November in Sofia didn’t quite leave me with the memories I once held in my head of my time spent here 40 years ago, running through the sand on a hot summers day in the then very under developed coastal resorts of Golden Sands and Sunny Beach and the Hotel Siniger which I doubt would even still be standing, made way for ultra new modern hotels and paving the way for Bulgaria’s entry in to Europe in one months time. Arrival in Sofia airport was immediately cold and uninviting, officials with uniforms not wanting to do anything to help, only wanting to intimidate and patronise. Strange really I thought for a country on the brink of entering in to Europe and knowing what the Europeans demand in terms of service. I would imagine there are a lot of jobs occupied, not by those that are qualified to do so, but more for those that are in a position to influence somebody else getting on in life. Our dogs eventually arrived to lots of shrugs of the shoulders, grunts and groans in either Russian or Bulgarian and the odd pointing of the finger to go and stand in line and wait. A queue for this, a queue for that, then another queue for something else. Amazing how all these queues to get in to a country many would just want to pass through, rather than spend any time in and yet in the UK, people just seem to wander in at will, settle without problems and before long start claiming their rights. I have to say it for the Bulgarians, in terms of who they allow in the country, their strict regime of checks upon entry have to be applauded.

Outside was cold, dark and very busy. Sofia airport is not huge, yet there seemed to be quite a lot of activity in the immediate vicinity. Our hired mini bus driver was awaiting our arrival, standing by the exit door displaying our names, as though he would have missed us, passing by with two of the largest Vari Kennels and a Harlequin Great Dane strapped to each handle of the luggage trolley. It was more like a scene from the film “BEST IN SHOW” than a discreet arrival of two tourists from Cyprus. A short journey to our accommodation for the four days took us to the very lovely Apartment House www.apartmenthouseiztok.bg just on the outskirts of Sofia City Centre. We were shown to our room number 2, a lovely sized suite comprising of large double bedroom, living room, kitchen area, bathroom and a fantastic outside terrace area big enough to keep a herd of elephants, never mind 2 Great Danes. It was a great space, ideal for letting them lose some of their energy, yet being in a position to keep an eye on them. Quickly unpacking, feeding the dogs, taking them for a walk, we then settled for the adjoining Moderato restaurant & bar belonging to the same hotel chain. A spectacular place, we were told in the top ten restaurants of Bulgaria each year. Food was good, service was excellent and the fact that such quality was so close to our room was an added bonus. Our heads hit the pillow not long after 2300hrs and not a sound did we hear from either of the dogs until they woke the next morning fit and ready for the show.

It seemed easy with so much space available to us on the outside terrace to prepare the dogs before we left for the show, so after a good hearty cooked breakfast served in our suite, we boarded the mini bus we had rented for the day complete with driver. The Academic Stadium was a stones throw from the Hotel and before long we had set up with our crates, registered with the secretary for the days events, tried to find a sympathetic bi-lingual entrant that we could attach ourselves to so we didn’t miss our class and hey presto, we were away. First showing was Heidi who was in Open Class, followed by Zac in Champion Class. It was such a difference to any temperatures they had been used to showing in, both more adapt to hotter climates such as Australia and Cyprus. Temperatures were COLD with a Capital C. and the dogs didn’t know what had hit them. I have to say they both performed much better than I had expected in view of how cold it actually was.

A good turn out of dogs, many breeds we had not seen before which was interesting and both our dogs went on to win their class, Heidie going on to win Best Bitch, Zac going on to win Best Dog and then Zac taking Best Of Breed. Today was a C.A.C Show and both Heidie and Zac took Excellent Critiques and were awarded C.A.C each. It was as it always is, a long wait then until the group which had to be transferred indoors due you failing light. Not good I thought, as Zac had spent most of the evening in the hotel room flat on his back due to the highly polished laminate flooring he had never previously encountered. A quick practise run put my mind at rest and I just hoped his ability to perform was not hindered by the ice skating surface we were about to encounter. It is always difficult in these foreign countries to know what is going on, especially in the order of the programme, so you just sit and hope you get it right, follow what you think is happening and if all else fails, ask the steward to make announcements in English, which in this situation was impossible, as even the locals struggled to get announcements in Bulgarian, most being done in Russian. The group arrived and Zac showed to his usual excellent standard, he performed well on the shiny floor and it was me that tottered round with trepidation, wondering if I would fall at the next turning point. Stacked and in position we were then asked to move again around the ring, this time the numbers being reduced until four were left to re-stack and present to the judge. Forth place announced, Third place announced and then Runner Up in the Group the Great Dane “Zsacharias” First place in the group was the Rottweiler which eventually went on to win Best In Show. So our day ended with qualification for Bulgarian Champion for both Heidie & Zsacharias, Excellent Critique, C.A.C and the added bonus of qualifying Heidie for her International Champion Title.

Day 2 and the Kennel Club Of Bulgaria’s very own International Show saw a much earlier start, an even bigger turn out of people and the same set of results for us as the day before. Heidie & Zac both winning their class, Heidie winning Best Bitch, Zac winning Best Dog, Zac going on to win Best Of Breed and finally once again taking Runner Up In Group to the Bernese Mountain Dog which took Best In Group. Best In Show for the day was the Yorkshire Terrier. We always make the most of the shows, normally getting to know some really nice and very interesting people. A couple of names to mention on this trip are Sarka Jebava, “De Sarina Chihuaha Kennels” Czech republic, http://desarina.sweb.cz who I have to say I envied when I saw her bringing in all her exhibits in a travel crate big enough to put Zacs evening meal in to. She had previously had Great Danes but since moving in to an apartment in the centre of Prague had to choose a breed more suited to her living space. She was our bi-lingual interpreter for the second day, a great knowledge on the various show scenes in Europe and a lovely person to get to know. She even came to our rescue when we discovered that by taking the Bulgarian Champion on both days, we had also qualified for Baltic Champion and Bulgarian Grand Champion for both Heidie and Zac, even loaning 10 Euro to pay for our certificates as by this time we had completely run out of local currency and Euros spending 360 Euros over the weekend on certificates we hade qualified for. It appears standard practice in Bulgaria, not only to pay for entry in to a shows, but also to pay additionally for any certificates you may win on the day. I have to say, this is the first time we have done this and it will be interesting to see if this is a practice carried out elsewhere on our travels through Europe. I don’t object to it, I was just rather taken aback by the procedure.

Another name to mention is Inna, a lovely young lady resident to Bulgaria who took a particular liking to both Heidie & Zac and who has kindly supplied me with photographs from the show as you will see. She was showing a nice young male Dogo Argentino who looked lovely in the ring and until he had his testicles felt by the judge, appeared rather show worthy and a possible winner. I must say, it is never good to criticize the judge as you never know when you may cross their path in the future, but this particular judge had a style of judging quite extraordinary, concerning himself more with the number of teeth a dog had in its mouth than the overall confirmation of the dog with or without it’s testicles. Understandably the number of teeth are important, as are the presence of testicles, but if the dog is calm and in no way showing signs of aggression, then if the judge is so concerned about the number of teeth in the dogs mouth, he should at least show some indication that he is not afraid of finding out for himself. My experience was that despite my having held Heidies mouth wide open and then closing it to show her bite, he was still not convinced she had a full set of teeth. I might add, it was now plummeting in temperatures, the dogs were shivering with cold and having had her mouth pulled open for him to look in once, twice and a third time, Heidie was getting pretty fed up. He then started to prod in her mouth with his pen, rolling back her tongue one way and then the other again with his pen, to finally admit she was indeed with a full set of teeth. No wonder the Dogo Argentino turned round to bite him when he grasped his testicles !!!!! I think I would have done the same. Needless to say I expressed my disapproval at his handling of the dog in the ring, especially over an area quite incidental to the remaining part of his requirement to judge and score points. He still scored Heidie a perfect score, giving a C.A.C, Excellent Critique and a C.A.C.I.B making her an International Champion. You can imagine my horror when he turned up in the ring to judge Group two, so I felt quite pleased to take Runner Up in the Group considering I had given him such a hard time. So we finished the weekend with

Class wins for Heidie & Zac both days Best Dog for Zsacharias both days Best Bitch for Heidie both days Best Of Breed for Zsacharias both days Runner Up In Group for Zsacharias both days Bulgarian Champions both dogs both days Balkan Champions both dogs both days Bulgarian GRAND CHAMPIONS both dogs both days. International Champion Title for Heidie

A great weekend of showing, a great weekend of results and a special thank you to Julia and all the members of the Bulgarian Kennel Club for help and assistance before our arrival, on booking a lovely hotel and for arranging the transport, without which we really would have struggled. To all the judges for their assistance in making worthy title holders of our lovely Great Danes and for seeing in them what we saw before putting them in the ring. Special thanks to the Apartment House Iztok Hotel, Sofia, in particular Rossi who looked after us, made sure our driver was on time and that our breakfast was delivered early each morning, a great place to stay and with a genuine love for dogs. Now we are packing for Zagreb, the winter woollies are ready to go and hopefully another successful trip to come, watch this space for more news and show information on our trips to Croatia, Greece, Finland, Russia & Slovenije over the next few weeks. Congratulations to all our friends who showed with excellent results at the World Show in Poland, to those who can make it, it would be nice to see you all at the Mediteranean Winners Show here in Cyprus in October 2007.