Our journey once again commences in Larnaca after a day of preparation, grooming and packing cases. This time we were doing it alone, no Cypriot friends to hold our hand, just Craig, myself and this time 2 Great Danes, our lovely boy Zsacharias and our beautiful girl Heidie. Zac is becoming a bit of an old hat at this traveling game, Heidie however, this was her first time since moving from Australia and you know how women are when they travel !!!! Everything but the kitchen sink springs to mind. There were lotions and potions, cushions, blankets and covers to keep warm along with a whole selection of matching leads, worse that any matching shoes and handbag sets by Jimmy Choo. Anyway, at the airport we arrived, checked in like clockwork, sat for a break and left the dogs in their crates to avoid the full glare of intrigued traveling public wanting to touch, stroke and take photographs, and that was only of Craig & I. Dogs duly boarded and off we were on our way to Athens once again. The now very familiar face of Nicos and his Whacky Races mother who breaks out in to a sweat every time she enters a motorway junction or has to do a u turn on a dual carriageway, both manoeuvres which are forbidden under most motoring directives, were there to meet us. A thirty minute transfer to our Euro Home Apart-hotel, set in the lovely surroundings of Marathon, with views over the bay in one direction and mountains in the other. It was a good sized apartment, room for a whole family. As we were a whole family, it was ideal for our purpose. Our first night was spent familiarising ourselves with the area, getting the dogs settled and having an early night. Temperatures had really dropped, especially from those we had left behind in Cyprus and the next day saw a swift purchase of extra clothing to keep out those chilly winds that had suddenly appeared.

Saturday was a national show held just for the locals. Interesting as it was to see their approach to dog showing, it always amazes me how advanced dog showing has become in some of the countries we have been blessed to take part in, especially the likes of United Kingdom and Australia. We stayed a few hours and then the cold got the better of us, so a swift departure to defrost with a nice hot meal and drink was our next priority. I am sorry we didn’t stay for the finals, as Best In Show went to a couple of young ladies we had met on our previous trip to Athens and who coincidently shared a room next door, not only then, but also on this occasion. They had brought with them four beautiful Pugs and all credit due to them for taking Best In Show, a well deserved result.

Sunday saw the start of the Athens marathon, an event that started at 0830, from Marathon to Athens. As you can imagine, this caused chaos on the roads in to the show ground and a bit of extra planning would have ensured the show started on time, instead of the almost 2hours later than scheduled. Being local to the show ground and having found out about the possible delays, we made provisions to get there on time. In fact so on time were we, we ended up being the first people to arrive. We set up in a nice quiet area we had observed the day before, hidden from the winds and hidden from other contestants. I must say, that didn’t last long as others had the same idea and before long we were surrounded by some of the noisiest Doberman’s and their owners I have ever had the misfortune to share a space with. Not being good with invasion of my private space, I soon began to stress. The dogs however were curled up asleep with not a care in the world as they most often do in shows. Fortunately the calibre of Doberman’s was such that they didn’t hang around for long, most were eliminated very quickly and our noisy neighbours soon left to go home.

Our classes were quite early and we sailed through them comfortably, winning Heidies class and then taking Best Bitch with her. The same happened with Zac, winning his class and then taking Best Dog. So a stand off occurred between our very own Zsacharias and our lovely Heidie. Best of Breed went to Zsacharias, the judge (Luis Pinto Teixeiro from Portugal) preferring his heavier set head to Heidies more delicate pixie type American head. A good choice we thought and we were happy with the result. Not only had Zac gone through to the Group, but Luis Pinto had just created a GREEK CHAMPION with our Zac. The critiques for both dogs were excellent and in conclusion, the judge came over and complimented us on such a beautiful dog. He said that it was nice to see a perfect example of how a Great Dane should look, with perfect top line, perfect set eyes, good deep chest, excellent height and making reference to the quality of Danes now in Europe being very low in their standard and overall confirmation. Both dogs were awarded excellent and given their ticket. Heidie was now on her way to becoming GREEK CHAMPION and Zac had just become a GREEK CHAMPION. For us a great result and the Group and Best In Show had yet to be decided. Compliments and comments of recognition continued through the day which are never ever taken for granted and it is always nice to know your dogs are appreciated by other breeders of different breeds. One top Rottie judge came over to express her appreciation of how well Zac had performed and being a resident of Greece, but being citizen of the UK, her knowledge was endless on large breeds. She commented on how nice it was to at last see a dog being shown well and presented in a way that she had been accustomed to in her years of judging.

It was later that afternoon after our long awaited call for Groups, that we discovered the judge for Group,s as well as the Best In Show judge, was none other than the very gentleman that had placed us in the class and created a GREEK CHAMPION, Mr Luis Pinto. How very fortunate I smugged to myself, he loves our dog and has made no bones about expressing it to us constantly since being shown. Quietly confident, but never to assuming I took my place in the line up of 35. Group 2 always seems to have an overload of entrants; in comparison Toy Breed which had only 5 entrants in the group. Anyway, Zac stood to attention, head held high, back straight, ears back and an alert expression on his face as if to say, Daddy, we have won this haven’t we. Never wanting to be to presumptuous I commanded “STAND-SHOW” which is exactly what he did. Fourth place announced in Greek, I didn’t even look I was so nervous, third place announced in Greek, more nervous, I still didn’t look, second place and Reserve Best In Group !!!!!!!!, GREAT DANE in English, I heard that alright, but who was Best In Group, who was it that despite the judges glowing reports and continued praise had taken the first place from me. A BOXER, bad tempered at that and shown in a manner typical of the Greek attitude to showing dogs, which at the moment is a long way behind the standard I have been accustomed to. Oh well, may the best dog win and all that. I went over to have my photograph taken with the winners, the boxer would not let anybody near, bad tempered little thing that it was, but the judge must have seen something that caught his eye. We left the ring, still delighted with Reserve Best In Group and a CHAMPION created, for us a good day and points towards our year end total.

We put Zac back in his crate and went back over to the ring side to watch the end of the show, only for once again, Luis to come over to us and praise us on such a beautiful dog. Curiosity now getting the better of me, I enquired, if this is your thought, why then did you place the Boxer over the Dane, to which he replied, the Boxer was his chosen breed and as a Boxer breeder took a liking to it’s presence. Now I know and now I accept that sometimes decisions are made emotionally as well as professionally, the stronger emotion winning the day. Being in the same position as the judge, I am sure I would have faced the same emotions. So no hard feelings toward Luis, I accept his choice as being his best choice for the day and hopefully if we meet in the future there will be no Boxers in the line up.

We left our little holiday break the following day, Monday. Nicos our Pet taxi came to collect us and check in at Athens Airport with Cyprus Airways could not have been made any easier. The Customer Service girls really did go out of their way to simplify things for us, check in was smooth and we boarded our flight on time taking our seats for a great journey home. Larnaca airport was yet another smooth operation and we were home and tucked up in our beds by midnight.

We have now just processed entries for Bulgaria, Croatia, Athens, Helsinki and St Petersburgh, so keep an eye on our web page for more updated information and continued progress of both Heidie & Zac.

View the Show Photos