Following a fantastic time at Crufts this year it has been a privilege to be featured in Cyprus’ first Pet magazine To read the article in larger format in either ENGLISH or GREEK please go to the links at the bottom of the feature.  ”Animal’s Frame”.

Click here for a larger Image in the english language.

Click here for a larger image in the greek language.

Article and Images courtesy of:

ANIMALS’ FRAME MAGAZINE
P.O. Box 45156, 7111 Aradippou-Larnaca
Website: www.animalsframe.com

We would like to thank Stavroula and her team for their constant support in our Danes and we hope to have many more features in the coming publications.

We would also like to congratulate all our friends who travelled to the World Dog Show in Sweden, first for their support to a show which grows time after time and second for the trophies they all managed to win. CONGRATULATIONS to you all and well done. Unfortunately we were unable to join you this year, as much as we would have loved to be there, but as three of our bitches were in season and we were mating two of them, our time was otherwise pre-occupied by ensuring both bitches mated well. The rest of our year will be devoted to the care, wellbeing and upbringing of any puppies we are blessed with and our hopefully expectant mums continued love and affection. Puppies would be due around the 20th August 2008, please contact if you are interested in putting your name forward for a puppy. (see link Planned Mating)

Not quite having taken breath since we landed 2 days ago, once again we are off on the show circuit, but this time fortunately I can say, here on our home turf in Cyprus. We have a double show, one Saturday and one Sunday and the forecast for the weather is as we expect of Cyprus, clear blue sky and a day full of sunshine.

We were only showing the three puppies, Donny, Darrian and Tina, Zac was resting and the others we had decided were just going to be to much of a handful so soon after getting back from the UK and our visit to Crufts.

Our class on Saturday was at 1035hrs, so this gave us time to drive to the show ground and set up our crates and get the tent organised. In no time we were ringside and putting the dogs through their paces. Darrian (the Mantle) has really blossomed and showing true signs of a star in the making. His coat is at its best and he is starting to fill out and turn in to a real rebel look a like. Donny a chip off his dads block knows what it is all about and looks forward to getting in the ring and showing them that he is the pup dad should be proud of. Me, well I am still not sure as all three of them appear to have what it takes and they really need to mature and reach those crucial terrible 2ís and threatening 3ís before we will really see there true form.

The Judge was Anita Whitmarsh from Sweden who quite coincidently had seen the ìYELLOW SUITî at Crufts the weekend before. Well one thing is for sure, at least she realised we were serious about our Dane showing. As she looked over the dogs her decision was without question, first place to Donny (Harlequin) but also delighted to have taken second place with Darrian.

Critique for Donny read;

Nice masculine dog

Good bones and good size

Well covered body

Excellent head

Excellent front of chest for a young dog

Good strong back

Excellent rear end

Slightly gay tail when presenting today (owner says needed toilet)

Good attitude

A very promising dog for the future

Tina now ready to enter sees more of a challenge. You see Tina is just like her mum Heidie & Auntieís Odette & Olympiah, nutty as a fruit cake, has more on her mind than presenting a good stack and if your lucky you may just get her to stand still long enough to catch a good photograph to present her as a half decent Dane. We know through Heidie that when the penny does eventually drop with Tina she will truly shine. Even so, she still came through and won her class with an excellent critique which read;

Lovely feminine bitch

Excellent bone

Well covered body

Parallel head with good reach of neck

Little bum high, but still developing

Excellent angulations

Excellent mover

Little narrow on chest and wild in attitude but still a young girl

Excellent pigmentation of colour

For the Best of Breed we were very fortunate to be given the place to Donny which now meant this was his first Best Of Breed Win at the age of 11 months. Donny was now through to the Groups and of course the all important, Best Junior In Show.

Best Junior in Show was a line up of 26 dogs, all of excellent quality and all making a good job of their time in the ring. Donny we are proud to announce took third place In the Best Junior in Show and went quickly in to his very first Group 2 line up. He really looked fantastic and no matter what, we were just so proud that he was there with dogs so much older and so much more qualified to be in that line up. Unfortunately for Donny he did not get a place, although he was picked out for the short list in readiness for selection and for us that was quite sufficient and totally accepted.

Day two was an earlier call, only by 30 minutes, but it seemed to make a much bigger difference when it came to getting set up on time. Today I was showing Darrian, Craig was showing Donny & Tina and the Judge was Elizabeth Chwalibog. Again all dogs presented extremely well and once again it was Donny who came through and eventually took Best of Breed on the day. Once more through to the Best Junior in Show which sadly today was not the turn of Donny and nor did he get placed in the group 2 line up. Now Group 2 I can fully appreciate as it is a difficult class anyway always attracting the most in the line up, but as for the Best Junior In Show, in terms of his efforts to show well and run beautifully, in my opinion and many of those standing around me, Donny was certainly worth of a place at some level. He looked amazing in his stack position and despite the distractions of the Rottweiller and Doberman double handling which in a Group line up should be disallowed in my opinion (we had one behind us in Best Junior in Show and the other behind us in Group 2) A lesson learned and never to be repeated. Actually, I think it is so totally disrespectful to those who spend time getting their dogs trained to stack naturally, for the screaming, shouting and throwing of toys to cause their dogs to look alert, to actually be permitted and the individual kennel clubs should start to clean up their act and take a stance and get this practise stopped at their shows. I suspect the revenue brought in from these breeds prevents certain clubs from making a stance, but I have to say, when we visited Crete they really were trying as much as possible to stop this going on, so credit due to them for at least trying. I have actually been at the point of walking out of a Group line up because I had a Doberman right up my dogís backside whilst its double handling companion was in my dogs face beating the floor with the dogs play toy. Two points of ring etiquette. First, do not get up the dogs backside in front of you. The rings are ample big enough to share the space and present your dog accordingly, if you need more room then move to another part of the ring where you can get it. Second, do not present in such a way that you need toys to be thrown in to the ring for its attention. This happened in the Best Junior In Show line up on Saturday and nobody challenged either the owner or the double handler and it just frustrates the remaining people in the line up who are presenting like professionals.

So for the weekend, we were more than happy with all the dogs performances, Donny, Darrian & Tina, they all got excellent critiques and for Donny to get a 3rd place in best Junior In Show and an opportunity to sample his first group 2 line up for us was a great weekend.

Thanks to the individual Limassol Canine Association for putting on a great show. We would like to compliment you on the venue and we look forward to supporting it again in the future.

Our next big show is in may and will be the Cyprus Kennel Club International Show CAC/CACIB to be held in Paphos on the 17th & 18th May 2008. this is also the Aphrodites Winners Show and the 2009 Crufts qualification show, so it would be very much appreciated for those Kennel Clubs reading this show news, to advertise the fact throughout its members so they can take advantage of all these elements in one show.

Following that the next big event will be the mating hopefully of our Multi Champion winning dog Zsacharias and his details can be viewed on

http://www.apollodane.com/blog/our-dogs/cyprus-best-dog-of-the-year-2006/

and our Multi Champion winning bitch Odette and her details can be viewed on

http://www.apollodane.com/blog/our-dogs/odette/

Providing Odette comes in to season at the expected time which is May 2008, we then expect that any puppies would be due to leave the home around October 2008, this is following the normal gestation period plus we like to keep the puppies until 10weeks old and having had their full set on vaccinations.

should you wish to view a sample of the puppies expected pedigree you can do so on the following link.

http://www.quintessa.net.au/cgi-bin/trial.pl?sire=67053&dam=66562&sirepattern=Hildydane+Zsacharias&dampattern=Hildydane+Odette&gens=7&db=Quintess.dbw&submit=Create+Now

For many people in the dog world, preparation for Crufts starts weeks before. For others it is a one off show visit to qualify their dogs and then they may never see another show until Crufts itself. For us, well we started our journey in winter 2006 and a visit to a Crufts qualifying show in Croatia. We then had to attend another qualifying show in the January of 2007 in Moscow to make sure our attendance was guaranteed. So for us, this was a journey of many months, many flying miles and many shows. We wanted to savour the whole experience, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy every minute we were there along with every hour of T.V coverage

To appear at the largest and most prestigious dog show in the world is every dog owners dream and like so many, we all hope our dog will shine on the day and bring home the recognition we as the owner think it deserves.

Although travelling with our Danes has become second nature, the UK poses a different set of guidelines to those we had become familiar with and used to whilst travelling around Europe. We are fully supportive of the strict quarantine restrictions as you just can not compromise on animal health issues. As for the rules on transportation, well I have to say it became a minefield of sizes, volumes, weights and height, combine this with the incredibly high prices being quoted, then you begin to wonders if the journey will ever take place at all.

We had researched the Judges in advance, we had weighed up our competition and despite numerous suggestions that our journey would be wasted, we decided that stiff competition was good & healthy competition and any suggestion that we would be better staying in Cyprus was like red rag to a bull, it made us all the more determined to attend the show and let them see what we were made of.

We had a fairly smooth and hassle free journey, Zac nicely crated in his oversized travel box and settled on his nice thick continental quilt for comfort. He really didnít care less where he was going, as long as he knew we were going to be at the other side to meet him. Arrival was quite late in the UK, but we are pleased to say that our friends had arranged for transportation from Gatwick to their home once all the cargo documentation had been completed. Zac is such a good boy; he really is no trouble what so ever when we travel and instinctively he knows that it is show time within a few days.

With Zac fed and watered and given a tour of his new home for the next few days, he settled down to sleep. We decided he had the best idea, so in hot pursuit we headed for our bed to make sure we were bright and alert the following day. Always surprising what a good nights sleep can give you, we woke to find a beautiful day surrounded by the most incredible back drop of acres of lush green fields, stables full of Danes and that morning chorus of ìcome and feed meî in various pitched levels of barking. The following couple of days were spent planning our journey to Birmingham, fitting in the grooming requirements and buying any last minute items we had forgotten or decided we would need.

Saturday was our show day, day three of a dog filled four days, so Friday night was sandwich making, filling the flasks with hot water and making sure we had adequate drinks for ourselves and visitors. Now at this point I was not sure if the purpose of our visit to the UK was to show our boy Zac at Crufts, or if it was to enter the Duke Of Edinburgh Awards for Industry. I say this because Craig made that many sandwiches, he really could have started a food chain, and so with this in mind, I thought maybe it was a small business start up grant he was hoping to secure. As we went to bed that night we were all made aware of our responsibilities and as a last reminder we were told to make sure the alarm clock was set for 0330hrs. I had fortunately remembered our alarm clock, so I took it out of our suitcase, set it for 0330hrs and then settled down for a few hours sleep as it was already approaching midnight. In no time at all the alarm clock was ringing its tiny little sides off, Craig was up and out of bed, in to the bathroom, shaved and showered before trying to raise me from my slumber. Not having much luck he decided to try his hand on the bedroom door of the remaining sleepy residents, only to be informed that the time was not 0330hrs, but in fact it was only 0130hrs !!!!!!! Whoops I thought to myself, seems like I left the clock on Cyprus time of 2 hours ahead of the UK, no wonder I still felt tired. For 2 hours I lay with my eyes open, listening to the outside sounds and afraid to fall asleep in case I did not wake on time !!!!!!!! Yes at the correct time of 0330hrs.

All dogs packed in their vans, our bags and show leads ready we all started our journey ready fro CRUFTS 2008. This was what it had all been about, this waiting time was now upon us and we were about to show Zac in the largest dog show in the world. A coffee stop at the motorway service station was almost about to put a stop to those dreams as Zac jumped out of the van and limped his way to the nearest tree to leave his calling card. Oh NO !!!!!! not a lame dog on the day of the greatest dog show in the world, this could not be happening to us. As we tried to put him through a few paces, his limp seemed to worsen, so we put him back in the van and decided to take him straight to the Vet when we arrived at the exhibition centre.

Arriving at the National Exhibition Centre was a feeling hard to describe. Beautifully groomed dogs in all directions, each one looking a winner and not one of them seemed in the least bit concerned at what the day had in store for them. We unpacked the car, filled our bags and followed the crowd. At this point it didn’t really matter which direction they were going, we were just so thrilled to be a part of the marching army. They walked and they disbursed, filtering off in to their own show arenas as we did the same. Handing in our tickets we soon found our bench, set out our blankets and went about locating the Vet. Before taking Zac to the Vet I wanted to see how bad he was with his limp, so I took him for a quick practice run in the ring before people started to fill the arena. Now I am not sure if it was the excitement of the ring or the other dogs his size pouring in, but for the moment Zac had lost his limp and was walking like a dream. A few rounds of the ring confirmed nothing more than a stiff joint that had clearly relaxed itself ready for action. It was now time to sit back, relax and enjoy the day, first watching all the other entrants arrive and set up their own bench whilst eyeing up the competition.

It is many years since I was a part of the show scene in the UK so I was interested to see how it had changed, progressed or expanded. My breed in those earlier years was the good old English Cocker Spaniel, although I have to say, most certainly not quite so heavily involved as we are today with our Danes. I think that the UK really set the scene for standards in showing and in breeding and many countries have the UK to thank and Crufts is still the pinnacle of any breeders dream. In my opinion though, and speaking purely from a Dane breederís perspective, I was surprised at how elitist many of the more established breeders were within their own breed and how difficult it was as a new comer to infiltrate such a tight nit club. We never have socialisation issues, we personally speak to anybody and everybody, nor do we let that sort of practise worry us or faze us, but it was clearly very obvious that some of the lesser established breeders and with some very beautiful Danes were just not being allowed in to take their share of the awards on offer at some of the smaller more local shows. I have never been a shrinking violet, the type to worry about another’s opinion or be intimidated by those thinking themselves holier than though or mightier than most. Actually I thrive on their insecurities and rise to the challenge, this was one of the reasons we had finally decided to attend Crufts 2008. You see many think that Europe is a distribution spot for Champion titles for dogs without class or distinction, quality or breeding. Now yes, I have to agree, many years ago this may have been the case, but NOT any more. You only have to look at the quality of dogs what ever breed you wish to cover and you find most of them, unlike years ago are not starting life in the UK. The quality dogs of today’s breeding pool are coming from European destinations and unless the breeders of the UK start to sit up and take notice, then I have to agree with many of the articles written in their very own dog papers, the breed will go in to decline.

I know personally of imports that are being sidelined because they have dared as breeders to import and they are told quite categorically that bringing in quality imports is not the route to obtaining a C.C that they must serve their time as the established breeders have done and only then will they start to be given credibility and recognition. It appears to me that a handful of those that have had years in the breed are closing ranks on those new kids on the block, when really they should be looking at the future of the breed and encouraging them to come on, bring in their new lines and develop the breed standard as it is written.

As a Harlequin breeder with a fraction of the years experience of many of the UK’s established breeders, I can honestly say I do not feel any less equipped to know a good Dane when I see one, nor am I less equipped to know the breeding patterns of the lines I am developing, but what I and many others like me do have, is a burning enthusiasm to take the breed forward and learn from those that are prepared to teach us. To those who close the doors, close rank and do not have the common courtesy to acknowledge another mans efforts when we are all striving for the same end, then I urge you to think of the future, look at where the breed has gone in the UK and start to relax the dictatorial approach that seems to be sweeping through at the higher levels in the breeding world.

There was a selection of what I personally would class as ‘GOOD DANES’ and I applaud those individuals who we actually took the time out to go over to and converse with and acknowledge their efforts. My own opinion was that the general standard of the Harlequin was far lower than those which we compete with in Europe, that we have shown against in Australia and that we have observed at the shows in America. I was disappointed that from a country who led the field in Harlequin breeding, that it had allowed its standard to drop so low. There needs to be a serious look at the colour of the Harlequin in the UK at the moment and although many would put confirmation over colour, it is the overall package that is the beauty of the beast. A couple stood out as being worthy winners, but if the truth were known, even these had come from imported lines, so the individual breeders had recognised that need for change and were doing something about it. It has been pointed out to me that getting a dog titled in the UK is far more difficult than in Europe, so to put the record straight, for those who have never stepped foot over the water to show, I can officially confirm that the European competition is far stronger, at this moment in time the Danes are far more attractive, especially coming from the Scandinavian countries, the colours are far more in line with what the breed standard suggests and the overall confirmation is how we expect our Danes to look. As for the Champion titles being easy to achieve, once again let me put the record straight. First of all, when showing under F.C.I rules we have to show with a dogs full dentition, something I know for sure some of the dogs in my Crufts open class would not be eligible for. We also have to show with a dog in tact showing both testicles, again something I know whilst sitting ring side the Judge pointed out to a couple of dogs handlers.

In 2007 we took a combined number of 42 separate flights with 2 adult Danes, we hit 16 different countries, encountered winters in Moscow, summers in Switzerland, stayed in 22 hotels, hired 18 vans, covered 42 shows and competed with numerous World Champions, European Champions, Mediterranean Champions and Grand Champions. We are not fortunate enough to be able to jump in the car, travel a few miles up the motorway and compete with a handful of UK Champions, NO !!!! Like many of our European colleagues, we have to put backbone and effort in to our presence at a dog show and when we do eventually arrive at our show destination, we compete based on the quality of our dogs and not on the favours we are owed. So in 2007 alone, to come out with Champion titles in 9 countries, Grand Champion in 2, European Champion, Mediterranean Champion, 30 Group Wins, 8 Best in Show, 3 Reserve Best In Show, Breed Champion 3 years running, Dog Of The Year and Champion of Champions for just one of our Danes ZAC I feel we have earned our stripes. To be given the frosty reception from some as we were is evident that the UK show scene in the Dane world has a lot to learn in order to bring it in line with the now very high standards of Europe.

European shows in my opinion at the moment are by far much warmer and more inviting and they actually go out of their way to congratulate you on your wins. Our experience has been most enjoyable to the point where we actively return year after year to support the overseas shows and I think a valuable lesson could be learned by many UK breeders not having experienced the warmth and hospitality of shows outside the UK to pay them a visit, check out the quality of the Danes and just see how tough it is to actually get placed under some of the strictest Judges on the circuit, never mind take a Champion title.

In Europe we encourage new blood, both in handlers and in our lines. When we enter overseas shows and take a good win, the first people to come and shake our hands are the locals. To be accepted in a country as a complete stranger means a great deal to us and we never dismiss it or ever take it for granted. I feel the UK Dane circuit in parts has lost this ability to see beyond their own closed circuit and there is a fear from new comers to actually enter shows or bring out their dogs which I feel is detrimental to the long term of the breed. Of course this is not all, it is a handful of breeders who have dominated the show scene for many years and who believe they are untouchable and unstoppable. We know it goes on in many countries, yet I have to say as a visitor it was very obvious to me and had I have been the type of character to let it upset me or offend me, then maybe I would think twice about going back. There were of course those who didn’t have this air of aloofness about them, clearly loved their breed and went to the shows, not only to show their dogs, but to make friends with new people.

The whole Crufts experience is awesome and for those reading from overseas and never having visited, it is a date for your diary you must take time out for. With over 25,000 dogs on show over 4 days, with every shopping experience catered for and with overseas entries now taking many of the top honours, it really is a dog show for people from all over the world. You need a good pair of walking shoes, a few pounds in your pocket and sufficient liquid refreshment to get you through the day.

As the Dane classes began, I took a seat ringside to see how the events unfolded. I wanted to get a closer look at the Judge Mrs J M Macdonald to see her style, to see what she was looking for and to see how she was placing her winners. As she worked her way through the classes it became obvious her style was more relaxed than had been anticipated. It is always nice to see a Judge sharing a few words with the handler and their dog, it makes life more relaxed and puts everyone at ease. I like the Harlequin and naturally they get my vote, but I have to say, there were some very impressive fawns who not only looked well, but who presented well. There were a couple of choices that again from a personal point of view I would have questioned, but this is about the Judges choice and not the exhibitors choice, so if that is what the Judge liked on the day, then I support her decision, after all that is what she has been invited to do.

It was soon time for our class, ‘OPEN DOG’ one of the more difficult classes of the day. In all over the day there were around 250 Danes entered in total, open dog and open bitch are the combination of the more experienced, more mature and more qualified in their field. Champions from all over the world come together in this class and it is the créme de la créme that go through and take the winning places.

I thought on this occasion my yellow show suit was most appropriate as red already seemed to dominate the show rings. What I had not planned for was a kidney infection which immediately saw my stomach bloat and combined with the extra few kilos I had gained in the winter months, getting in to the suit proved a little more difficult than had been on previous shows. I want to say that unfortunately it was not a case of Cinderella slipping in to the perfect fitting glass slipper, but more like one of her ugly sisters forcing her foot to win her Prince. Could I breathe in sufficiently enough to get the pants to meet in the middle, could I run around the ring without exhaling? and could I bend over my dog to place his feet if he did not walk in to his perfect stack. Well all this was a little late to start worrying about at this stage of the game, the pants were fastened and meeting in the middle, the last intake of air had been taken, enough to last me three times around the ring and the jacket was there to hide a multitude of sins, this was not about me I said to myself, this was about my dog. Who was I trying to kid, of course this was as much about me as it was about my dog, you see we come as a package and if the package was right then we stand more chance of a win. I am not one seen at the local shows in the UK, so how on earth would I get to stand out in a crowd already known to many. Well it was time to go out there all guns a blazing and let them see we were afraid of nothing and nobody.

The class was called, the dogs entered the ring and of all the 21 entries that filled out the ring completely, we focussed on nobody in particular. The Judge started to go over each dog with a fine tooth comb and slowly we moved around the ring taking up our place on each stop we made. All the time Zac was being given reassuring words to put him at ease and to pass away the time it took to get from initially entering the ring, to finding our time in front of the Judge. It took in total around 1 hour 15 minutes to go over all the dogs and as these were the top in their class, that extra time was so important. There was just one more dog and then it was our turn. Zac had been a perfect show dog, he had held his stack to perfection, he had not been bothered by any of the other dogs and his time in the ring and under the lights had not left him feeling like he does on a hot summers day show in Europe. Looking at me with dry mouth as if to say ìcome on dad, what are we still doing here, does anybody realise we are touching temperatures of 30Cî No here was Zac feeling very confident with himself and I could feel it coming through the lead. We moved slowly in to position in readiness for our call, I stacked Zac in a place I hoped we would not get moved from and I waited for the Judge to acknowledge we were next. As the Judge approached, she looked over Zac and then looked over the yellow suit. ìI like the suitî the Judge commented with a smile in her eyes ìwe can certainly see you coming and how old is the dogî She had a very warming approach to Zac, talking to him as she went over him. Zac turned his head knowing this lady had a kindness in her heart for the dogs on show, he looked up and planted a big sloppy kiss on her face almost as though it was staged. Thatís a good boy I thought to myself, you know the way to a womanís heart, a sloppy kiss works wonders every time. ìCould you move your dog for me, in to the corner, up to the top and then complete the triangleî Zac does as he always does and moves well. We were then asked to run up and down and once again Zac sticks to his routine. We were thanked and once again we took our place in the line until the remaining dogs had been seen. ìI am not going to place at this point, just going to pull a few outî I heard the Judge say to the steward. This was our time to stack and be ready for her to once again see how good he was if we were to get pulled out for the short list. Slowly the Judge went around the ring, going over every dog with a very keen eye and now the time had come for her to start selecting her short list. It seemed like a world away, the point in which she seemed to be making her selection and the point at which we were standing. So far only Fawns were making the selection and nothing of colour was getting through. Eventually her eyes focussed on Zac, she looked at the Black dog next to me, she cast her eyes back on to Zac and raised her hand in our direction for selection. WOW, I had hoped but had not planned for this. It now meant I had to extend the intake of air I had inhaled at the beginning of the class for another round of the ring, I had to keep my fingers crossed that the buttons on my pants would hold out and I looked at the T.V cameras and smiled politely as I thought if my mother is watching, the last thing I want is for her to worry I am getting to big for my pants. They do say T.V cameras put an extra 5 kilos on you, so there you go, what chance did I have, I was destined for a lifetime of ridicule of obesity in the show ring just by the fact that I was about to appear on national television. We all took our places once again as the Judge walked up and down. Now then, how would she move us, would it be round the ring or would it be up and down? As she walked behind the dogs it became evident we were going up and down, so our route was observed, we stood to attention and we waited for our time. It was a tense moment for some who took it rather more seriously than others, maybe because reputations were at stake. I got Zac in to position and off we went, down to the bottom of the ring, stop, turned around and then back. As we came back Zac lost his momentum for the moment, he had a shake of his head and a lapse in concentration. I stopped, turned around, walked back to the head of the ring and started him again in our time and not that expected of those left standing. ìThatís betterî the Judge commented when we got to the end ìnow we can see how you move properlyî She moved to the next dog as we stood to attention, perfect stack and now just awaiting the Judges decision. At this point I was more than happy with our position. We were in a short list line up, we had seen Champions from around the world being thrown out and we had seen dogs who we had admired from previous Crufts also being thrown out. Now we were left standing in a predominantly fawn line up, we were the ONLY Harlequin left standing and we were in what is seen to be the most difficult class of the day. Was I looking for a placing, well of course, we all like to think our dogs are worthy of a placing, but in such a line up, I was just happy to have seen some of the stiffest competition being thrown out leaving us in a chance position for a place, I was also happy to have proved that despite the negative comments received regarding European Champion titles and the fact that it was suggested we did not go to the trouble of making the journey to the UK to enter Crufts, here we were, standing with the ones who are taking the prizes and we were showing we had what it takes.

The moment was now very tense as the Judge went over the line up once again to make selection. Zac was doing me proud, he stood like he has never stood before and he knew all eyes were on the line up and more importantly on him as a visiting Dane. I could see out of the corner of my eye, all the people we knew and who had kindly travelled from all parts in the UK to watch us, so I would have loved to have had a place, if only to make their journey worth while. As the Judge moved to the end of the line up I could see Zacs ears starting to drop a little. Oh no, not now I thought to myself, please stay with me, keep your alert expression and keep those ears up. At that point the in-house loudspeaker system crackled on to make an announcement, Zac pushed back his head, his neck went long a lean and his ears gave him that perfect expression. There was a point when the Judge looked at us for what seemed like a life time, for a small moment I thought we were going to get first place, she then walked over and raised her arm at the ;

1st place, Fawn dog CH LOMONDANE GIES A BREAK JW ShCM (MRS C & MISS E CUNNINGHAM & ROBERTSON)

2nd place, Fawn dog CH GARSAK SIR ALFIE JW (MRS A, MR G & MR J HURST, HOOKER & LOCKEY)

3rd place, Harlequin dog, INT, GR & MULTI CH HILDYDANE ZSACHARIAS [ATC AJ00171CYP] (MR P BAINBRIDGE & MR C HULME)

Res Fawn dog, CH MYHALSTON MR MALACHI (MR O GREECHAN)

VHC Fawn dog, ROMULUS OF BACARDI [ATC AH00869HUN] (MISS TINA FIGENSCHAU)

So the final choice had been made and we had done what many thought we would not do. First of all we had been placed in the strongest line up of Crufts qualifying Great Danes, we had beaten Australian Champions, Irish Champions, International Champions, but the biggest surprise of all to many except ourselves was that we also beat the Top Winning Great Dane dog in the UK, most certainly for the past 2 years and I am also led to believe of all times, CH MYHALSTON MR MALACHI.

Our Zac had done it, he was now a Crufts winner to add to his list of impressive wins, he was automatically given life entry in to Crufts, but most importantly for us, he is entered in to the very prestigious Crufts Stud book.

What Honours Does a Stud Book Number Give a Dog?

Firstly it is an honour for a dog just to be entered into the stud book. An added bonus is that a dog never again needs to qualify for Crufts dog show, his stud book number is alone a good enough qualification to compete at this elite show. As soon as you enter the world of dog showing you will become aware of the words ’stud book’. The stud book will become an important part of your competition and with luck your own dog will one day have his own name in the Kennel Club’s stud book.

For us, this was the finishing touch to a great year. We had flown thousands of miles, we had been granted our dogs own frequent flyer card issued in conjunction with the Cyprus Kennel Club and Cyprus Airways, we had shown under some of the toughest Judges the show world as to offer and we had met some really wonderful people. To take a Crufts Winning place for us meant the world and we would like to take this opportunity of thanking the Judge, Mrs Macdonald for having the faith in our dog to place him in the winners line up. We would also like to thank all our friends & family who set off very early to make sure we had support in the ring at the time of our class. Special thanks also to all our overseas visitors, especially Kate from Athens ìCuidadoî who kindly gave up her time to stand ring side when her true passion is the Rottie.

With our part now over, we were able to sit back and watch the rest of the day’s events unfold and a full list of the winners can be viewed on the Crufts 2008 show result page. Craig set about attacking the army of sandwiches he made and fortunately we had something to offer our visiting guests what they arrived. With so much excitement we decided to travel North to visit my parents for the weekend as a surprise and when we knocked at their door they had just finished watching the class results on the T.V. She very kindly gave reassurances that despite the extra few kilos, the cameras had been very flattering to the yellow show suit and although it was not the choice of many conservative breeders and handlers, for us it did exactly what we wanted it to do and even today we are still taking calls from people who have become so familiar with the red and yellow show suits, that they were able to identify us on the T.V.

Sunday was a leisure day enjoying the traditional Sunday roast with my parents and Monday we took the opportunity of having the sperm of Zac frozen in readiness for any overseas interest we may get in the future. Unfortunately frozen semen is not something readily available in our part of the island of Cyprus, so after a long discussion with the gentleman who put Zac through his paces, we have decided to bring the system to Cyprus for all to enjoy in the future. We will first need to purchase all the equipment, we will need to complete the training and once all this has been done we can start to offer the service, not only in Cyprus, but I am told it can be transported to shows which we are in attendance at, so other destinations can also take advantage of the facility.

Following a few days shopping and stocking up with all those things you tend to miss and have grown up with, we headed back to our sunshine island of Cyprus, 7 days from when we first set out.

This coming weekend 15th & 16th March we have a double weekend show here in Cyprus and whilst Zac rests, it is now the turn of Donny & Tina to hopefully bring back some trophies. Harry is over in Latvia for the Winners Show and then over in Finland at his second show of the weekend so we wish him luck.

I have added over 100 photos to the Crufts photo link and if you double click on any of the photos it should automatically take you straight to the album [or click here]. Both Craig & I hope you enjoy looking through them, we hope you have enjoyed our own views and opinions of how the Crufts show was observed by us and we would like to thank all those who did find the time to come over, converse with us and make us feel very welcome.

OUR 2007 SHOW NEWS AT A GLANCE

It is almost the close of the 2007 show calendar and Apollodane Great Danes have now hung up their show leads until 2008  in readiness for the Christmas season. Our Danes will rest and enjoy with us in our home the special treats in store. Lots of  toys, new doggie beds, special collars and leads and all the other things we can spoil them with.

On reflecting back through 2007 we can see just how busy life has been, remembering Cyprus is a beautiful island, but every show we attend is only accessible by flying, so you can imagine the traumas we have to go through first before we even  enter a show ring.

This year 2007 we have done 12 country’s, 42 shows, have been the winners of DOG OF THE YEAR, CHAMPION  OF CHAMPIONS and BREED CHAMPION. We have taken no less than 6 BEST IN SHOW WINS, 3 RESERVE BEST IN SHOW WINS, 30 GROUP WINS and 12 CHAMPION TITLES THROUGHOUT EUROPE in the past 12  months. We are also fortunate enough to have taken the TOP WINNING HARLEQUIN BITCH IN  EUROPE AT THE EuDDC IN SWITZERLAND.

FINAL AWARDS POSITION IN 2007 FOR ZSACHARIAS

Zac finished his year fathering a beautiful litter of 9 puppies, 5 of which are destined for the show ring and already showing  great promise, individually taking Best Puppy in their respective shows on alternate show dates.
Zac went on to finish his year with the following titles and has proved consistent in his performance in the ring.

CYPRUS GRAND CHAMPION, CYPRUS DOG OF THE YEAR 2006, CYPRUS BREED CHAMPION 2006,  CYPRUS BEST IN SHOW 2006 AND CYPRUS CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS 2006
Cyprus Grand Champion, Cyprus Multi Champion, 2 x Bulgarian Grand Champion, 2 x Cyprus Champion, 3 x Australian  Champion, 2 x Bulgarian Champion, 2 x Balkan Champion, Greek Champion, Croatian Champion, Slovenian Champion,  Russian Champion, Zagreb Winner, Aphroditeís Winner, 8 x Best In Show, 6 x Reserve Best In Show, 35 x Group Wins,  Crufts 2007 & 2008 Qualification.

FINAL AWARDS POSITION IN 2007 FOR HEIDIE

Heidie took to her role as a new mother with ease and confidence. She raised 9 beautiful puppies and then 16 weeks later  went on to take Best Bitch at the Mediterranean Winners Show in October, testament to her excellent condition following  her pregnancy.

INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION, CYPRUS GRAND CHAMPION, CYPRUS MULTI CHAMPION, 2 x  BULGARIAN GRAND CHAMPION, Cyprus Champion, 2 x Bulgarian Champion, 2 x Balkan Champion, Greek  Champion, Croatian Champion, Zagreb Winner, Aphroditeís Winner, Mediterranean Winner, Reserve Best In Show, Best  Great Dane Cyprus 2005.

FINAL AWARDS POSITION IN 2007 FOR ODETTE

Odette this year matured in to a beautiful young bitch with many highlights of the year. The first was her success in the  Large Breed Specialty Show in Slovenia when she was entered in to the intermediate class at just 18 months and managed  to scoop Best Bitch over the World Winning Harlequin bitch entered in to Champion class aged 3 years. Her next most  notable achievement was in Switzerland where she took the EuDDC Champion title for the top winning harlequin bitch.

Best Puppy N.S.W. Australia 2006. CYPRUS MULTI CHAMPION, EuDDC Champion, Russian Champion, Greek  Champion, Aphrodite Winner.

The New Year can see us hitting the show circuit in Europe with our new Mantle boy Turbo, our Harlequin bitch Athena  and our Harlequin boy Adonis. We have Crufts in March were we have Zsacharias, Heidie & Odette qualified to enter and  then in May we hope to continue with our breeding programme with a repeat mating for Zac & Heidie and a first mating for  Odette and Turbo.
Our Mantle puppy Apollodane Astraeus (God Of The Stars & Planets) will travel to Finland to take up home with Anne-Mari Vouri (Kennel Mi’havana) and Marja Partanen (Kennel Ozaenas) We are delighted and very happy that Marja and Anne-Mari will become the new owners and we are confident that Apollodane Astraeus (Harry) will prove to be successful for them in the ring as his father Zac has been for us here at Apollodane Great Danes.

So it only remains for both Craig and myself Paul, to thank all the Judges for having the faith in our Danes, by placing them  and recognising them for the titles they have achieved. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to all the show  organisers, Kennel Club Presidents, ring stewards, administration staff and airport officials who have made our European  Show adventure both possible and trouble free. Travelling with 2 adult Danes as we have has presented many obstacles, all I  have to say which we have overcome. Walking through the green section ” NOTHING TO DECLARE ” always raises an  eyebrow and to all those additionally such as Pet Transporters, Chauffeurs, Hoteliers, Pet food companies, travel agents and  facilitators we would also like to thank you for your help and assistance.

Our very best wishes to one and all for the Christmas season and we wish you all the very best for the forthcoming New Year 2008

Paul, Craig and our family of Danes which can be seen at www.apollodane.com

Crete has had a special place in our hearts since we bought a home there in the summer of 2006 following our visit to the 2nd Heraklion Society CACIB Show. The island to us has a magical feel and a warmth shown by all the locals. So for us this seemed an ideal place to make our next property investment, recognising that of many of the Greek Islands, Crete really does have a lot to offer and is tipped to be the next property hot-spot. Channia was the chosen location for our holiday home, but the dog show was held just outside of Heraklion which is the home of the main airport for the island. When we were planning the years events, this show had to be on the programme as it had proved to be a very well run and organised show in 2006 when we were just spectators.

In Greece, each Canine Society has the right to organize a Dog Show. At the moment they have Societies in most Greek cities (Heraklion, Katerini, Thesaloniki, Athens and more). You can see the show schedule for each year at the web site of Greek Kennel Club.

This particular show was organized by the whole team headed by its President, Elena Alexandri and assistance was given to us in completing entry forms. Even though we live in a Greek speaking country, we have not yet mastered the art of this beautiful, but quite complicated language, especially as the older you get the more difficult it gets. This is their third show so still quite new, but I have to say it is important for us all to get behing these shows so they continue to provide us with shows for many years to come.

It was now time to book the hotel recommended by the Kennel Club, the Gallini Hotel which was a perfect choice, clean, very friendly and most reasonable in price, especially as they were very dog friendly, having 4 Great Danes of their own.

Arrival at the airport we were collected, transferred to the hotel and there we got ourselves ready for a nice evening meal and our evening stroll with the dogs. Odette and Zsacharias were the 2 chosen Danes for this trip and very quickly they got in to their show routine. The evening was spent being admired and adored in the hotel bar and I have to confess, that was the Danes and not us. I can only assume as the events of age take over, our personal appeal is less desirable and attractive than that of our lovely doggies. So for about the next 4 hours our Danes were truly spoilt by every person walking in the bar that night. They really lapped up all the attention and were on their very best behavior.

The following day we decided to explore the local area, walking first to the village and then as we had hoped in to the main town and tourist area. As we first approached the village, our thoughts turned towards the hire of a car, as this seemed by far the most obvious solution to us seeing as much as we could of that particular area, in the short space of time remaining before the show. A quick negotiation with the hire company saw us 10 minutes later driving off and exploring hidden coves and waterways we would not have normally seen on foot. After a couple of hours out of the road, we decided the heat of the day had passed and it was an ideal temperature to collect the dogs and let them share with us our sightseeing experience. Back to the hotel we went, dropped the back seats of the car, covered them with our traveling blankets and loaded the Danes in ready for their trip around the island. We had been traveling a few kilometers down a very narrow, winding and extremely dangerous road when a car behind started to furiously BLAST their horn. Now I have to say, Craig is a great driver, but patience with road hogs he does not suffer to well.

“Stay calm” I said in a reassuring voice, “Just let them BLAST their horn because it is impossible for them to pass”
We continued a few more kilometers and now this road hog is mounting the grass verge and trying to pass, screaming at us in a very angry Greek attitude. I could see Craig now beginning to get himself agitated by this car so I asked him to pull over so the car could pass. Happy to oblige, Craig pulled over, but the testosterone levels now at boiling point, his male pride would not let this car pass without him at least shouting something back that sounded equally as rude as what this ROAD HOG was shouting at us. The car passed and came to a halt at our side, our window was quickly would down and Craig asked “What is your problem, you can see this is a single road and impossible to overtake, the sun is hot and I suggest you stop shouting”
“Stop shouting” he said “I will not stop shouting, I am the owner of the car you are driving and I do not want dogs in my car”
“Ahhhhhhh I see said Craig, but we did explain at the time of making the reservation that we had dogs.”
“Yes” he said “but not such big dogs like that.”

Now !!!!!!! what are the chances of driving down a country lane and bumping in to the owner of the car hire firm you have hired your car from whilst you are transporting 2 full size Great Danes on a sightseeing tour of the island ?

Greek balding men in the heat of the day with extremely high blood pressure do not make a good sight, so the easiest option was to smile, apologies most profusely and retreat back to the hotel to return the dogs to their room. It was so funny and we laughed at the time thinking we were like naughty school boys who had just raided the neighbor’s apple tree.

The day arrived for the show and in the reception area of the hotel whilst paying our bill; we met many old faces who had traveled from many of the Greek Islands also to visit the show. It is nice to catch up and see the enthusiasm and support coming to these local shows that in some ways are quite difficult places for many to travel to. A quick hello, and exchange of each others show results from previous shows and then off we went in search of the Exhibition Centre where the show was to be held. It is actually very easy to find once you have an idea of your location and 20 minutes later we were the first to arrive. First to arrive means best pick of spaces, spread your things out to save the all to annoying barking dog setting up home next to you and then sit watching the others arrive looking for a suitable spot to set up camp.

We met 2 really lovely young ladies from Athens who had traveled 9 hours with their American Cocker Spaniels. There was the Cretian Hound club and their selection of recently accepted in to the FCI ‘Cretian Hounds’. We met once again the local German Shepherd breeder who was local to the area and had a very good following along with many other faces we had begun to recognize from shows around Greece.

It was a great venue with beautiful sea views on your arrival and space doubled from the previous year. This was actually quite a good move as last year was rather cramped and difficult getting your dogs in and out of the ring. This year we had none of those problems as classes were a good size, the rings were manageable and there was space enough to maximize on your dogs potential.

Judges for the day were quickly observed. First judging the class was a Greek lady by the name of Dekaristou, Maria-Marionka an All Breeds Judge, GROUP FINALS AND BEST IN SHOW JUDGE.

A really impressive background on dogs and involved in a project very dear to our hearts, that of the welfare of animals that have been abandoned or rejected.

The other Judge was a Russian gentleman by the name of Kupliauskas, Jevgenij an equally impressive background and always a great privilege to show under such a wealth of knowledge.

The show proceedings were opened with prayer from the local Priest, which as overseas visitors we found to be nice and personal giving a local feel to the event. Show started around 1030hrs. Classes moved fairly quickly as the judge gave her opinion and wrote out her critiques and all eyes were on her winning dogs to check out her style. I have to say from a judge’s point of view and from an organiser’s point of view; there really should be a basic dress code for some of these events. I am very much from the old school and I have covered this point many times in previous show news reports. If you are expecting to be taken at all seriously in the show ring, then respect the judge who travels many miles to assess your dog and respect the show organiser who has spent many months putting this event together and dress with an element of respect for the dog you are showing. If you can at least go this far towards PRESENTATION you are half way towards winning the points you are there for in the first place. I saw people running around the ring the wrong way, showing their dogs on the wrong side, letting their dogs become most uncontrollable in the ring and angry onlookers shouting abuse whilst the show was in progress. This is no way to carry on at a dog show and as we have been dog show educated in the UK and over in Australia, there is a certain show etiquette and the sooner we all start to learn a few principles from this requirement, shows in Europe will be elevated to a different level. This show I have to say was by far better than most we have attended and it was refreshing to see a very clear message going out regarding the double handling going on at ring side, a practice most show organisers are getting extremely tired of and now seem to be fighting back to eliminate it. It’s a start and credit goes out to all those organisers who are standing firm and removing the offenders from the ring.

First to show was Zac in Champion class, we approached the ring, waited our turn and then moved slowly as requested to stack in front of the judge. The smile on the judgeís face filled me a little with confidence that despite her own breed of the Papillion, she may just also like big dogs. Zac stood to attention!!!!! STAND I said to him, SHOW. The judge went over him from top to bottom. How old is he? Three and a half years old I said. He is beautiful, like a statue. Thank you very much, I said. He is actually a Champion in 9 countries and Grand Champion in 2, I informed excitedly. Well he deserves it replies the judge. By now Zac is relaxed and enjoying the judges comments and his ears stand to attention. Me on the other hand, beads of perspiration running down my back, hands all wet and I hear the instruction, please run your dog once around the ring and then corner to corner. Now Zac if you read my Switzerland report at this point decided to call it a day, so what was he going to do today I wonder.

Good boy Zac, show time, lets go!!!!! and off we went around the ring in just the way we have all begun to expect of Zac. He was a dream, moved like a spring lamb and shows all his Champion qualities. We did our corner to corner and then both Zac and I stood to attention, always observing the judge at all times. There was lots of writing, a little smiling between the judge and the lady writing the critiques, I later discovered to be a language misunderstanding. Zac we are happy to say won his Champion class and then we were thanked and asked to leave the ring being handed our critique which read:

SUPER DOG, EXCELLENT IN EVERY WAY. EVEN IF I TRIED TO HARD TO FIND ANYTHING WRONG, I COULDN’T. THIS DOG IS A TRUE CHAMPION AND GIVES A GREAT PLEASURE TO JUDGE HIM. EXCELLENT PRESENTATION, A REALLY SUPER MOVER.

We then prepared to take in Odette, both of who had been entered in to the Champion classes respectively. Once again we were given our instruction and we obeyed to the command. Stacked and showing her highest qualities, Odette really caught the eye of the judge again.

“Both very beautiful Danes you have, you should be very proud” and then she went over Odette from top to bottom “Can I see her teeth please?”
Odette, Teeth, good girl and as good as gold she did not move a muscle whilst the judge went over her teeth.
Once again I would like you to move your dog around the ring and then do corner to corner. This is when Odette comes in to her own and so we set off with all eyes watching and to the click of cameras. She glides and floats around as though she is on air, she just loves it and she knows she is on full show. We came to a halt, stacked once again and allowed the judge to write her critique. Happy to say the critique was of the highest standard and Odette took winning place in Champion class, her critique reading !!!!!.

ANOTHER SUPER DOG, EXCELLENT TAIL, SHE DESERVES ALL THE TITLES THAT SHE HAS, SWEET AND LOVELY DOG, SHE IS NOT RUNNING IN THE RING, SHE IS FLYING, EXCELLENT PRESENTATION.

Now we have the unenviable position of Best of Breed with both Zac & Odette in the head to head. Both received an Excellent on the critique and both had been awarded CAC & CACIB.

I have a very difficult decision here said the judge as both Danes are beautiful, but my final choice is going to the Dog, Zsacharias. Wow, we were over the moon and so happy that the judges choice was such a close one between Zac and Odette and Odette is really now starting to come in to her own, quite coincidently at the similar age to when Heidie started to realise what it was all about.

So here we were in preparation for group which to be honest I have to say is always a difficult one. Compared to some of the other groups we always face some very tough and stiff competition and it is never guaranteed a place. At the end of B.O.B I made a point of thanking the judge for her super and very complimentary critique to which she replied;

“If I was judging Best IN SHOW, I have to say I would seriously be looking at placing your dog, he is beautiful and when I feel from my heart something is so good, I wish for it to happen. Unfortunately I am not the judge for Best In Show so I can only wish you the very best of luck”

What a lovely and reassuring comment for her to make and how kind to say such complimentary things about both Zac & Odette.

Groups were soon called and in a different order to how we expected, so nearly missed our call. Fortunately the ring steward saw us at ring side and quickly told us to get into the ring. We moved slowly in to place and I have to admit, for my particular liking it was not the best place in the line up for Zac to show himself to full potential. He had a dog behind him that was getting a little to close for comfort and then to my horror his show lid came undone and I was left fumbling to get it back on again. Lucky for me the judge was now down at the other end of the line up and missed my little accident and when he returned we had regained composure and were standing to attention.

Third place, second place, to me they were just a blaze of names and dogs, all I wanted to do was make sure this first place which still had not been announced went to Zsacharias. First place is the Harlequin Great Dane. !!!!!!!! Oh my goodness me, I felt like a Miss America finalist, overcome with emotion and so proud of Zac and so very privileged to have been chosen by this very authoritative judge. This is the judge that was going to be judging Best In Show, so again happy that he had chosen us, feeling he may recognise us and place us in the Best In Show line up, but this was something we would just have to wait and see.

Groups came and went, then they went on to do Best Puppy which I have to say the Harlequin Great Dane puppy took 2nd placing, so well done to him and then on to Best In Show. By now the crowd had built up around the main ring and it was so gratifying to know that they had stayed to see the final part of the show. At this point so many have left and the best part of the show is left with a hand full of hardcore show groupies, staying to offer their support and see the outcome of the day.

In we all went and presented when requested to the Best In Show judge. We were then broken down in to smaller groups and asked to run our dogs and then it was the turn of the remaining group. The judge looked us all up and down, kindly shook all our hands which makes such a difference to know that they also appreciate our hard work and efforts and that they can see the dedication that has gone in to getting this far.

Announcements in reverse order and I am looking at the club President for a clue when she was taking instruction from the judge, but not a clue did I get. I stood there, Zac stacked like he knew he had to stand out in a crowd and 3rd place was announced. A round of applause and a few cheers and third place took to the podium. 2nd place was announced and once again that all familiar sound of cheers for yet another popular choice. First place was !!!!!!! the silence seemed to take forever and I stood there thinking, well either we have done very well or we have blown it big time. First place and Best In Show goes to the Harlequin Great Dane, Zsacharias. Yes we had done it again, but this time in a country not our own, which I have to say for us is more important than the place itself. Donít get me wrong, Best In Show is the best accolade we could have bestowed upon us at any show, but to be accepted amongst local clubs who have also worked very hard to get to the final line up was in itself more than our words could express. People genuinely cheered and applauded us as we ran around the ring and we really do owe a huge thank you to the judges, firstly for believing in us and second for having the faith to place us in such an honourable position in the show, representing the clubs show and a country we were merely visitors to.

We came out of the ring on a complete high and we have to personally thank the clubs President Elena Alexandri along with her husband who were one of the first to congratulate us. To both judges who I have to say it was an honor and a privilege to show under and to the show stewards and show personnel, both in front and behind the scenes, thanks to them for what they did to make life so much easier on the day.

It was a great venue, a great show in terms of it’s organization and the results of the day made our journey all the more worth while. Like the Switzerland show last week, we would fully urge anyone to make the journey the next time a show is organized and we look forward to returning, not only to the show in Crete, but to supporting the other Greek Societies Shows as so far they have all proved to be very well run ad very well organized. Like so many who have not experienced the European show circuit, despite many of the comments that come my way regarding the standard of dog being poor, that titles are easy to win, that European titles do not have the same value as titles in non FCI ruled areas and that the standard of judging is by far lower than non FCI governed regions. What I would say to all those who express their thoughts openly and have not yet experience the European culture, please accept our FCI invitation, come and show your dogs here in Europe, sample it first hand and let us see how well you do in a country where dogs are judged on their quality and standard and not on the person at the end of the lead. We have a very tough circuit indeed, the FCI rules are very clear and the FCI judges I have had the priviledge to show under are as experienced and knowledgable as any up for the challenge. So please do not sit there thinking we have an easy time of it, believe me we do not. We have stiff competition, we have a very high standard of dogs and many of the most famous lines have come from European shores.

We have our own specialty show next week in Nicosia where we will be taking 9 Great Danes and then for all you would be travelers, our Double International Show is being held on the weekend of the 21st / 22nd October. Cyprus will play host to the Mediterranean Winners Show again to be held in Nicosia and I would urge all that can attend to either show or just support all those that have entered. They should to get in touch with the Cyprus Kennel Club. It will be a really good show weekend with the added bonus of the Mediterranean Show also being a Crufts 2008 qualification show.

From the show it was a swift transfer to the airport ready for our return flight to Cyprus.

The whole weekend was most enjoyable, it was a credit to all the organizers and once again we would like to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for giving us such a lovely weekend.

Special thanks also to Sam, her mum & dad who were a family we met in the hotel and who’s daughter (Sam) took to the Danes as though they were her own. So insistent was she that she came to the show, her mum and dad hired a car and brought her along as our support, so a big thank you to them. Our congratulations are sent to John & Eve who have 2 of our puppies and who’s daughter got married and who’s event we had to miss because of a clash on dates. Special thanks once again to the judges for their confidence in us that we were worthy winners. Thanks to the whole Heraklion canine Society for making us feel so welcome and finally to all those supporters who we did not get the time to talk to but who clearly loved Zac and Odette as they ran round the ring.

Last but not least, Apollodane Great Danes would like to dedicate this BEST IN SHOW win as a part of the Apollodane Great Danes tribute to ; Aust Ch Stordansk G’Stone Webe Awesum Imp USA and who can be found here. He is the Grand father to our girl Odette and our girl Heidie and Great Grandfather to our new puppies, unfortunately he passed away this time last week and we send Julie and family all our love.

Our show photos were all taken professionally at the show by RIALTO photo videography and will be forwarded to us some time this week when we can get them straight on to the web site and the link will appear as a separate e-mail for you all to view.

We were sitting minding our own business at the Cyprus dog show in Limassol when a guy came over to us to ask a few questions about our Danes. He seemed rather charming and one is always suspicious when numerous questions are being asked all at once. The guy then revealed he was from a satellite TV station and wanted to know if he could come to our home to film a small piece on Great Danes, having a small interview granted and take a few photos and movie shots. Happy as we are to oblige, we invited him up to our home and let him put us through the paces. He asked for a dog in the shot as we were being interviewed and proceeded to get us wired up for sound in time for action.

Cameras started rolling, we were asked a series of questions and the interview seemed to cover the whole world of Danes and dog breeding. Great we thought, he would take the best bits, edit them and show them in a few seconds on air in his TV show. Well !!!!! that is what we thought, but NO. Today the DVD arrived after the show had been screened and this was the result. Little did we know we would be stars of the show for the whole TV programme. WE just laughed so much when we played it back as you are not aware when you are being filmed how different you seem to speak and react. So please sit back, pull up a box of chocolates and a stiff drink and enjoy the small video clip. Best Wishes to all from all at www.apollodane.com

We would like to inform all our friends that our Grand Champion Bitch Heidie and our Grand Champion Dog Zsacharias have produced their first gorgeous litter on the 1st april 2007. View the Pedigree Chart here.

In the litter we have 10 beautiful puppies all fit and well and the proud mother is taking to her role with ease.

We have in the litter:

• 3 Mantle puppies (2 dogs and 1 bitch)

• 7 Harlequin puppies (3 dogs and 4 bitch)

If you are still interested in any of the pups and have not yet completed the online registration form. Please do so here.

Please do so in order to allow us to make the necessary selection process, ensuring that any dog which is sold is going to the correct home and environment for the puppy’s best interests.

Find the permanent new litter page here.

For those faint at heart, or of a weak disposition, read no further. This entry carries a PG rating and may cause offence to those who are happy reading the less informative novel or something with a romantic twist.

We are now becoming seasoned travellers, hardened round the edges to those minor travel hiccups that occur as a matter of routine when globe trotting around Europe.

Our day starts in earnest, a great journey from Paphos to Larnaca and the smoothest of check in’s you could wish for with 2 full size Vari Kennels, 2 full on Great Danes and clothing enough to film the next sequel to “Return Of The Ice-age” I am not kidding you, Craig really must suffer with Obsessive Behaviour Disorder as every time he packs the case, you really would think he was leaving home for good. We have spare this, spare that and spare the other, just in case. Just in case what is beyond me, as all I need are my 2 signature suits, one red one yellow, my show leads and a pair of shoes I can run in without fear of them coming off in the ring as they once did during a lap of honour for a Reserve Best In Show, oh there I go, title dropping again. Well you better get used to it as there are quite a few titles to drop over the next few paragraphs, some of which I hope like us you will raise a glass to our trusted and most loyal companions, “THE GREAT DANE” “cheers” and enjoy their success as we have done.

So now fully checked in and I have to say, Cyprus Airways have now really got our travel arrangements down to a fine art. They are kind, caring and very compassionate when it comes to check in. They take our request, they process the paperwork with the minimum of fuss and they happily apply their 50% discount on the dogs very own frequent flyer card. Yes we have our very own “DOGGIE FREQUENT FLYER CARDS” a great little initiative set up by our local Kennel Club Of Cyprus and our local airline carrier, Cyprus Airways.

All boarded and bound for our first stop over in Frankfurt, we settle back and get ourselves focussed on the time ahead. I have never been a big on board reader, going more for people watching or just staring out of the window wondering even after 40 years of flying and 25 years running my own travel agency chain, just how do they keep those aircraft in the sky. Before long our four hour flight is on descend, our seatbelts are safely fastened and the mobile phones left on in peoples pockets start to ring the tune similar to that of the local bell ringers practise night down at the local school hall.

The arrivals lounge at Frankfurt airport is one of the largest I have seen in many years. It is a very impersonal sort of place and you can almost cut through the tension and vibes the staff give off. Craig & I quickly get in to our routine, him for the luggage, me to sort out where the dogs will come in from, to reduce hassle and stress for the dogs. I approach a gentleman in uniform, asking in a very polite manner where I would be likely to collect 2 very large dogs from. He pointed me in a direction on the other side of the arrivals hall without speaking a word and only half lifting his eyes from the local newspaper he was engrossed in.

“Hello” I said to the gentleman I had been directed to,

“Do you speak English”

“I have just arrived on the Cyprus Airways flight from Larnaca and wondered if you would be so kind as to assist me, telling me where I can collect 2 very large dogs that accompanied us on the same flight”

Again pointing now in the very opposite direction, I realised things here in Frankfurt were going to prove a little difficult. Patience is a virtue I told myself, stay calm and all will come good. Off I went, back to the other side of the arrivals hall, once again to approach the gentleman in uniform I had first asked the question to on first arriving. I am now beginning to feel a real sense of inappropriate behaviour, rudeness and a lack of care for pets and live stock. I asked if it was possible to speak with a supervisor of the arrivals hall as my thoughts as a passenger where that I was not getting the assistance I required, I therefore needed the intervention of a little more authority, somebody with a little bit of care and compassion. Actually, care and compassion are two things we found totally lacking at Frankfurt Airport, but undeterred we pursued our investigations with a different approach, this time interjecting with a few demands rather than polite request as we had already unsuccessfully tried. Nobody seemed in a position to either want to help or be in a position to help and with 2 dogs anywhere in Frankfurt Airport at this time, my patience was running out. The uniformed figures disappeared and we were left wondering what our next move was. A strange country, a strange airport, 2 dogs missing and not a sign of help anywhere to be found. Suddenly, on a conveyor belt the speed of lightening, our 2 dogs arrived, both about to crash in to each other if action was not taken immediately to stop the belt. When the request was made we were greeted with,

“we can’t make the belt stop”

Not quite the favoured response, especially as there was a red stop button the size of a soup bowl right next to where the guy was standing. Craig did just manage to catch the button with his foot as all hands were full trying to stop the cages banging in to each other, the belt came to a halt and 2 very, very stressed Great Danes emerged. After a short time of composure, we collected our things, balanced them precariously on the odd shaped trolleys and passed our way to the customs hall.

Now!!!!!!!! You have to imagine the scene. We are 2 guys dressed very smart, we have 2 of the largest Vari Kennels balanced on top of very odd shaped trolleys, in other words, we were really struggling to make any headway in direction, one way or the other. On top of that we each have a Great Dane out of the cage and walking by our side, in addition to all our luggage, that of my O.B.D partner who has packed for the Siberian winter and another case full of dog grooming equipment to service the entire dog show. It was only then did we realise that the first confrontation we had encountered with the unhelpful official on “bulky item reclaims” was making his way to the customs official. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, whatever makes me think our encounters with these surly officials is far from over.

“Good Morning” I say in a jolly way,

“How are you this morning” Oh yes, I forgot, these are men in uniforms at Frankfurt Airport, they are not paid to be polite, respond in a kind way or indeed show that they have a side to them that is less robotic than an Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator film extra.

“I want to see in that case” he says pointing at the case, not on the top of my luggage mountain, but the one at the very bottom. You’re having a laugh I thought to myself, but not wanting to disappoint, I asked for assistance to remove it from the pile.

“That’s not my job” he said in a raised voice.

“No, I fully appreciate that it is not your job, all I am requesting is a little assistance so I can fulfil your request. As you can see I have 2 very large dogs, I am trying to manoeuvre a very odd shape luggage trolley and you wish to see, not the case on top of my pile, but the one at the very bottom, so without wishing to appear rude or disrespectful, I would say that you are trying to be obstructive in your demands”

“PUT THE CASE ON THE COUNTER” he now shouts,

“DO IT NOW OR YOU WILL BE ARRESTED FOR OBSTRUCTION”

Oh I thought to myself, this man really does have an identity problem, or very small genitalia, both of which usually require a uniform and a position of power to counter balance the problem. I wasn’t about to question the size of his genitalia the mood he was in, so I thought it best to pamper to his identity problem. I turned to Craig and asked that I hold his dog whilst he picked up the Vari Kennel, removed the luggage from underneath and presented it to the now very irate and very audible customs official who by this time had gathered round him his working colleagues with equally sizeable identity problems or matching miniature genitalia. As Craig lifted the Vari Kennel, the water from inside the drink bowls spilt on the floor and as Craig went to put the requested suitcase on the counter, he slipped, lost his balance, fell in a direction of the customs officer and then all hell broke loose. Zac jumped in to the air thinking this was a game, we were surrounded by 8 uniform clad custom officials with CS Gas pointed towards us, semi automatic guns focussed on both Craig, myself and the dogs. Craig was then pushed head first into his luggage and secured in handcuffs and the area was cleared of all passengers. What then followed was the biggest nightmare I have ever encountered in my entire life. Craig was marched away by 4 of the 8 officials; he was taken in to a room and beaten until marked. He was then strip searched, he was tested for drugs, alchol and had all his clothing removed for this process. Needless to say, their tests proved unfounded which seemed to aggravate them even more. He was then intimidated by the ring leader of this gang of airport employed thugs to a point they thought they would reduce him in to some sort of aggressive response. Fortunately for Craig, he maintained a level of calm and allowed them to continue with their beating, knowing that in a closed room full of airport officials; his alibi against theirs would not stand a chance. It is terrible that we are made to feel like this, but this is the reality of dealing with men in uniforms in a strange country. I am at this point surrounded by the other 4 guys, still with guns towards me and still with gas canisters pointing in the direction of the dogs.

“PUT THOSE DOGS AWAY NOW” one of them screamed at me, “NOW DO YOU HEAR ME”

“Yes I did hear you the first time and my dogs are not aggressive, they are show dogs, show dogs that are now getting very stressed”

“I insist you bring a VET immediately and if you do not, I will report you to the authorities”

within minutes a VET arrived, she defused the immediate situation and went to get our dogs some water. I am at this point also taken to a side room where I was checked for drugs, not only on my person, but in my system. They took hair samples, mouth swabs and wrist swabs, they breathalysed me and they went through every item of my luggage piece by piece. They knew by looking at our tickets we were transit passengers with three hours to connect to our onward flight to Zagreb. I knew their game and I knew what was going to happen and that was, unfortunately they had made such a spectacle of themselves, they had now to justify their actions.

“WHICH CASE BELONGS TO YOUR FRIEND” they demanded.

“He does not have a case, we are sharing a case. We are going to a dog show in Zagreb, we have a connection in 3 hours and all our things are together”

“We will take you to your connection, you can get your flight and your friend will stay here until we have finished with him”

That’s very strange I thought, “On what basis are you keeping my friend”

“ASSAULT” they replied.

“OK” I said, “Let me explain to you. My friend and I have travelled together, I was there at the time of the incident and there is no way that it can be classed as an assault, so unless you have incredible witnesses, backed up by supporting camera evidence, I really think you are making a very big mistake. We both leave together, or we both stay and if we stay, you then have the problem you have created with our dogs that will then have exceeded the time allocated for them to be in the air travelling. This is now clearly about pride and about money, so let us now talk to the airport Police, the official Police on the airport, we are all very tired and this whole situation is getting quite out of hand. If we do not get to speak to the official airport Police then for sure we will be pressing our own charges. Within minutes the airport Police were brought in, statements were made various options were offered and to be honest, at this point, with 2 dogs in tow, a show to attend and a no win situation (uniforms tend to stick together) I asked how much they wanted for us to be in a position to leave. A figure of £500 was quoted, we were escorted to the cash machine, they took our money and we had literally minutes to get our onward tickets to Zagreb and continue our journey.

We sat on the 1hr 30minute flight from Frankfurt to Zagreb, exhausted and angry that we had allowed the situation to pass without pressing for further action. The reality of the situation is, when you are in this situation and you know people have a point to make; you are never ever going to win, so the easiest option is to agree and walk away. So many people are behind bars and in prison cells for crimes they did not commit and it is easy to see why. Here we were two guys, travelling smart, being polite, drug & alchol free. Our only crime was that we probably portrayed a lifestyle that many in their position dream of and envy. Jealousy and resentment set in, they try to intimidate you by fear and when you do not submit, they create a situation they know will cause problems, i.e making you miss your flight.

I am convinced from a feeling at the very bottom of my psyche, the reason they were insistent on knowing which case belonged to Craig was so they could plant something in there wholly inappropriate and illegal. They just made too much of a big thing about which was his case and wanting to know where his things were. We will never know and we will never get to the bottom of the mystery, but from our point of view FRANKFURT AIRPORT BEWARE stay away at all cost, do not give your business to Lufthansa the local carrier and handling agents as we found them to be totally incompetent in their care for dogs, they had a general disregard for passenger welfare and their arrogance, intimidation and obstructive behaviour is not something fare paying passengers wish to encounter. That is opinion based on our experience and it is for you to take note and make up your own choice, all we can do is guide you as we have experienced.
We will NEVER travel Lufthansa based on this experience, we would NEVER travel through FRANKFURT based on this experience and when it comes to travelling to shows with our dogs, we have learned direct services are the only option we would consider for the welfare of our dogs.

Arrival in Zagreb was a huge relief; the airport staff were in complete contrast, helpful, polite and genuinely interested in why we were visiting their country. We had arranged transport through a local guy Kruno Canic http://www.eco.hr/ I have to say, in my search, this guy was the only one who came to my assistance, except that is for a friend Anti Lucin who we had met previously at a show in Athens and in his limited time frame managed to come up with some suitable alternatives, thanks to Anti for that. Anyway our guy Kruno, who you would best describe as a facilitator, not only found us the perfect vehicle, but instead of having to negotiate our way around Zagreb over the whole 4 days, he provided a driver who collected us at specified times, drove us to our destination and collected us when we were finished. We could not have been more delighted with his service, he was on time, and he had a local knowledge second to none. For those of you reading my site, ever deciding to visit Croatia or any region within a 500kl radius, give this guy a call. He will organise hotels that are dog friendly, he will transport you and your dogs or he will get you transport, he will point you in the best direction for making your trip enjoyable and hassle free and he is always on the end of a phone which he can even supply for your duration, to save on those overseas charges when you need only to make internal calls. He even visited us at the show, brought his family along for support and took some of the nicer photographs whilst I was in the ring with Heidie & Zac. Special thanks to Kruno, Renea, Dominic for their support and assistance.
We drove to the hotel, it was dark, it was late and we were all very tired. On entering the hotel, the strong smell of painters varnish engulfed the reception area; two painters were busy trying to make use of the time when there were no customers about and there were cloths and ladders everywhere. We checked in and were directed to our room. A small 60’s style room that had seen better days and not really in keeping with a standard of accommodation either Craig or I had been used to. The most important thing was, we could at least feed our dogs, take them for a much deserved walk and just collapse in to the bed which filled four corners of the room. We were so tired and so hungry, we had actually passed the point of resistance, we fell in to bed and not a murmur did anybody hear from us until early the next morning.

It was a lovely crisp, sunny autumn day, the dogs had been fed, watered and walked and we had satisfied our hunger by taking a full cooked breakfast. We then decided to explore the surrounding area in the hope of getting a feel for Croatia. A few kilometres in to our walk we passed a beautiful hotel, new in design and adjoining a selection of very upmarket shops. The hotel was called Hotel Antonovic Zagreb. Craig went in to check availability and to see if they had any policy on the acceptance of dogs and we were shown promptly to a selection of rooms by one of three very polite, able and conscientious reception staff members. We decided to go for the larger room, although more expensive than originally quoted, it was more than adequate for our needs. There was a lovely health spa, business facilities a lovely restaurant and it was very central to the main town. The gentleman on reception even provided us with a vehicle large enough to transport our dogs from the hotel we would check out of, back to this new and impressive hotel. Within 45 minutes, we had returned to our original hotel, packed our belongings, paid our bill and checked out. We were transported courtesy of the new hotel back to the Hotel Antonovic Zagreb, we unloaded the luggage, moved in the Vari Kennels and then collected the dogs, taking them in and up via the public areas as quickly as possible so as not to cause disturbance. Just as we were about to enter the room the guy from reception came up to the third floor and informed us, the manager of the hotel a Mr Goran Kartelo had seen the dogs and told his staff to advise us the hotel did not have a policy for dogs, this was despite being clearly told by three staff members a price per night in addition to our own cost and actually accepting the booking, even after seeing the dogs. I could not believe what I was hearing. Here we are, having being moved out of our previous hotel by the Hotel Antonovic Zagreb on the understanding that our booking was to be accepted, now we were being told that that confirmation was not now valid and that we would have to leave. I am now starting to wonder, was it the size of our dogs that people took a dislike to, or had we suddenly turned in to some sort of football hooligan look a likes. After a long and very in depth debate with the manager there was no way he was going to change his mind and back down. He had completely undermined the decisions taken by three of his staff in front of them, he had realised his position was now in question as the directive and pet price had obviously come from somewhere in his establishment and as a compromise offered me the use of the transporter van which would be left out on the street for my dogs to sleep in whilst we enjoyed the facilities of the hotel. My reaction to that was of pure horror and disgust. I would have slept in the van myself first before subjecting my dogs to a night on the streets in the back of a van where crime is not the lowest in Europe. How dare this obnoxious and very rude man even suggest such a thing. I asked if he had children to which he puffed up his chest and proudly answered,

“yes, I have children”

“then may I ask, would you be happy letting them spend the evening in your van, out on the streets for just an hour, let alone a full night”

“ no” he says “and I do not know how you can compare my children with your dogs”

well that’s actually very easy when they have a parent with such little knowledge of animal welfare and customer care to look up to as a role model. The three reception staff were at this point in total embarrassment, more for the reaction of their immediate superior, the gentleman they were supposed to rely upon for direction and support and here he was making a complete fool of himself for all to see. The head receptionist kindly called another hotel who were happy to accept our booking and who looked beyond the dogs we had managing to see it as a financial gain along with any free advertising this booking would create by word of mouth bookings through our UK based travel agency business. We moved quickly on to the Best Western Premier Astoria Hotel in the town centre. A beautiful hotel and a General Manager any company should be proud to employ. She was accommodating to our needs, sympathetic to our experiences at the Hotel Antonovic Zagreb and was very quick to correct any of the wrongs this rude and very unprofessional man had tarnished his country and his profession with. Our stay there was most memorable, the kind staff were quick to ask how our day at the show had gone and there were numerous photo calls with staff members and our Danes. I have to say, realising his unprofessional manner may do him more harm than good, that same evening he appeared at the Astoria Hotel in an effort to redeem himself and extend an apology for his unacceptable behaviour. It’s nice to see that at least some people know when they are wrong and they have the backbone to go out of their way to try and put it right. Our thoughts on this are such that, in Croatia, make sure you get it in writing as what is said is not always what is done, this was the advice given by our facilitator Kruno. Or as we later discovered, let the likes of the facilitator do it all for you to save confusion or misunderstanding.

Saturday was an early start and we needed to be at the show arena and checked in by 0800hrs. A great venue and my first impression was how very organised and how very professional it all looked. Three very large show arenas, indoors and set out in such a way to allow access all the way round the edge which was home to pet shop units and show memorabilia. It actually reminded me of a mini Crufts and I was surprised to see just how many dogs were filing in through the gates. Outside there were motor homes in abundance, all sizes from the over night size to the week long stay deluxe look at me I have loads of money type. We found our spot away from the ring as this had been over crowded by Doberman and Rottweiler owners, not a good mix with a Great Dane when fighting to get in to the ring. Our cages set up, our dogs settled; we sat back and watched with anticipation. Classes were large, standard was high and a sneak peak at the other Great Danes left us a little nervous. There were 32 Great Danes entered in the book and it looked like our biggest competition certainly on paper was the Polish World Dog Show 2006 B.O.B World Champion. The Great Danes eventually came to their slot shown in colour groups and then set up against each other, Best Of The Best.

Zac was first to be shown and as predicted he sailed through his various classes. Proud as punch we then entered the ring with Heidie. Heidie has always liked to be shown, but these last few occasions she has been more content cuddling up to Zac and wondering when it is they two will be getting it together and having a family rather than performing in the ring. She presented well, her move around the ring excellent, her stack was first class, then he asked to see her teeth.

“TEETH HEIDIE” I say sternly so she knows what is expected of her. That was it, memories of the judge in Bulgaria must have come flooding back to her.

“No way” she must have said to herself, you poked a pen in my mouth last time and it hurt, there is no way you will do that to me again.

“GOOD GIRL HEIDIE, TEETH”

“no, I have told you, I am not going to show you my teeth, so there”.

“COME ON HEIDIE, TEETH, GOOD GIRL”

“good girl me all you want, there is no way I am showing you my teeth, so lets get this thing over with and let me get back to my cage, its far to busy, its far to noisy and I have other things on my mind like when I am going to come in to season”.

“OK” the judge says, “round the ring once, forget the teeth.”

Off we go, round the ring and in to a perfect stack. The judge comes over, shook my hand and we get Best Bitch Open Class, but she missed out on being given an excellent critique and the possibility of Croatian Champion. Well young lady, that’s what you get when you start to play games, the judges are not impressed and you really get what you deserve. So we are now left with B.O.B to decide and yes it was our Zac and as I thought, the Harlequin World Champion who with her numerous other Champion titles was a force to be reckoned with, especially as she was being handled by a very competent and very experienced professional handler from Croatia, points in his favour immediately I thought. We both stood with perfect ease, the bitch being show on an extended lead, Zac as normal solid as a rock. Once, twice, three times round the ring, like a gazelle he moved.

“Stack”, “move”, “up”, “down”, “stack”, “round the ring again”, the judge demands. This was exhausting, not only for the dogs, but for us handlers. The judge moves in, he takes a final look and then shakes the hand of the winning Great Dane Best Of Breed handler and do you know what, I am very proud to say, that handler was none other than “yours truly Paul Bainbridge from our very own Apollodane Great Danes” YES we had done it, we had taken the title B.O.B and we had taken it from under the very nose of the Polish World Show World Champion. We were delighted to win and we were over the moon to have accomplished it with such stiff competition. I went over and shook hands with the other handler and I went over to shake hands with the owner, but more importantly it was our Zac who deserved all the glory as he really did out perform and show what it is he is really made of.

Now we have the long wait to the Group, always an opportunity to catch up with friends and send text messages back home to inform of our success. There we sit, minding our own business and thinking to ourselves how very quiet it was considering there were Groups to do and a Best In Show. We strolled over to the Secretary and asked where the Groups were being held and at what time, to which we were told, they had started about 1 hour ago in another hall adjacent to the one we were sitting in patiently. A mad dash followed by a selection of grooming aides, we ran as fast as our legs would carry us in to the hall. It was massive and absolutely packed to the rafters with people and dogs. Finding a steward we asked in a panic,

“Could you please tell us when Group 2 is on”

“Immediately after this she said, this is Group 1”

wow, we had just made it, one of the problems we have found showing in a strange country were the local language is not your own mother tongue. Group 1 went in and Group 2 was at the ready, the Great Dane Hildydane Zsacharias at the very front. I learned my lesson long ago, our Zac likes to show how he can move, so I need to get in first to show him to his best potential. A woman with a Dogge Argentino came to the front and said,

“may I go in first as my dog is a little vicious and does not like dogs in front of him”.

“No absolutely not” I replied,

“my dog is also vicious and needs to be in front”.

My dog was bigger than hers so she was not about to argue. The fact that Zac stood there with not an aggressive bone in his body made me feel a bit of a fraud, but in these shows, “you gotta do what you gotta do” in order to showcase your dog to its best potential. I stood there waiting for group 1 to be decided and just happened to ask the steward

“who was judging group 2″.

“It’s the German judge” she said, “the one that was judging your class”.

Oh my goodness, how fortunate is that. This is the guy that placed me over the World Show Harlequin World Champion. I asked,

“how many were in my group” to which I was told

“41 in the group and your now on, please run round the ring and the steward in the ring will tell you were to go”.

The applause is always gratefully received, especially in a foreign country were competition is stiff. I ran until my little legs would run no more, Zac showed himself a treat and as I passed the row of judges I heard a lady judge say in a loud voice

“ I love the colour of your suit”

We stopped at the full circuit, got ourselves in position and made sure that we angled ourselves sufficiently enough to be seen from all corners of the auditorium. Each dog came in, each dog presented in a similar manner, our Zac, well he just stood his ground listening for the occasional goat bell which Craig wears round his neck just incase Zac decides to drop his ears and take the relaxed approach. One tug on the bell, the ears go up, his eyes alert and his stance like a tiger about to jump on his prey.

“STAND ZAC, GOOD BOY, STAND” “ZAC, SHOW”

He responds to every word, every sound he familiarises with us is there to give him reassurances we are still in sight and his body is firm and taught, muscled from the summer of exercise, swimming and running. This is pay off time, the proud moment seeing him standing there knowing he knows what he is supposed to do. Once again we are asked to run around the ring and once again like the Lipizzaner horse he resembles, he trots around showing himself with the utmost pride and then we go in to show mode again. The group of 41 I can see being reduced. I don’t know what exactly it is he is throwing out as my nerves will not allow me to absorb such detailed information, just movement. Now we are down to 7 left in the ring, the lights burn down like a forest fire creeping towards you, I feel beads of perspiration trickle down my face,

“come on “ I say to myself, “I am going to dissolve any moment”, and then the announcement comes,

“third place “THE GREAT DANE” how happy were we to hear we had done so well. We jumped in to the air, we gave an almighty thump into those burning lights with joy and we ran to take our place on the winners box. As we both stood for photographs, I did as I always do, turned to the camera and as I smiled, under my breath I said “ thanks to our mentor for having faith in us”

Our time for today was over. Craig had done his bit in making sure all the dogs are fed, exercised and cared for before we arrive. He makes sure the dogs are ready for their classes on time and he makes sure that whilst we are in the ring showing, we are doing so to the highest levels. If we are not, a quick glance in his direction soon puts me right. We are a team effort you see and although the ring work is my domain, none of it is possible without his hard work and efforts. He says he is happy with the saliva towels and the groom shine and he is so proud when we are both having our photos taken.

So home we go, packed up and ready for another day tomorrow, only this time, more dogs, more Danes and a different set of judges to impress.

Sunday we headed back to our spot from yesterday. You get very superstitious and convince yourself it was the place you were sitting or the cloth you took in to the ring that helped you get first place the day before, so trying not to break tradition, you do things in much the same way once again. Today we were showing much earlier and the number of people seemed to have doubled from yesterday. Ring side was very busy, to busy in fact, the entrance often being blocked to get in to the ring for your class. Add to that the fact we could not understand the language, often meant we stood bemused at what was going on. It’s a little like understanding sign language if you are deaf or hearing impaired, you take on different qualities of the events going on around you. We have now mastered this and feel very relieved when our class is called in the sequence we have worked out. Heidie showed much better today, a judge clearly observant in animal behaviour, taking his time and getting the dog to pamper to his needs. Heidie showed her teeth as though she had just walked out of the dentist from a clean and polish, but today we have one very noticeable difference in her showing, that of her handler. Today Craig decided to come from behind the scenes and try his hand in the ring, It’s not entirely new to him having shown a little in Sydney when we were going through our induction with the master of all ring techniques Hildegard Schliefert. What you learn with her you will never forget, only because she would kick your backside the next time in the ring if you got it wrong ☺ Craig stood in the ring until instructed to move, he constantly showed Heidie even if he was not being requested to do so. His time in front of the judge was announced, he moved forward, he stacked beautifully, a little wide on the back legs, but a quick indication from me standing on the ringside soon put matters back in hand. He was asked to move the dog round the ring, he was asked to move her up and down and then finally he was asked to stack her and present her to the judge. The judge walked over to complete his critique, he took one final look and the winner once again of the Open Class was Hildydane Hildas Heidie, only this time Craig had achieved what I hadn’t and that was an excellent critique, a CAC & CACIB and the most coveted title of all Croatian Champion. Bravo to Craig, applause from all around the ring and applause to Heidie. As Craig soon found out, your moment of glory is short lived, he had to get out of the ring to make way for some serious competition (ME) I am not having him pinching my job, if I do who will be the saliva towel man ☺ Zac struts his stuff once again, sails through his class’s and once again is down for B.O.B. Unfortunately though, today was not Zacs day, B.O.B was not in his grasp and so we settled the weekend with both Heidie & Zac becoming Croatian Champions, both taking the additional title of Zagreb Winners, Zac had achieved B.O.B and both had taken away CAC & CACIB. The best reward of the weekend was that we had qualified Zac who started life on the other side of the world, first in Sydney then moving to Perth before his resting place here in Cyprus for CRUFTS 2007, so hopefully if his Rabies injection results are correctly timed we hope to see him there making a name for himself along with all the other quality Great Danes some of which we had the privilege of seeing last year.

So the titles now read over the past 6 weeks in 4 countries
BULGARIAN GRAND CHAMPIONS
CROATIAN CHAMPIONS
GREEK CHAMPIONs
CYPRUS CHAMPIONS
BULGARIAN CHAMPIONS
BALKAN CHAMPIONS
ZAGREB WINNERS
APHRODITE WINNERS
INTERNATIONAL CHAMPION
MULTI GROUP WINNERS
BEST IN SHOW WINNER
Add to that previous titles of
AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION
RESERVE BEST IN SHOW WINNER
BEST GREAT DANE CYPRUS

Our next show is on Saturday when we enter the double show in Athens. Zac is already qualified as Greek Champion so for him a B.O.B would be nice with CAC & CACIB. For Heidie she is just two CAC short for her Greek Champion, so full concentration on her this weekend and everything crossed.

We have really enjoyed the shows we have been to and we have seen many different levels of entrants with many styles of showing. What it has taught us is that our love of Great Danes is growing each day and what we are in the process of doing with support of the FCI and the Kennel Club Of Cyprus is set up the Great Dane Club of Cyprus with a view to improving the breeding programme and implementing strict codes of conduct which are to future benefit of the island.

We returned via Croatian Airlines again another very helpful airline, booking us, our luggage and our dogs all the way through from Zagreb to Larnaca without having to worry about collecting them in Frankfurt. Upon arrival once again in Frankfurt however, that same level of arrogance, that same level of obstruction and that same level of unhelpfulness was there to greet us. Once again the information Lufthansa ground handling supplied was less than reassuring, they once again lost track of our dogs, nobody could give me information as to their whereabouts and nobody really seemed to give a damn that I was travelling with 2 very large sized dogs, confirming my thoughts that FRANKFURT AIRPORT AND ITS STAFF has to be rated one of the most unhelpful airports anybody would have the misfortune to travel through in my opinion, so once again, for peace and convenience, stay away at all costs and use other airports and other carriers where ever possible if you really do care for your dogs as much as we do and do not want to go through the experiences we encountered.

Please continue to enjoy our site, please pass on our link to your friends to enjoy and we look forward to sharing our news of Athens sometime next week. Thank you for taking the time to read our show news, we will see you back here soon. X x

The planning starts in earnest, the Christening invitation having been received for quite a few weeks in advance. Both Craig and I have been asked to take on the responsibility of Godparents to the very cute and very charming Tamsin Hill, daughter to some very dear friends who we first were introduced to by their parents, know mutually in the business we previously ran back in the UK.

Being invited to become Godparents was indeed a great honour, especially in light of the fact that the couple, Johnny and Annabelle, have such a long list of the most diverse of characters that would have equally matched in terms of eligibility for the role. So accept we did and without further ado began to plan our trip. One of the first and major considerations we had to address was that of the care and wellbeing of our lovely family of Great Danes. Now all happily paired and in their respective runs, the care and maintenance was not such a big issue. What was a problem was making sure they still had the company and the companionship they have been used to. We managed our trip so that I went out a few days before Craig. That gave me sufficient time to catch up on the day to day things, the things that seem to take up all of your time. Also my father had been taken in to hospital and there were a few issues we needed to attend to on his behalf. Craig arrived on the Saturday prior to the Christening, just in time for the lovely meal which had be laid on, a sort of, getting to know the other Godparents and the remaining family. It was a lovely evening, no expense being spared and a real tribute to the hard work and effort that both Johnny and Annabelle put in to things.

Sunday saw a change in the weather, the sun shining for all to enjoy and the Christening going off without any troubles what so ever. Tamsin was an angel, keeping her smile throughout the service and a dry pair of christening knickers; it was safe to say “Tamsin Elizabeth Hill” was officially named, with all Godparents committing to their responsibilities and a nice finish to a lovely service.

A sumptuous party followed at the home of the family and then Craig & I departed to visit Dad in the hospital. We have a long way to go with dad and it’s an age thing and a pride thing rather than a life threatening medical thing, so patience is a virtue, as they say. We never like to see people suffer in any way, especially that of our parents and we always promise them we will look after them if things go wrong. Sometimes it’s difficult when hospitals are involved, but at least we try to do our best, we keep our fingers on the pulse and we never lose sight of the promise we made to them.

After a week back in the UK, we returned, exhausted, slightly confused at what we had left behind and frustrated that we could not sty longer to get through the politics surrounding the N.H.S. Our Danes were there to greet us, always a welcoming sign, they looked healthy, happy, full of the joys of spring and ready for hugs and cuddles and a bit of play time. Our live in housekeepers, Grace & Tony, God bless them, refused to take additional help and between them managed to do a great job looking after our little babies and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. They love them like they were their own, they know what we like and what we don’t like for our Danes and they make sure that their welfare is first and foremost in the days activities. So, that was the first break we have managed to take whilst in ownership of our Danes. All went well, there were no problems and we returned to a happy and healthy bunch.

Summer normally brings with it a collection of visitors, one of the advantages and sometimes disadvantages of living in such a beautiful country. There is a tendency for these people to sometimes forget this is our home and visits weekly to the water park or the Baths of Aphrodite can sometimes lose their appeal.

This week we have had a young lady we were asked by to be her guardian, following her divorce from her father and her parent’s separation. Sky has really balanced herself now and she has settled in to a routine at the London Fashion College which she has been studying at now for 12 months. She is majoring in shoe design and we can really see a future star in the making.

We have also had our dear friends Carol & Brian from Bristol visiting. They purchased a home in readiness for their retirement and are here for three weeks just breaking in slowly to retirement mode. Gary & Wilma, dear friends from Manchester have called in to see us, enjoying one of our housekeepers lovely Sri Lankan curries, so good was it, they returned the following day for a second helping.

Next week we have Dipak and family and then it’s time for our big event, the Hills daughters christening (Tamsin) Both Craig & I are Godparents, a responsibility we will have to take very seriously, we don’t want Tony & Pauline on our case over Christmas lunch over at their place, telling us we have been irresponsible Godparents.

So, did I say something about summer!!!!!! This period in the middle of the year that is consumed in other peoples holidays. That period were we are lucky if we see a full week of sunshine without interruption from yet more guests, or a time when your time is never your own.

Maybe next time Outer Mongolia would be lovely to buy a home in, I wonder then would we still see the same number of visitors. Why is it, they never want to come in the winter, Cyprus has so much to offer and really is at it’s best. The flowers are in bloom, the temperatures are more acceptable to sightseeing and the tourist attractions are not bursting at the seams with school children. Goodness me, why would anybody want to go away in the middle of summer. We had a rule that “no visitors in July or August” at least this way we were guaranteed a summer of our own, but to be honest, we love seeing people and we really enjoy their company, but maybe not all together as cries of Basil Faulty come to mind.

So we will continue to entertain and we will continue to pretend we love the sights we see every time we do the tourist run, but one thing is for sure, when our home in Thailand is finished, that will be our very own little winter hideaway. Mind you, how could we exclude our dear friends from Roxmann Dogs, who this year entertained us with their dog show stories during their summer visit.