then off to the reception area to register for both days. It was a lovely little venue, housed in the Athens Olympic Equestrian Centre on the outside arena. We had an early class and were delighted to take Best Dog and then Best Of Breed, especially as we had entered the Champion class and taken the title from a lovely Italian bitch from the Castello Delle Rocche kennels. We were over the moon, having achieved our goal of C.A.C. & C.A.C.I.B on both days. The groups were a little strange, with group 2 having 23 breeds in the line up and group 5 having only 8. I like to think I am a good loser and I take showing in good spirit, but there is something a little odd when it is clear for all to see that the dogs being placed are not necessarily the best dogs on show in the line up. It all gets very political at this level and that is why we are delighted if we get Best Of Breed, C.A.C. & C.A.C.I.B. anything else is a bonus and seen as the icing on the cake. So for us, out of a possible 21 points on offer each day, we came away with 19 on each day. A great result and well on the way to more success hopefully in Greece. We have promised ourselves a return visit to Athens on the 5th November to visit the show in Marathon.

• View more of our photos from the Athens Show.