Sweden
Report
Day 3 Shih Tzu Specialty,
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Today was the first
day of judging. Richard was judging some Terriers
at the All Breed Show and Wendy was off to the Shih
Tzu Specialty in a near by town of Vala approximately
one half hour away. She had an impressive entry
of 89. The show was held in a beautiful park overlooking
a lake. The manicured ring area was defined by individual
grooming tents of the various exhibitors in a friendly
and informal atmosphere. The Swedish Shih Tzu Club
Vastra was the sponsoring club and everything was
well organized and efficiently run and they were
offering an impressive assortment of trophies, prizes
and ribbons. The first classes to be judged were
male and female puppies from 4-6 months and 6-9
months.
Sweden is under the
FCI system and each of the dogs is first given a
grading of type and a written critique. Only the
dogs that were given a first excellent rating were
brought back into the ring to compete for placings
in each class. If a dog were awarded a 2, 3,or 0
quality rating they were finished for the day.In
each of the above classes depending on how many
were entered you could have 4 placings and a reserve
which made 5. The judge had to do assign a quality
rating of HP...Honour Prize for exceptionally promising
puppies.
The winners of the
4-6 puppy class was the female Zhan-Thai Ming-Tsing
Niwea owned by Marja-Liisa Otra-Aho and Best Opposite
was the male Vearlice A Zip Of Amaretto owned by
Christina Wallberg.
Winners of the 6-9
puppy class was a male Shu-Ling Zimply A Ztar Elviz
owned by Charlotte Silow and Best of Opposite a
female Zansaw's Mamma Mia owned by Carina Ohman.There
was quite a variety of types and quality in the
puppy classes. It will be interesting to see how
these two winners turn out as they both showed a
lot of potential and were of excellent quality.
The Best in Specialty
Puppy was Shu-Ling Zimply A Ztar Elviz owned by
Charlotte Silow. Unlike North America where the
puppies get to compete for Best Male and Female
these puppies were finished for the day.
Next was the judging
of all the male classes beginning with the Junior
Class which is from 9 - 15 months. This was followed
by the intermediate class which is from 15 - 24
months. Next was the Open Class for all unfinished
dogs, the Champion class for all Swedish Male Champions
and then the Veteran class. As with the puppies
each dog in a class except the Champion and Veteran
class, was first given a Grading of Type with only
the 1st- Excellent graded dogs competing in the
competition phase of each class. In additional to
placing these dogs 1-4 and a reserve for all the
above mentioned classes, the judge has to award
a Championshipquality Ck grade to any dog they wanted
to continue in the competition ie: Best Male. All
dogs awarded a Ck would then return to the ring
for the Best Male competition which again would
be placed 1-4 and a reserve. During the judging
of the above mention Junior, Intermediate and Veteran
classes the judge could also award an HP to any
dogs not receiving a Ck grading.
The non Champion dogs
are also competing for the CAC or Challenge Certificate.
A dog must win 3 CAC's to become a Swedish Champion
with at least one being after 24 months of age.
The same is repeated
for females and the Best Male and Best Female compete
for Best of Breed and Best Opposite.
Open Dog Class
Overall Best Male was from the Veterans Class.
8 year old Nor Du Ch Intu Ch Charity's Chinese 'N
Chequers owned by Asa Andersson.
2nd place Male was from the Champion Class was
Nor Du Ch Tangse Diamond Gun owned by Hans and Annicka
Eriksson (left side). Third place in the Males and
CAC winner from the Open Dog Class was Zansaw's
One Hell Of A Guy owned by Tarja Andersson (right
side).
Best Female and CAC winner from the Open Class
was Choowo-Liz Prinsessan Augusta owned by Monica
Sporre.
2nd place Female from the Open Class was Shansi
Alexus Bei Jing owned by Sannie Petersen (left side).
3rd place Female from the Open Class was Lyckobringarens
Cin-De-Rella owned by Matja-Liisa Otra-Aho (right
side).
Best In Specialty from the Open Bitch Class was
Choowo-Liz Prinsessan Augusta owned by Monica Sporre
(left side) and Best Opposite was from the Veterans
Class was
8 year old Norduch Intuch Charity's Chinese 'N Chequers
owned by Asa Andersson.(right side)
Best Veteran in Specialty
8 year old Norduch Intu Ch Charity's Chinese 'N
Chequers owned by Asa Andersson and Best Opposite
was 8 year old Su Ch Nellie-Nette's Dream Of Cheri
owned by Kate Johannesson.
In addition to the regular classes
there were several other classes including Progeny,
Breeders, Best Solid, Best Marked Black and White
and Best Cut Down.
It was indeed an honour to be invited
to judge the Specialty. I found many of the Shih
Tzu I judged to have very good breed type with nice
large round heads and for the most part the proper
large round eyes. There were very few that showed
any eye white. The majority were in the 12 - 15
lb range with good bone and substance. Tail sets
were very good and I only had a very few that were
either flat or curled. Most had the proper high
..tea cup tail. The coats were correct double coated
and the condition of the coats was good. Temperament
was very good.
I would have to say though that I
was a bit surprised at the bites. I did expect to
see much better dentition as this is an FCI country
and that is one of the major criteria for the shows.
Many had missing or misaligned incisors, wry mouths
or narrow under jaws.
I also think that the breed as a whole
could be sounder in structure as fronts and rears
in my opinion do need improvement. Front legs could
be straighter with tighter elbows and still maintain
the description that their standard calls for which
is "legs short and muscular with ample bone,
as straight as possible, consistent with broad chest
being well let down." Most dogs required better
shoulder angulation and better rear angulation and
stronger hocks. The above would result also in correct
level top lines.
The camaraderie and sportsmanship
was excellent amongst exhibitors. I had a wonderful
day and thoroughly enjoyed judging my favorite breed
and meeting the many exhibitors who were primarily
from Sweden and Denmark.
In the evening we were guests of the
Sodra Alvsborg Kennelklubb for a gala judges dinner.
We started the evening in a private lounge and enjoyed
cocktails and chatting with our fellow International
judges . Hosts for the evening were the lovely and
gracious club President Anita Tunesstrom and the
amiable and reliable Bob Paust.
The dinner in the private dining room
began with introductions and an official welcome.
This was followed by a sumptuous dinner beginning
with a mozzarella and oil garden salad followed
by a succulent roll pork in mushroom sauce, condiments
including the obligatory side of potato. It was
becoming clear that the potato is a staple enjoyed
with all meals. After dinner we enjoyed an address
by Dr. David Doane who would have the honour of
judging BIS the following day. Bob followed with
more humourous comments which set the stage for
a fun filled evening. We retired back to the private
lounge for coffee and liqueurs, a perfect end to
an enjoyable evening.
The following day would be the second
day of the single All Breed show which was judged
over 2 days. Today's judging was completed for 6
of the 10 FCI groups and best Junior and Veteran
for all Groups. The 6 groups judged today were Group
1- Sheepdogs and Cattle dogs won by the Bearded
Collie, Group 3- Terriers won by a Bedlington, Group
5- Nordic and Spitz type breeds was won by a Pomeranian,
Group 6- Scent hounds, won by a Basset, Group 7-
Pointers and Setters won by the Weimaraner, 10-
Sight hounds won by a Saluki. Other events in the
main ring included Agility and Junior Showmanship.
