The
moment the judge selected the Best Golden Oldie.
Throughout
the dog showing calendar there are innumerable special competitions
organised by various clubs for pup of the year, dog of the
year, supermatches etc. etc. Surely though, there can be non
better than Pudsey and District Ringcraft Club’s Eukanuba
Golden Oldie competition. Whilst the majority of the others
seem to be dominated by top winning exhibits, this one is
for the real dog lover. Only veterans who have not won so
much as a res. cc are eligible, writes Eileen Jackson.
Twenty-two clubs throughout the North of England, from Stocksbridge
to Newton Aycliffe, entered and ages varied from 7 to 14 years.
(That’s the dog’s ages. I can’t vouch for the
exhibitors)
The venue was the Venerable Bede Church Hall in Leeds and
as is always the case with this club’s competitions,
the atmosphere was warm and welcoming.
The food wasn’t bad either. In fact it was excellent,
prepared as always by members of the Broadbent family (Anita,
Melinda and Joyce). This time the buffet meal was eaten before
the competition started and since it was Easter Saturday and
it was a Church Hall, such is the management of the competition,
it had been arranged for the Vicar of The Venerable Bede,
the Rev Gordon Cooper to say grace and remind us all that
it was indeed Easter.
The judge for this year’s event was Staf Van den Bosch
from Belgium and like all judges before him, paid his own
expenses to get there. How many other events can boast that
fact? In recognition of this, the judge was presented with
a model of a Boxer, his own breed, on behalf of the club.
Like previous Golden Oldies, the format was for a conventional
match but the winners were not declared immediately. Instead,
once all 11 matches were completed and after a short break,
the winners were then announced.
The winning 11 dogs were then brought back into the ring for
the judge to choose the Golden Oldie overall winner together
with a runner-up. This year the winner was a 9 years old GSP
dog Valger Druid Of Bryburn owned by Mr BB & Mrs FV Thurm
and representing North of England Hunt Point and Retriever
Club.
It is nice to know that this dog is still shown because he
enjoys it. Amazingly the Thurms won the previous Pudsey Ringcraft
event (The Superpup competition) in October of last year with
a niece of this dog called Bryburn Annastayshere representing
North Riding Gundog Club.
The runner-up, representing North of England Lhasa Apso Club,
was Mrs AG O’Doherty’s 7 years old dog Marbledale
Devil Of A Storm.
Selecting
the Runner-up.
Following this, the losing 11 dogs were brought back into
the ring and the best of these dogs was awarded the Golden
Oldie Plate. This award went to Mr T & Mrs J Jackson’s
7 years old WSS dog Menstonia Magic Memory
One other award is always made and that is to the oldest Golden
Oldie. This year it was Mrs EC Austin’s 14 years old
Wire Fox Terrier dog Cardinal Saint Nicholas who was representing
West Riding Ringcraft Club.
No exhibitor goes away from this competition empty handed
because, thanks to the generous sponsorship of the event by
Eukanuba and Our Dogs, everyone received bags of Eukanuba
dog food and Our Dogs goody bags.
It is not possible to report on any event organised by Pudsey
Ringcraft without mentioning the stirling work done by Chairman
Peter Broadbent, secretary Christine Cooper and the excellent
committee members. No one who attends these events can fail
to recognise the dedication to the cause shown by this excellent
team, but as I said earlier, this is an event for the real
dog lover.
